Toy Review - Jake's Musical Pirate Ship and Bucky

My son got the Jake's Bucky Musical Pirate Ship from Santa Claus.  Right now my four year old son's favorite television show is Jake and the Neverland Pirates on Disney Junior.  For some reason, I envisioned before I had children that my child would NOT even watch television.  Instead, I  had thoughts of them doing puzzles, reading books, playing with wood toys, etc.  The reality is that my son IS allowed to watch television and it works out logistically to be about an hour a day.  We usually use the On Demand and pick either Little Einstein or Jake and the Neverland Pirates for him, but only when he asks.  

When we were at the mall a few weeks before Christmas with my mom, we stopped in the Disney store and my son fell in love with all the Jake toys, so he added the pirate ship and treasure chest to his list of three things on his Santa list.  We've been talking about how Santa has so many children to visit that three is a fair number of toys to ask for.  My son has really enjoyed the pirate ship, so I would recommend it.  My son actually has a wood pirate ship and he plays with that too, but it is a different kind of play.

With the Jake pirate ship he is playing the show, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," while with the plain wood pirate ship he creates different scenes.  The nice thing about the show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," is that Jake's pirate team work together to solve problems, so there is a teambuilding element.

Resources:

Jake's Bucky Musical Pirate Ship
Features:
25 pirate phrases, sounds, and music
movable parts
includes Jake, Bucky, and Tick Tock the alligator (other characters sold separately)
includes 3 AA batteries
age 3+
USA $59.50, Canada $64.50
item # NB12 461718921245 61

Fisher Price
Fisher-Price.com
DisneyJunior.com

Tilden Park at Holiday Time

Here are a few more pictures from our day at Tilden Park near the Carosel!

Global Winter Wonderland

Last night my son and I went to Global Winter Wonderland which is at Great America in Santa Clara, CA.  The best part of this festival is the Peking Opera which is playing "Monkey King," directly from P.R. China.  This Peking Opera is on a U.S. 2012 tour and is Presented by China Performing Arts Agency and International Culture Exchange Group, Performed by Peking Opera Theater of Hebei, China.  Also, there were 60 gorgeous, gigantic Chinese lanterns depicting both holiday traditions and global icons.

Fun facts about the Chinese lanterns at the Global Winter Wonderland, 2012:
-Millions of LED light bulbs
-100 tons of various steels
-10 CBM of wood
-85,302 of electrical cables
-200,000 feet of silk materials
-35,000 pieces of recycled small glass bottles
-2,000 pieces of ceramic dining ware

This festival is great for families, as children are enthralled by the lights!  My son did not go on a single ride, though you can purchase a ride ticket for $10.00.   I got him one toy bubble gun which entertained him for 2 hours!  When it broke, we went back to the stand and he was given another one with a smile!  My son and I both enjoyed the Peking opera.  We had a snack and water at Biryani Bowl.

Resources:

Global Winter Wonderland, 2012
www.GlobalWonderland.org
facebook.com/Global.Winter.Wonderland
twitter.com/globalwonderlnd

Dining
Biryani Bowl
www.Biryanibowl.com
510-453-1521

Monkey King - A Peking Opera
Location:  Great America Theatre
Monkey King is about Sunwukong, a magically powerful but extremely mischievous "superhero."  Peking Opera encapsulates Chinese culture, history, literature, music, dance, acrobatics, stage fighting, and acting with the specialty arts of face painting and elaborate costumery.
My four year old son and I both loved it.  The words were spoken in Mandarin with subtitles in English easily seen on the side.  My son enjoyed it without hearing the subtitles.  This also inspired my son to start taking Mandarin classes in the fall!

Bubble Gun
No.0319A
No.0319B
Made in China

Holiday Strawberry Smoothie - This Is Yummy!

My son and I made this yummy smoothie this morning, here is the recipe!

2 cups of plain or vanilla organic yogurt
1 bag of cascadian farm organic strawberries (or any frozen strawberries)
2 Tablespoons of fresh orange juice
1 Tablespoon of agave nectar or honey (I used  cadia organic agave amber nectar)

1.  In blender, place all ingredients.  Cover; blend on medium speed until smooth.
2.  Pour into glasses, serve immediately

Resources:

Cascadian Farm Organic strawberries, 10 oz.
Cadia organic agave amber nectar
Straus Family Creamery European Style organic vanilla nonfat yogurt

Tilden Park Carosel During the Holidays

The Tilden Park Carousel was built in 1911.  It originally opened in a trolley park in Urbita Springs,  then moved to San Diego, and on to Los Angeles.  Finally, in 1948 it found its current home in Berkeley, California's Tilden Park.  The East Bay Park District took over the ownership of the carousel in 1978, and at that time it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Tilden Park Merry Go Round "Christmas Fantasy in the Woods" ran from November 25th to December 23rd from 5:30PM to 8:30PM.  The carousel is also open this weekend during the day, but not the evening.

