Valentine's Day gift idea.

Pan Dulce (Sweet Bread), an easy Valentine's Day gift for friends, neighbors, teachers, co-workers and anyone who enjoys a sweet treat.  A simple idea, budget friendly and heart-shaped; turn ordinary Mexican baked goods into a fun Valentines gift.  Use pink baked breads or cookies from your local Mexican bakery and add your own creativity to brighten someones day on Valentine's Day.

To get started, visit your local Mexican bakery and pick out your favorite cookies or breads.  We used breads and cookies with pink and red frosting as well as fun shapes.  This gave our gift box a fun "LOVE" theme.  We than asked the baker for an extra box.  We left with (2) dozen baked treats and our total was $14.00. For this price, we had enough cookies and baked items to fill (6) medium boxes.  

Papermart.com 

At home, using food gloves, we repackaged the brown box and adorned the outside with hearts and ribbon to give it an added flair.  To decorate the inside of the box, we added some special paper.  If you don't have colorful tissue paper, look around your kitchen for other creative ideas.  We used coffee filters for one gift, while parchment paper works great too.
  

We glued paper hearts and used rope to give this brown box a decorative look. It made the box look very homemade and sprinkled with love.  We made a Valentine's Day very special with this brown box and the Pan Dulce (sweet bread).  Try it and watch someone light up when they receive the Pan Dulce Valentine box. 

Don't have a local Mexican bakery, then look for a local bakery that offers a variety of breads and cookies at a reasonable price. We spent on average $0.50 per cookie or bread.  One place you may want to consider is Costco's food court as an alternative bakery.  They sell Mexican Churros in their food court.  If you are buying more than (10) Churros, then you will have to call ahead to order.  Remember to use your creativity for wrapping the Churros.  A pretty box with some ribbon goes a long way to make it look special. 

Valentine's Day for us is about showing kindness and gratitude towards our community and friends as well as family members.  We do not spend very much money on gifting; however we use creativity and effort to show our appreciation.  We feel that the love is in the details.  We hope that this helps you spread love and kindness this Valentine's Day season. 

Disclosure: Not a sponsored post. All thoughts and ideas are all my own. 

Fowler Museum at UCLA

The Fowler Museum is located inside the UCLA campus grounds. The museum covers global arts and cultures. The works of art are from Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Americas-past and present. Here you will find thought-provoking exhibits. Our curiosities lead us into each room. As our visit came to an end, we realized that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We are sharing a few of our pictures from our visit. 

http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/

The Fowler Museum is part of UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture. The museum is open to the public and admission is free, however donations are welcome. 

Hours of operation:
Monday: closed
Tuesday: closed
Wednesday: noon – 8 pm
Thursday: noon – 5 pm
Friday: noon – 5 pm
Saturday: noon – 5 pm
Sunday: noon – 5 pm

HOLIDAY HOURS:
Open on Veteran’s Day
Closed on Thanksgiving
Open on the Friday after Thanksgiving
Closed on Christmas Eve Day
Closed on Christmas Day
Open on New Year’s Eve Day
Closed on New Year’s Day

Phone: (310) 825-4361
Email: fowlerws@arts.ucla.edu

Directions: Enter through the UCLA campus Lot 4 from Sunset Blvd. at Westwood Plaza and turn left into the Pay-By-Plate area of the lot.  Easy, self-service, Pay-By-Plate parking is available.

The address of Lot 4 is 221 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095

During your visit make sure to see the UCLA sculpture garden, The Botanical gardens and the UCLA Meteorite collection. 
https://www.botgard.ucla.edu/
http://www.meteorites.ucla.edu/

Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are all my own. 

Family Field Trip to The Old Mission San Buenaventura

We had another successful family field trip. This time, we headed up to Ventura, California  to "The Old Mission San Buenaventura."  The drive was a few hours from our home and we had to stop for drinks and snacks. All that driving, looking out the window made us thirsty and hungry.  When we arrived, we were amazed at how close the mission was to the beach. The weather was a little cooler than we had expected, so we covered up. We entered the mission through their store and paid our admission.  Then, we went up the stairs to a room filled with artifacts and video of the mission's history.  There, we found a door that led us to the mission grounds.  It was like a small piece of paradise.   Almost immediately, you could feel peace as we walked through the courtyard. We made our way to the Catholic church and there we could see the history on the walls through the paintings, statues and the altar.  The church is small in size but it was clear, that in that tiny place, God resides.  We were witness to a man who while praying, kneeled and walk all the way down the altar on his knees.  This homage to God and his presence made us feel as though he was seeking a miracle. We couldn't help but pray for him.  It was a unique experience for all of us that we won't soon forget. Address: San Buenaventura Mission is located at 211 E. Main St. Ventura CA 93001.

