Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year 2012!

Morning skies

Enjoy your evening, be safe and have a wonderful New Year!

Your Soaring Mama,


Mandy

Friday, December 30, 2011

Friday's "Soar & Explore!"

Star Wars: Where science meets Imagination

This week my family "soared" about an hour and a half north of San Diego to the Discovery Science Center in Anaheim, Ca. Too bad we didn't have land speeders or we would have been there much sooner!

Currently there's an "out of this galaxy" exhibit going on, "Star Wars - Where Science meets Imagination".


Chewbacca

From the science center's website, here's a description of the exhibit:

"Star WarsTM: Where Science Meets Imagination explores the fantasy technologies in the Star Wars films, the science behind them, and current research that may lead to real-life versions of these technologies. Learn how technologies work in the Star Wars universe through film clips and over 80 props, models and costumes. Then, discover how ideas become technologies in real life through hands-on exhibits, immersive experiences, and cutting edge innovations."

Clone Trooper

Our family really enjoyed seeing all of the movie props; life size costumes, miniatures used for filming, light sabers, Luke Skywalker's landspeeder and other floating vehicles used in the movies. We loved seeing all of the costumes of our favorite Star Wars characters like Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Clone Troopers, and Yoda to name a few.

"Judge me by my size, do you?"

He's tall!

There were also several interactive parts of the exhibit that my two, or I should say three (if you include my husband) enjoyed. The personal hovercraft looked like fun, but since we were there the week after Christmas the lines were all very long, so we skipped that one for next time. There was a "Maglev Engineering Design Lab", where one could design a mini car that "levitates" via a magnetic track. A Robot engineering design lab, and building communities with virtual reality software. As I mentioned it was a very crowded day the day we were there, but fortunately the exhibit lasts until April 15, 2012 so we most definately will be back.  There is also a Millenium Falcon Experience available for an additional cost of $5. From the website, "Experience a virtual jump to lightspeed in a full-size replica of the cockpit of Star Wars Episode IV’s Millennium Falcon as a multimedia presentation explores what we know about our own galaxy in a breathtaking ride to the edge of the Universe." Much more information about the exhibit can be found on the website.

Another fun exhibit going on while we were there was the "Science of Gingerbread". There were many creative gingerbread creations made by children to enjoy (not eating) but seeing! More pictures from both the Star Wars exhibit and Gingerbread exhibit can be found here on my flicker group. Enjoy!

This one lasts until January 1st, so hurry if you want to see it before it's over!

Gingerbread AT


May you all continue to soar and explore....

in beautiful, sunny San Diego (& beyond)! 

Your Soaring Mama


Mandy

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Soaring on a Sunday


Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our readers! We hope you enjoy this lovely, sunny San Diego Christmas day with loved ones.

 Love and much joy, 


 Your soaring mama, 


 Mandy Sicard

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Soaring on a Sunday

Gingerbread House

How's your weekend going? Been a bit drizzly here in San Diego, but that doesn't stop the fun! This photo was taken at a Disney event during the holidays. Disneyland, just 1-2 hours north of San Diego, in Anaheim is a lot of fun during this time of year. During "Holidays at Disneyland", the park is lit up with beautiful holiday decorations, a beautiful Main Street Christmas tree, thousands of Christmas lights and a special holiday fireworks show. Something you don't want to miss!

If you're not up to the drive, there's still lots of great holiday activities right here in San Diego county! Here's just a few of them. Be sure to also check out our facebook for frequently updated posts!

Monday, December 19 | 12pm–3pm, Holiday Celebration, Free with paid admission at
The New Children's Museum, San Diego
Join us for a special entertainment, workshops, and holiday activities. Toddlers can learn hip-hop moves in a dance class with Culture Shock Dance Center at 12:30pm. Camp Glee Club goes on at 1:30pm, followed by the Monarch Steel Drum Band at 2:30pm

Wednesday, December 21, 6:00pm - 7:00pm. GingerBread House Decorating, Mission Valley Branch Library.
Come and decorate a gingerbread house! The house and frosting will be supplied - all you need to bring is a bag of candy to decorate and share with the other decorators. Space is limited; sign up early. Reservations will be taken at the Checkout Desk. Mission Valley Branch Library, 2123 Fenton Parkway, San Diego. 858-573-5007.

