Monday, August 8, 2011

FREE Bowling!

My four year old loves bowling. I mean, he LOVES bowling. His dad took him when he was about two years old to the (now dilapidated and closed) Crestview Lanes on Manzanita and he was hooked.

We now have about a dozen (NOT an exaggeration!) different bowling sets at home. Large sets, small sets, even smaller sets. Plastic sets, foam sets, you name it, we have it.

And it doesn't stop there. He bowls with water bottles. He bowls with blocks. He bowls with shampoo bottles. Yep, he's pretty extreme.

He recently answered his uncle's, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question with, "Professional Bowler!" Wow. A professional bowler. All I could think of was B-O-R-I-N-G. But he'll have at least one fan - my dad. I swear he is the only person on the planet that watches bowling on TV.

So, needless to say, when I saw the advertisement for free bowling in a recent parenting magazine, I was all in. Fireside Lanes in Citrus Heights as well as some of the AMF locations throughout the Sacramento area are participating. Sign up your kiddo and he/she can bowl for free! You just have to pay for shoe rental. Such a deal!

Kids Bowl Free

The kids went with my husband today and my oldest was totally in his element. And I guess they didn't have shoes in his size and let him bowl in his street shoes, so it was totally free. Hubby did make a contribution to the bar, of course. Bowling and beer go hand in hand, right?

Smiles galore today. Exactly what you want to see from your four year old when you ask, "How was your day?"

:-)





Thursday, August 4, 2011

Fairytale Town

Fairytale Town is THE place to be if you have a preschooler. Themed around fairy tales (hence the name), children's stories and nursery rhymes, it's inexpensive ($4.00 a ticket!), convenient (located next to Funderland and across from the Sacramento Zoo) and a load of fun!

There's a castle, pirate ship, garden, slides, and bunches of things to climb on and around. Animals such as goats, pigs, rabbits and chickens live at Fairytale Town. It is truly an adventureland for the 3-5 year old crowd.

My son's favorites?

1. The Crooked Mile - a path that winds around through the "woods". He serves me pretend coffee at the little house at the end.

2. The Slides - Now that he is almost 5, these entertain him for a long time. Up until now, we've always needed two people to make it work- one at the top and one at the bottom. Now, Mr. Independent does them alone. The slides are high, metal and super fast, but lots of fun. His favorite is "Owl's House" - a slide built into a tree - and it's so fast it knocked this mom on her behind!

3. Cinderella's Coach - He rides a horse while I sit inside the pumpkin coach. Not a bad deal, I must say.

Now that I have two boys, I will spend many more years visiting this magical place. A great half-day excursion, it almost guarantees an afternoon nap or quiet resting time.

Oh, and one last thing! The Wishing Well - these money eaters have become standard at all non-profit amusement parks. And my son LOVES them. Drop a coin in the slot and watch it roll around and around until it drops into the hole in the center. It's become tradition to do this at the end of our trip to Fairytale Town. And we always leave with smiles...

You'll find the link here: http://sac4kids.com/index.php/things/parks/67-theme-parks

A new day, a new format...

Two kids, a website, a blog...oh my!

Oh...and a job. And a husband. And a house to clean. The list is endless!

We never really stopped doing the fun things that we do around Sacramento. I...just...didn't...write about it. Too tired, too crazy, too busy.

I do love to write, but the first year of the second's son's life nearly did me in. But we are sleeping through the night now, some of us are going to preschool now, and grandma has moved closer to town - a babysitter! Yippee!

I've decided to give Blogger a go, with the intent to write blogs more often in this user friendly environment. (Insert smiley face here)

So, here goes. Wish me luck!

Now if I could just figure out how to import the posts from the other blog....hmmmm...