Important facts: Mission San Buenaventura is the 9th Catholic Mission to be constructed under guidance of Father Serra, a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan order. Unfortunately, he only spent three weeks at San Buenaventura before moving on to his next order. Founded in 1782, The Old Mission San Buenaventura has a long history. Throughout its legacy, it survived fire and several earthquakes. Additionally, in 1818, it was evacuated for a month as a result of a pirate attack by the Argentine, Hypolite Bouchard. The pirates spared the mission and it survived to become part of secularization during Mexican ownership. The mission was owned by the Mexican government until 1836 when it became part of the United States. In 1862, a petition requesting the Mission be returned to the Catholic Church was granted by President Abraham Lincoln. The popular mission was also visited by President William McKinley and his wife on May 10th, 1901. These are just a few of the historical events that took place at Mission San Buenaventura.

Other interesting facts about the mission include that it was a place for trade during the 1800's.  Ships would dock only a few feet from the mission to trade for goods and services. This gave the mission the nickname, "Mission by the Sea".  

After the mission was founded, a large wooden cross was placed on top of a hill overlooking the mission Church.  This cross was used as a highly visible road sign for travelers in search of it.  The original cross was damaged and replaced in the 1860's due to the elements.  A second cross, it's replacement, blew down during a storm in November 1875.  The hill above the mission would remain without it's landmark for nearly 40 years.  In 1912, the E.C.O. donated and replaced a new cross in it's current location as a historical landmark.  That cross is still standing today atop the hill in Grant Park and can be seen from far away. Directions to the Grant Park: 

Southbound: From the 101 take the Main Street exit. Turn right at the bottom of the ramp and drive until you reach Palm Street. Turn left onto Poli St, which becomes Cedar St. Turn right onto Ferro Dr and follow it as it twists around the foothills.

Northbound: From the 101 take the California Street exit. Be careful as you reach the top of the ramp, as it empties quite abruptly onto a major, and rather unmarked, intersection. Go straight towards the City Hall. Just as you turn left onto Poli St, which becomes Cedar St. Turn right onto Ferro Dr and follow it as it twists around the foothills.

Source: http://www.serracrosspark.com/history.html
http://www.sanbuenaventuramission.org/

California Missions

1.) Basilica San Diego de Alcala 

2.) Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Carmelo

3.) San Antonio de Padua 

4.) San Gabriel Arcangel 

5.) San Luis Obispo 

6.) San Francisco de Asis 

7.) San Juan Capistrano

8.) Santa Clara de Asis

9.) San Buenaventura

10.) Santa Barbara

11.) La Purisima Concepcion 

12.) Santa Cruz 

13.) Nuestra Senora de la Soledad 

14.) San Jose 

15.) San Juan Bautista

16.)  San Miguel Arcangel 

17.) San Fenando Rey de Espana 

18.) San Luis Rey de Francia

19.) Santa Ines

20.) San Rafael Arcangel 

21.) San Francisco Solano de Sonoma 
Disclosure: Not a sponsored post. 

UCLA Meteorite Collection Family Field Trip

Southern California is home to one of the largest meteorite collections in the West. The UCLA Meteorite Collection is located in room 3697 of the Geology Building.  This collection has been on exhibit and opened to the public since January 2014. The gallery is open weekdays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and on Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.  Admission is always free.  This past weekend, we took the opportunity to visit and learn about meteorites.  Continue reading to find out what happened.....

We arrived Sunday afternoon and parked in the visitor parking section of the garage. Parking is convenient and located directly across from the Geology building. The kids were amazed that we were able to walk into the Geology building on a Sunday afternoon. As we headed to the collection, there were many questions about UCLA. Our kids are still so young that talking about college seems way to early however looking at it, it is right around the corner for us. We offered information and suggested UCLA could be a school they could attend one day. As for today, we were just exploring meteorites even though there were many more curiosities presented.

357-pound iron chunk of an asteroid that crashed into Arizona nearly 50,000 years ago

We walked to the third floor and waited as we arrived a few minutes early. This gave us time to look around and find nearby dinosaur fossils on display. It was a fun surprise to see up close rare fossils. They are part of their teaching and research collection. To see more of  the Earth, Planetary and Space Science collection visit: http://epss.ucla.edu/teaching-research-collections/

UCLA Meteorite Collection

Once the doors to the Meteorite Collection room opened, we met a very informative and engaging volunteer named John.  He explained to us that this was the 5th largest collection of meteorites in the nation. We could tell how proud he felt about the collection and UCLA as a school. After a short visit with John, he handed us over to Jason, the docent working this Sunday afternoon.  Jason was informative and engaging while he explained how these meteorites were over 4.5 Billion years old.  Jason painted us a picture demonstrating how space particulate is lifted into the atmosphere by other asteroid impacts in our solar system, where it then heats, combines with other particles, hardens and repeats the process in its orbit around the sun. This process continues for years until a collision knocks the meteor out of orbit with destination to one of the nearby planets or moon. Jason also showed us a martian meteorite which was amazing to imagine.  We could see the love he has for the study of Geology as he explained the collection to us.  It was a very informative and eye opening experience.