Wednesdays, 11 am. Crafts at Playtown, El Cajon. Kids and parents make a themed craft every week using the child’s handprints. $4 plus admission. $8 per child; adults and kids under 9 mos. free. Play Town, 858 Jackman St., El Cajon.

Through the first week of January. Fri.-Wed., 10 am-4 pm; closed on holidays. Poinsettia Display at Balboa Park. The 25th Annual Poinsettia Display turn the historic Botanical Building into a glowing tribute to the holidays. Free. Botanical Bldg., Balboa Park.

Santa vs the Snowman, Ruben H Fleet Science Museum, IMAX theater. See Calendar of Events for movie times.

Through December 26th. Gingerbread Mountain Village. A must-see attraction made of more than 300 pounds of gingerbread dough, 400 pounds of sugar icing and 18 pounds of chocolate! Free. Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, 7100 Aviara Resort Dr., Carlsbad.

Poinsettia Bowl Gaslamp March. The marching bands from each of the competing schools in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl face off in a musical showdown on Fifth Avenue just two days prior to the big game at Qualcomm Stadium. This thrilling battle of the bands will have you riveted, so be sure to snag a spot on a fabulous Gaslamp patio and watch the commotion - the March is scheduled to begin promptly at 6 pm, so plan ahead and get to the Gaslamp Quarter early! Free event.

Enjoy the season and....

Keep Soaring and landing safely

in Beautiful (mostly) Sunny

San Diego!

Your Soaring Mama,

Mandy

Friday, December 16, 2011

Friday's "Soar and Explore!"

From Dec 16, 2011


Last weekend we went to the Children's Discovery Museum in Escondido. It's been re-opened and has moved across the street from Grape Park. Here's a photo a took there when it "snowed".

What wonderful place in San Diego did you visit this week? Feel free to share a link in the comments section.

While the museum's not completely finished, there's lots of fun hands on things for the kids to do. The plans for the future indoor and outdoor area look really great and we look forward to returning when they are.

Here's a few others from the day:

building blocks


my builder

The ship they were working on while we there, and appears it will be ready very soon!

Ship plans



Enjoy your weekend and....
.

May you all continue to soar and explore....

in beautiful, sunny San Diego!

Your Soaring Mama


Mandy

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Soaring on a Sunday

snow in San Diego

Snow in San Diego? Well, we do get it up in Julian and Mt Palomar, but this week we also had it at several other spots in San Diego. This shot was taken at the San Diego Children's Discovery Museum in Escondido. Dr Bronner's Magic Soaps, an eco-friendly, organic and fair trade soap company provided the snow at the Museum's open house on Saturday. The children's museum will be officially re-opening on Tuesday. The museum moved across the street from it's prior location at the Escondido Center for the Arts to 320 N. Broadway, Escondido, across the street from Grape Park. While not completely finished yet, it has a lot of great fun going on inside and much more to come!

Also, happening this week is:

Thursday, December 15th, 1-2pm. Holiday Harmonies Christmas Concert by the Carlsbad Choraleers. Free concert open to the public. 799 Pine Ave, Carlsbad.

Thursday, December 15th, 11am. Story Time with the Gingerbread Queen at the Mission Valley Branch Library. Free. 2123 Fenton Pkwy, San Diego.

Wednesday, December 21st, 6-7pm. Gingerbread House Decorating at the the Mission Valley Branch Library. Free, but space limited, so sign up at the checkout desk. 2123 Fenton Pkwy, San Diego.


December 8-23rd, 26-30th, 5-9pm. Garden of Lights, San Diego Botanic Garden, Encinitas.

December 13th-January 1st, 530-10pm. Holiday of Lights at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

December 16th, 4-9pm, and December 17-19th, 1-9pm. Poway Winterfest at Poway Community Park, Poway. Outdoor skating rink, arts and crafts, karaoke, snow hill (18th) and more.

Sunday, December 11th and Sunday, December 18th, 530-9pm. San Diego Parade of Lights, the Port of San Diego.

