I recently took a fabulous camping trip at Grover Hot Springs. We were lucky enough to get invited by a mom who’s child went to the same summer camp as my son. She had already organized a group of  families, most of whom had kids that my son had previously been aquainted with. All in all there were about eight kids, all under six years of age. We traded off watching the kids while the other parents went...

A exhibit at our local raptor center offered a chance to see what your eyes would look like if they were the same proportion to you as an owl’s eyes.  For more info on the raptor center in Davis, California, click here This post is part of the Photo Friday series. For more travel photos, visit Delicious Baby. Share / Save / Send

Have you ever wished you had a whole (separate) house full of things for the kids to run around and play with? If you could build a kids’ house, it might look just like the one in Sacramento at Artbeast. Here a downtown victorian home has been renovated into paradise of play. The ground floor is dedicated to dramatic play. There is a small rocket equipped with car seats (buckles included), two steering...

We are a gaming family and encourage our kids to play with boardgames, even when the rules or object of the game get completely morphed. Except for Twister. I have tried to hide that box on several occasions, but the darn box is so big it always gets found. The kids love the spinner so I always end up the only one doing acrobatics. BUT, that spinner came in handy as I was thinking about how to pick a winner...

While we were playing at Natoma Lake on a recent trip, we noticed smoke rising from a bluff above us. The puffs quickly became a stream of smoke. I thought that from our vantage we probably won’t be able to see much of the firemen putting it out, aside from perhaps a stream of water coming from a hose. Soon enough we heard sirens heading toward us, then the thwonking of an approaching helicopter....

I have begun organizing fieldtrips on Wednesday afternoons since that is the day that all of the kindergarteners (i.e. my son’s classmates) get out of school before noon.  For my first trip I suggested a playdate on the beach, as the weather here has remained rather warm. Since we don’t actually live near the ocean, the closest beach I could come up with was at Rancho Seco Park - home of Sacramento’s former...

I recently blogged about how great it is to find good tunes for long car trips. My buddy Dan has alerted me to a fantastic deal going on right now to get stories on cd. Thanks Dan, this will keep us going for quite some time. Share / Save / Send

School has recently begun for us, which narrows my opportunities of when to plan multi-day trips. But I am not ready to give up exploring, so I’m thinking of using Wednesdays to plan local outings. I don’t know how many I will find that are appropriate for kids as young as mine.  As I write down some ideas, one seems to spark another, so I hope this will be a plan that keeps growing. Pictured...

Having great cds is a staple for any long car trip we take. Nothing makes a car ride more pleasant than having the munchkins singing along in the back. Seriously, nothing! Here are a few albums that are favorites in our family. AND don’t miss out on winning some excellent tunes for yourself! Read on…(these are not in any particular order)   Captain Bogg & Salty, Emphatical Piratical: If you...

Taking the lead from Mara at Mother of All Trips, I am posting here about travels I dream about, both past and future. We recently acquired two inflatable tandem kayaks and have been excited to take them (and the kids) out on the water. We haven’t been as quick to get everything (lunch, drinks, beach gear, boat gear) and everyone into the car as hopefully we will be once we’ve got the routine...