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Fun things to do in SoCal with 3- and 5-year-olds?

MoodyBlues

MoodyBlues

Compassion is cool!
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My little family (my daughter, her husband, and their two little ones) will be here in a few weeks. (They live out of state. :( They'll be here for two weeks. :D) I'm looking for suggestions for fun, interactive, interesting things to do with 3- and 5-year-old kids. We're NOT interested in Disneyland-ish stuff because it'll be too damned hot while they're here! :eek: So no theme parks, please.

They love Santa Monica Pier and its amusement park, and the beach below, so that's a definite yes (thank goodness for the sea breeze!). And we'll undoubtedly trek up into the mountains again because I love it up there, and they can cool off in the streams.

Any/all ideas will be greatly appreciated! Closer to home would be best (the San Gabriel Valley, so Pasadena, Arcadia, San Marino, etc.) but anywhere in the LA area would work.
 
saptech said:
How about Griffith Park, the Zoo & Observatory? You can make a picnic out of it also!
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We all love Griffith Park--we made a day out of it last summer. The boys love trains, so of course we headed to Travel Town first, then we rode the main train, then they went on the pony rides. (It was weird, but very gratifying, watching my grandchildren ride ponies at the very place *I* used to when I was little. And it looks EXACTLY the same.) We didn't do the Observatory last year, but maybe this year since they're older.

I thought about going to the California Science Center which, among other things, has the now-retired space shuttle Endeavour on display. I think the boys would be fascinated by that.

Keep in mind it's going to be *HOT* while they're here. (It was 129 in Death Valley yesterday. :eek: Of course, I'm not planning on GOING to Death Valley while they're here. :))
 
I lived in LA area for 10 years. Mostly in the SF Valley and then Long Beach for a few years before moving back to STLMO. I was young & dumb but did have fun!
 
saptech said:
I lived in LA area for 10 years. Mostly in the SF Valley and then Long Beach for a few years before moving back to STLMO. I was young & dumb but did have fun!
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:D I was young and dumb when I left California. No, I was young but definitely not dumb. I needed to be as far away as possible from my family. Florida did it! Can't get much farther than 3,000 miles. :)

I don't know what it's like right now in St L, but here it's been BLANKING hot. :eek: It's actually quite a bit cooler today, but it's still hot.
 
:ditto: these are great suggestions.

my tops would be the discovery museum and the aquarium of the pacific......i love going to both even now as an adult.....if you go to the aquarium you also can take a ferry ride across the long beach bay. great for kids and its fun to be on a boat as well.

edit: also for me growing up, i loved going to a dodger game during the summer. my dad first took me when i was 5.....been gowing to at least one game ever since.
 
Ricky Babalu said:
1. 3rd street Promenade (Santa Monica)
2. Venice Beach
3. Discovery Science Center
4. Laguna Beach (where I live) also check out the Sawdust Festival
5. Grammy Museum
6. Getty Museum
7. Lake Arrowhead or Big Bear ( only 1 hour away from you)
8. MOCA or LACMA museum
9. LA Zoo
10. Huntington Library
11. Hollywood
13. Beverly Hills
14. Queen Mary in Long Beach
15. Aquarium of the Pacific (Long Beach)
16. Orange County Fair
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Thanks. Great list. The Huntington Library is slightly more than just around the corner from me. You left off the Arboretum, which is even closer! That's only a mile from my house. Of course...it's going to be HOT at any outdoor places like that.

It seems like forever since my daughter was the age my grandsons are now, so it's hard thinking of things that will keep them mentally and physically stimulated without just wearing them out.
 
Bearsyzf said:
Cali is beautiful and i've been lucky to live here all my life :D
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Now that I'm back home I'll NEVER leave, but I have to say that living in other states, and visiting a great many other states, really made me appreciate California even more than I already did. I always knew it was special, and I always lived/breathed/thought of myself as a Californian, but there's something about living through tornadoes, being landlocked, being in oppressively conservative environments, having no mountains nearby, dealing with single digit temperatures, etc., that makes SoCal even MORE amazing. :D
 
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