Sunday, December 11th, 1pm. A Very Beary Nutcracker puppet show at Space4Art, by the SD Guild of Puppetry, 325 15th St, San Diego.

Through December 18th, The Nutcracker by the San Diego Civic Youth Ballet at Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park.

Through December 18th, Santa Claus vs the Martians by the SD Junior Theatre at the La Jolla YMCA Firehouse, La Jolla.

December 9th-11th, 16th-23rd, 7pm. Holly, Jolly Trolley Tour, Old Town Market.

Other places in San Diego where snow can be found are:

SeaWorld, Dec 11, daily December 17th-January 1st.

Legoland, through January 2nd.

Nightly Musical Snowfall at Village Walk at Eastlake, Chula Vista. December 1-24th at 6 and 7pm.

Much more is posted weekly on our Facebook page. Join for frequent updates!


Happy Holidays !

and Keep Soaring
and

Landing Safely

in beautiful, sunny San Diego!


Your Soaring Mama,

Mandy


Sunday, December 4, 2011

Soaring on a Sunday

From SDFS Day at the Zoo, 2011-11-29
Lots of holiday activities going on that you can refer to in our previous posts and on our facebook page, but there's also many secular activities going on as well. Lots of stuff going on today, if you're still looking for something on this beautiful, cloud free day!

Today, Liquid Glass Company is having an open house, which includes a glass blowing demostration in Ramona.

Just south of the border is the Rosarito Art Fest Art Bazaar going on today at the Rosarito Beach Hotel from 12pm-5pm.


Riverdance, Irish Music and dance at the San Diego Civic Theatre today, 530 pm

Today, 10am to 730pm, Fantasy on Ice Outdoor Ice Skating Rink at the Horton Square in San Diego.

Today, San Diego Pottery Tour in San Diego, 9-4pm. Free self-guided tour with 11 stops at ceramic studios in San Diego.

Battle of San Pasqual at the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park in San Diego, today 10-330pm. Battle reinactments at 1130 and 2pm.

Skating by the Sea, Make a Wish foundation benefit at Hotel del Coronado today 11am-9pm.

Today is Family Free Art Day at the Oceanside Museum of Art.



I'll be posting more this week for next weekend, but feel free to check out our Facebook page for frequent event posts.


Keep Soaring and landing safely,



in Beautiful, Sunny



San Diego!





Your Soaring Mama,



Mandy



Friday, December 2, 2011

Friday's "Soar and Explore!"

From SDFS Day at the Zoo, 2011-11-29
This adorable little Fennec Fox is an animal ambassador at the zoo.



This week we went to the San Diego Zoo with a group of friends. We saw many of the exhibits we hadn't seen in the past. They will also be having "Jungle Bells" at the zoo, which is a holiday celebration with lights starting December 9th and going through January 1st.

Here's just a couple of photos that I took while there.
The meerkats are one of my favorites and this little guy didn't mind posing for me.
From SDFS Day at the Zoo, 2011-11-29
From SDFS Day at the Zoo, 2011-11-29
The skyfari aerial tram allows for some beautiful views from above, you can even see incoming planes flying over the California Tower on the Museum of Man building. This weekend the zoo is allowing round trip tram rides for $4 during the Balboa Park December Nights Celebration on Dec 2nd & 3rd starting at 5pm. It'll be a wonderful experience to be able to view all the lovely lights in Balboa Park from above. They'll also offer Santa's Express Miniature Railroad, by the zoo's exit with rides for $3, which is a 3 minute holiday ride.

There's always so much to see while there, you can't possibly see it all in one day so it's nice to buy their annual passes so you can come back as frequently as you choose during the year. The passes are also good for the Safari Park in Escondido, which our family loves to go to frequently!

We saw some colorful birds and flowers as well, while there.

Try not to miss the Jungle Bells this season. There's lots of great activities going on at the zoo and also at Balboa Park.

Here's a little video from the zoo's website about the upcoming "Jungle Bells".




Enjoy the holidays and....
.

May you all continue to soar and explore....

in beautiful, sunny San Diego!

Your Soaring Mama


Mandy