My son and I went there during the day today.  Most of the displays and ornaments are still up, but the lights are off during daylight.

Here are a few pictures:

Resources:

Tilden Park Merry Go Round
Berkeley, CA
Wildcat Canyon Rd.
Berkeley, CA
(510) 524- 6773

Tilden Park Merry Go Round "Christmas Fantasy in the Woods"
Ran from November 25- to December 23rd from 5:30PM - 8:30PM
www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden#merry
Also open this weekend, December 28th, 29th, and 30th during the day until 5:00PM.

http://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden
http://www.tildenmgr.com/history.html
www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6nA1FKWtP8
www.carouselnews.com

Santa Visited Last Night...

Santa visited last night.  He left presents for my son and ate the cookies we left for him.  We set a beautiful table for him!

I think Santa sat on the chair and ate the cookies and stayed awhile:

He is so polite that he even took the cup of milk and put it in the sink.  He left some crumbs on my momma chair, but we forgive him as he was in such a rush to visit all the homes.  I'm glad he had time to relax and stay awhile!

Dreaming About Historic Hotels

I've spent weeks getting ready for the holidays, yet I'm still working to create that perfect setting.  Our fireplace has a crack in it so we need to fix it before we put real wood in it.  My son has a cough this morning so I don't want to put a coffee log in the fireplace in it.  Santa came last night and brought my son presents so he's busily playing.

While I drink my coffee I dream now of going and staying at a historic hotel!  I like the website www.historichotels.org (NOT .com), because they have some fun choices such as the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs (which I visited a few years ago) and the El Tovar at the Grand Canyon.  It also lists the Queen Mary, where I've never stayed but have visited -- including for a friend's wedding reception.  It was a gorgeous setting for a wedding!

Since my son has a cough (he may be allergic to the real, pine Christmas tree that we got yesterday) we are home for at least a few days, but I'm dreaming of sitting in front of a huge, stone, historic fireplace with a hot drink and a good book in my hand.

I grew up in the midwest so when I think of the holidays I can't help but want to see snow drifting outside the window.  When I looked at the historic hotel website this morning I dreamed of staying at the Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri near Branson, Missouri.  A few of the lodging choices there include a knotty pine cottage and a log cabin.



Resources:

www.historichotels.org

Big Cedar Lodge Hotel
Ridgedale, Missouri

Here's a picture from the Big Cedar Lodge website:

La Farine Bakery at the Holidays, Part II

Here's a picture of the front of La Farine Bakery on the morning of December 24th:

Here's the line outside La Farine Bakery, waiting to pick  up holiday treats -- holiday rolls, Buche de Noel, etc., on the morning of December 24th:

Allergic to Live Christmas Tree

This year we didn't get our Christmas tree until Christmas eve day, so it was really obvious -- right when my husband brought our tree into the house and started setting it up my son started sneezing.  The sneezing and coughing became progressively worse throughout Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

So on Christmas night we decided to take the tree outside.  My husband took on this task while I went out for a drive with my son.  As he moved the tree, needles went everywhere (a big downside to a live tree, as we discussed last year, but one we thought we could live with).  He started vacuuming and cleaning up.  And then he started wheezing badly.  He has allergies, and so typically has an inhaler around, but that night he had given it to me just in case my son needed it while we were out.  When I returned home, my husband came out wheezing in the rain asking for the inhaler.  I thought I was going to have to take him to the hospital!  It looked like he was in pretty bad shape for a few hours afterward.

My son is still wheezing and coughing, but is slowly improving.  I spent much of the morning cleaning up all the pine needles everywhere that my husband missed with our vacuum (we've also decided to go out and get a new vacuum this week).

Next year we'll be getting a fake tree, which saddens us a bit as we love the smell of real trees.  While we may love the smell, my son and husband apparently can't live with it.

My brother has an artificial tree that turns around slowly, and there are many more selections out there, but we'll wait until next year to start shopping for one.

Here's a picture of our short-lived live Christmas tree:

Gingerbread House Kit, by Sassafras

Here's an older gingerbread house kit from Sassafras:

The mold itself has been discontinued by Sassafras.  BUT, you can find them on eBay and via other online resale resources.

La Farine Bakery at the Holidays

La Farine Bakery is at 6323 College Avenue near Alcatraz in north Oakland.  They also have locations on Fruitvale, Piedmont, and Solano Avenues.     

La Farine is amazing during the holidays.  There is a line out the door and around the corner for people to pick up one of their Buche de Noel cakes (log-style chocolate mousse cakes frosted with chocolate buttercream).  They are well worth the wait and have become one of our holiday traditions; we will be eating one at our X-Mas feast tomorrow.

