To celebrate n’s upcoming 2nd birthday, we went to the Discovery Science Center. We pass by “the cube” on the 5 freeway all of the time, but this was our first time visiting. To save the $4 parking fee, we parked at the nearby Santiago Park. This was a tip I found in this great resource. One tip from us is to enter the park from Memory Lane, because the Main Street entrance doesn’t really have designated parking spaces.

The kids had been fighting all morning, but once we were at the park, they had fun strolling hand in hand.

At the entrance:

The current travelling exhibit features Elmo and the Sesame Street gang talking about the human body. I brought out our old Tickle Me Elmo for the past week so n would be more familiar with him (is Sesame Street even on anymore now that KCET is independent?)

On the Sesame Street stoop.

Mr. Hooper’s market.

Not too sure what this was, but it was cool. k thought it was scary, as can be seen by the look on her face. It’s difficult to read all of the scientific explanations when you’re constantly trying to make sure your two kids do not wander off. (Hats off to those with more than two!)

Upstairs is a pretty big hockey exhibit.

Driving the Zamboni.

Skating with socks.

Now I finally know what is inside that big cube!

A rocket display.

Outside there is a nice dinosaur-themed play area.

Sliding down the tail.

Me too!

This tricerotops moves.

We ate lunch at the Taco Bell cafe inside the museum. I read that it had been recently renovated, and it was nice.

Another tip would be to arrive early. We got to the museum at 10:15 (after walking through the park) and there was already a good amount of people inside. By the time we exited after lunch, it was crowded!

Walking back to our car we had to make a stop at the playground equipment, of course.
The park kind of has two sides. The part by Main Street is pretty nice.

The part closer to the parking lot on Memory Lane, however, is a barren wasteland, and pretty “sketch” (as my friend from law school used to say).
Note the peeling paint on the playground equipment:

n climbed up all by himself.

Within five minutes, this was the scene in the backseat:

I don’t want to complain too much, since I know most of the country is freezing right now, but it was a bit too sunny for our Saturday morning outing to San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine. There was not a cloud in the sky and it was just too hot for an enjoyable stroll.

However, we did see a bunny, several small lizards, and this little guy:

The best part was probably resting on a bench under the shade. n liked his snack:

There were a lot of ducks, but I expected to see more birds. Here is one unique one I spotted.

There was also a big one (sorry, don’t know my bird names) that swooped over our heads in a pretty dramatic fashion. Other than that, nothing too exciting. Maybe they are somewhere else for the winter.

It was an easy walk for kids (flat), but we’ll wait for a more overcast non-winter day to go again. At least parking is free (although limited)!