Cinderella at the AhmansonTheater

We love the theater and love sharing when a good show comes in town. Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella is coming to the Ahamanson Theater next month and you don’t want to miss it! This family friendly productions features this classic story along with some fantastic. Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella is the Tony Award® winning Broadway musical from the creators of The Sound of Music and South Pacific with a contemporary take on the classic tale.

The show will play from March 17th to April 26th at The Music Center. To purchase tickets and for additional info head here.

Hikes with Kids : Lake Poway/Potato Chip Hike

Our view was breathtaking!

Our family is trying to go out and be active. We’ve decided that we want to go out and explore nature more often. One way that we’re doing that is by going on family hikes. I decided to start a new series, hikes with kids. To kick off our series, I wanted to start with our last hike. My daughter and I headed down south and hiked around Lake Poway. The Lake Poway Recreation Area is located just a few miles away from the 15 freway and is very easy to find. It is northeast of Poway, off Espola Road. Parking is $5 for non Poway residents on the weekends and holidays.

We worked up a sweat.

We took the hike around the lake, which was 3 miles round trip. I don’t think we are quite up to the famous Potato Chip hike, that you can also hike from Lake Poway. That hike is very steep and is 8 miles round trip. Since we are still fairly new to hiking, we stuck to the lower 3 mile hike. It was beautiful, serene, and with access to many restrooms(porta potties) along the way. There were also two covered lunch table areas that would make an excellent spot for a picnic.

The hike led us to some spectacular views and scenery.

What I love about hiking with my family is being able to get away from all the distractions and being able to just talk/relax. With school, activities, and a very busy schedule, it’s sometimes hard for families to get that time to unwind and really connect.

Slowly but surely we’re learning what we like to take our hikes. Here’s a list of what we take.

Good pair of walking shoes/tennis shoes(with traction)
Layer clothing. We take a light jacket early in the morning and wrap it around our waist mid hike.
Water. Plenty of it.
A good backpack
Sunscreen
Snacks or lunch
Charged phone

I can’t wait to share more of our hikes and hear about your adventures! Stay tuned for more.

For directions and to learn more about Lake Poway head here.

Strawberry Picking at Tanaka Farms

Strawberry Picking

We had a very sweet and strawberrylicious Valentine’s Day. We had the opportunity to take the Strawberry Tour at Tanaka Farms and had soooo much fun! My sisters, mom, and nephew joined us for a great afternoon. Tanaka Farms is located in Irvine and they are known for their family friendly farm tours. They also happen to have some of the best strawberries and produce in all of Southern California. Tanaka Farms is proud to educate, entertain, and feed families all year long. They have various tours throughout the year depending on what is growing. They have strawberry, watermelon, and pumpkin tours, depending on the season.

We picked some of the ripest and sweetest strawberries I’ve ever tasted.

Strawberry season started a little earlier this year because of our wacky weather and that means that the strawberry tours are back. This was our first time taking the tour and we were very excited. There are no reservations required for weekend tours and they leave every hour beginning at 9:30, with the last departing at 2:30. Tour times are: 9:30, 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30. We arrived a half hour before the tour began to assure a spot, find parking, and not be rushed.

The tractor ride is a hit with both young and old.

Once we checked in and were given our baskets, our tour guide came by to lead us to the tractor pulled wagon. My two year old nephew was in heaven! The guided tour takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour. The tour takes you around Tanaka Farms and you will be able to see how fruits and vegetables grow in the land. You will also be able to sample some of the fruits and veggies in season. It was very informative and although I know it was an hour long, it only seemed to last a few minutes because we were having so much fun!

We learned how to properly pick strawberries and how to pick the ripest fruit.

Our last stop on our tour were the strawberry patches. We were given 15 minutes to find the juiciest and ripest strawberries we could find. Each person is able to take home a one pound basket of strawberries. We had so much fun picking our fruit and taking the tour. I highly recommend that everyone take this tour with the family. It is a great experience.