Here's a picture of La Farine's Pumpkin Cheesecake, which we will eat today.  Very soon, in fact.

Here's La Farine's famous morning bun:

Here are La Farine's only-available-on-Christmas Eve Day dinner rolls:

Uhuru Pies for the Holidays

I stopped at La Farine Bakery, which we'll blog about soon, and then got some ground ginger at Safeway across the street and I met Wendy, a volunteer from Uhuru pies right in front of Safeway.  Uhuru is selling all kinds of delicious pies to help fund a commercial kitchen and to support the African People's Education and Defense Fund, www.uhurupies.org.  I came home and put all my supplies down and tasted a piece of the sweet potato pie, it was yummy and not too sweet!

I've never made sweet potato pie myself, but I used to teach with a woman named Shirley who gave me a recipe and brought in some to taste.  I loved it then, and still love it now!

[Picture from http://apedf.org/programs/uhuru-pies/oakland/]

Resources:

Uhuru Pies
www.uhurupies.org
1-800-578-5157
Still available all day today, December 24th in front of  Claremont Avenue Safeway!

Pie flavors:  apple crumb, apple cranberry, berry, pecan, chocolate pecan, pumpkin, and sweet potato pie.

Ginger Bread House Kits

Here's a simple but great gingerbread house kit from Dancing Deer:

Stained Glass and Other Classes at Studio One in Oakland

The Studio One Art Center 365 45th Street in Oakland, CA offers classes in vocational and expressive arts.  This is a city-run program dedicated to the studio arts instruction for people of all ages.  It provides high-quality and hands-on art experiences for both children and adults.  This studio has been offering classes workshops and labs since 1948.  They also offer Family Days, open houses, and art receptions.

Classes offered include the following:

-Ceramics
-Flower Arts,
 Stained Glass
-Bead Making,
-Painting,
-Mixed Media,
-Sculpture
-Glass fusing
-Jewelry
-Cartooning
-Photography
-Dance
-Life Drawing
-Calligraphy

Resources:

Studio One Art Center
365 45th Street
Oakland, CA
www.studiooneartcenter.net
(510) 597-5027

Victorian Christmas in Nevada City, California!

News Alert!  Nevada City's famed Victorian Christmas event is this coming Sunday, December 23rd from noon to 6:30pm.  Nevada City has hosted its Victorian Christmas since 1978.  The event includes shopping, singing, and feasting.

[Picture from the Nevada City Chamber website.]

Nevada City is a beautiful small town in Northern California Gold Country.  Here's a link to a site that provides a virtual tour of Nevada City.

Here's a link to the schedule for the Victorian Christmas event.

Highlights include music all day.  A strolling drama group from 2-3.  Three different dancing groups from 2-3 (The Highland Dancers; Thunderfoot Cloggers; and Desmond Irish Dancers).  A show by the Nevada County Magicians Guild from 3-4, and "Peter the Magician" from 5:30-6:30.  A "Locomotion Circus" from 7-8:30, and Desmond Irish Dancers again from 6-7.  Lots to do!

  

Fairy Winterland at Children's Fairyland- open now!

This year was the first time I've taken my son to the Fairy Winterland at Children's Fairyland.  We had so much fun!  There is free hot chocolate and hot apple cider all night long, plus there are twinkling lights all over the park.  The puppet show, The Nutcracker Prince was my four year old son's first exposure to the Nutcracker and he sat through the whole show.  The Pacific Boy Choir also performed this evening and we sat through 15 minutes of the performance.  Santa Claus was at Fairyland in the chapel and the setting was priceless!  Owen Baker Flynn did a lively show of juggling, fire eating, and other holiday surprises. Then, at the end of the night Santa Claus let guests on a short parade around the park on a festival of lights parade, my son got to hold Santa's hand and he was ecstatic.  I would highly recommend bringing your children here, we had so much fun!

Dell' Osso Family Farm- Holidays on the Farm

This year I want to visit the Dell' Osso Family Farm as they are having "Holidays on the Farm."  The following activities will be offered:

-pick out a tree
-see santa
-bakery treats
-santa's village
-snow on the farm
-ice skating

Resources:

Dell' Osso Family Farm
Holidays on the Farm
www.holidaysonthefarm.com/home.html

Trader Joe's Gingerbread House Kits

A local church had a gingerbread making class this past Sunday.  When I took my son I noticed there were Trader Joe's Gingerbread Making Kit boxes set out in front of each child.  The kits had everything needed to make Gingerbread houses!  They were easy and fun!

Here's the house he made:

Resources:

Trader Joe's Gingerbread Making Kit