Our short visit left us with a fraction of knowledge about meteorites as there is so much more to learn and study. Such as Meteorites are divided into two main classes: primitive and differentiated.  Each little spot on these meteorites tell a story and data from that story continues to be collected, studied and reported on.  To learn more visit: http://www.meteorites.ucla.edu/faq/

UCLA Meteorite Gallery Geology Building, Room 3697,

595 Charles Young Drive East Los Angeles, CA 90095

Email: meteorites@ucla.eduPhone: 310-825-2015

Disclaimer: Not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are all my own.

Happy Holidays with love from Field Trip Mom and family.

Fun things to do in Southern California.

Southern California is filled with great entertainment. This December proved to be no exception. Our adventure began with Dave and Buster’s and a few friends. There, we played video games and ate American Cuisine.

The evening was filled with laughter and sportsmanship. Their purple shaved ice with gummy worms was a hit with everyone. It was so delicious that we might go back just for drinks and a few more video games. It was a great way to relieve stress and enjoy the week. 

We also visited Knott’s Berry Farm this holiday season as our family holiday party. Spending a whole day on roller coasters was great for family bonding. We spent our lunch hour at the Ghost Town Grill where we usually have the special of the day. This year, the entire room was celebrating birthdays and we ended up singing, “Happy Birthday” three different times.  The whole dining experience was fun and like a big giant family affair. The evening ended with one last roller coaster ride on the Sierra Sidewinder. Our bodies were filled with so much joy and happiness that we slept in the next day. Knott’s never disappoints. 

Pretend City Children’s Museum – Winter break is a time to have fun and disconnect from devices. We spent one morning building, creating and painting as well as playing at Pretend City. We laughed the entire time remembering our previous visits to the museum. It went something like this, “remember the time we came and you ran around in the car like you were on the 405 freeway?” The kids have visited the museum from a very young age and now they look back on those visits with great joy.  This visit was filled with non-stop laughter because we had so many fond memories of the place. It was a very successful day.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts - The Fiesta Navidad Mariachi Los Camperos concert was a cultural experience for all of us. Three great reasons we decided to attend this fun event. (1.) My youngest son plays the violin and this experience would greatly encourage his music education. (2.) We wanted to connect with our Hispanic roots. (3.) Evening out with the family is good for the soul.  After the show, we were so impressed that we decided we wanted to see the band next year because their performance was so electric.

Tijuana, Mexico - We traveled to the border town of Tijuana, Mexico to visit family.  It was the first time our kids had visited another country. The family trip proved to be fun, educational and eye-opening. On the drive down, we discussed currency, language and culture.  The kids had many questions about their visit that we decided that in 2017 there will be more travels to foreign countries. We want to encourage you to seek adventure and joy in 2017. 

We want to wish you a great 2017!!!  Happy New Year!

Disclaimer:  All thoughts and ideas are all my own. We received free admission only and no other forms of compensation.

Denny's Diner is a favorite nostalgic eatery.

Denny's Diner is our favorite place to fill our bellies with delicious traditional American breakfast foods. My husband and I have been eating at Denny's since we were small kids. Now, we are passing that tradition to our kids. Saturday morning, we stopped by our local Denny's Diner to load up on family favorites. Pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, oatmeal and hash browns along with biscuit and gravy usually end-up being on our breakfast order. Of course, the menu is filled with lots more delicious American dishes that will delight foodies like omelets, sandwiches, hamburgers and desserts. The kids menu offers variety and healthy options. 

Denny's Diner has been a staple to Southern California because it is open 24 hours a day. It is the perfect eatery for our city that never sleeps. Their food is made to order so, you can customize your meal. This is great for people that have dietary restrictions. The folks at Denny's aim to make each experience happy and filling. 

The bottomless coffee cup is waiting for you at Denny's. Yes, they have decaf for those of us that can't drink caffeine. If you enjoy having dessert then try their milk shakes, banana split or a piece of cheesecake. Check with your local Denny's to make sure of the pies and cakes they offer because they might vary from location. 

If you visit the Irvine Denny's you will meet Jorge and Tony. They are the nicest people and will make you feel welcomed every time. Tell them we sent you. 

Hope you have a great holiday season. 

Bosek Family