Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers Highlight Their Favorite Family Eateries

The other night, we ran a drawing on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook page. To enter the drawing, we asked folks to indicate their favorite family-friendly restaurant in the Conejo Valley or anywhere in Ventura County. There were over 170 entries and some clear winners.

Toppers Pizza Place was the clear overall winner, garnering 15 mentions, or nearly 9% of all entries. A perennial favorite, home grown here in Ventura County, with popular pizzas, salad bar and more. Toppers has locations in Lazy Dog Cafe coming soon to The Collection at RiverPark in OxnardThousand Oaks, Camarillo, Simi Valley, Ventura, Oxnard and Channel Islands Harbor. www.topperspizzaplace.com

In the chase pack were Lazy Dog Cafe, Red Robin and Islands Restaurant, each gathering 10 to 11 votes. Lazy Dog is located at The Oaks shopping mall in Thousand Oaks as is coming soon to The Collection at RiverPark in Oxnard. Red Robin has locations at The Oaks, Pacific View Mall in Ventura and Simi Valley Town Center (the Calabasas location recently closed). Islands has locations in Newbury Park, Agoura Hills and in Simi Valley.

Garnering eight votes each were The Cheesecake Factory and Stacked, located side by side at The Oaks. Cheesecake Factory seems to always be bustling with people. With its corporate headquarters in nearby Calabasas, Cheesecake Factory is a publicly traded company with stock symbol CAKE and a current market valuation of $2.3 billion...that's a lot of cheesecake. With its customized iPad ordering system and tasty food, Stacked has grown quite a following since opening in March 2013.

California Pizza Kitchen, with locations at The Lakes at Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley Town Center and Pacific View Mall, received six votes, landing in 7th place on the list.

The following restaurants received a healthy 3 or 4 votes: BJ's Restaurant, Country Harvest in Newbury Park, Wood Ranch BBQ, Cho Cho San, Cronies, Souplantation, Stonefire Grill, Joe's Crab Shack and Pieology. A combination of home grown Ventura County favorites and larger chains.

Making the honorable mention list with two votes apiece were Pickles Deli, Dickey's BBQ Pit, Gandolfo's Deli, Bandits BBQ, Mulberry Street Pizzeria, Chilis, Panera Bread, Yolanda's, Junkyard Cafe, Sea Fresh at Channel Islands Harbor, Jinky's Cafe, Buca di Beppo, Sharky's, Lure Fish House and newly opened Mama's Hummus in Newbury Park.

PLACES WITH KIDS EAT FREE DEALS AROUND VENTURA COUNTY

RESTAURANT REWARDS PROGRAMS AND BIRTHDAY CLUBS AROUND VENTURA COUNTY

Beam Yourself Up to Some Great Upcoming Events Around Ventura County!

"Beam Me Up" by local artist Chuck Trunks

Doesn't matter what time of year...there's ALWAYS something to do in and around Ventura County. Here are links to some of our favorite types of events and activities.

FREE EVENTS

FAMILY EVENTS

KID EVENTS

FESTIVALS

FUNDRAISERS

5K/10K RUNS

FAIRS/EXPOS

And there's movies, museums, theaters, community classes, pilates, kids eat free, skateboarding, shopping, volunteering, bowling and so much more!  Have fun!

Favorite Kids Activities Around Ventura County as Voted by CVG Facebook Fans

Yes, it actually rained here in the Conejo Valley last week!

Last Sunday, we ran a drawing on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook page and asked entrants to indicate their favorite activity with the kids around town. On that rainy Sunday we had quite a bit of response. So with no further ado, let us highlight activities receiving the highest number of mentions. Do take note that the question was asked in open-ended fashion; we did not mention any of the hundreds of kids' activities compiled here on Conejo Valley Guide.

In the upper echelons of popularity, the most frequently noted family favorite activities were <drum roll> Underwood Family Farm in Moorpark, the Thousand Oaks Library, Sky High Sports in Camarillo (CLOSED IN 2018), the Santa Barbara Zoo and local parks. Underwood was the clear top mentioned activity, with the others close on its heels. Some of the specific parks called out included Conejo Creek Park North (including the popular duck pond), Thousand Oaks Community Park (near TOHS) and specifically the "Ant Hill" at that park, Borchard Park in Newbury Park and Gates Canyon Park in Calabasas.

The Ant Hill at Thousand Oaks Community Park. Bring cardboard to slide down on!

The following activities were mentioned by CVG followers at least several times: Scooter's Jungle in Simi Valley, hiking and nature trails, As You Wish Pottery Painting Place (formerly Paint a Dream) at the Simi Valley Town Center, the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden, Lazertag Extreme in Simi Valley, Chuck E. Cheese's, Oak Canyon Park Duck Pond and Splash Pad, Rockin' Kids Play Center at the Simi Valley Town Center and Kids World in Oak Park. Also called out by several parents as a great activity was the Conejo Youth Basketball Association.

Other mentions by the family friendly Facebook crowd included bowling, Lowe's/Home Depot kids' workshops, Gardens of the World in Thousand Oaks, My Gym Thousand Oaks, Kids Club at The Oaks, Pump It Up Ventura, Kidspace Children's Museum in Pasadena, Create Studio in Westlake Village, Gymboree, Reagan Library, Camarillo Airport (the Waypoint Cafe is a great place to dine and see the planes) and Patriot Airsoft in Newbury Park (which closed in 2016).

Rounding out the list are Clubhouse Fun Zone in Ventura, playground at The Lakes at Thousand Oaks, horseback riding, the beach, Ventura Harbor Village, Wildwood Park, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, playground at The Village at Dos Vientos Ranch, California ScienCenter in Los Angeles, Conejo Rec & Park District programs, geocaching, We Rock the Spectrum in Agoura Hills and the Kids' Adventure Garden in Thousand Oaks.

Who doesn't love "Cosmic Bowling" pictured here at Harley's Bowl Camarillo. Especially with the bumpers up!

Local Family's Marathon Toy Making Session Captured on This Time Lapse Video

Simi Valley resident Tony Pinto captured this time lapse video of his boys putting together a Starcraft II Mega Bloks BlizzCon 2011 Exclusive Limited Edition Set Battlecruiser during the recent Christmas break. This LEGO-like, 1,738 piece spaceship took an elapsed time nearly 10 hours over two days to put together, including a little help from pop. This explains the change of clothes mid-way into the video. This time lapse also captures a cameo appearance from their sister, one beverage spill and clean-up and a 90 minute period where younger bro takes a video game break. Looks fun!

Christmas 2013 Residential Holiday Light Display on Gemini/Waverly in Camarillo

As in years past, many homes on Gemini Street and Waverly Avenue south of Dunnigan Street in Camarillo are lit up and decorated with cartoon characters, trains, Santa, snowmen, and plenty of lights and other decorations this holiday season. Drive the route or park and walk. It is worth going out of your way for! From the the 101, take Arneill north past Ponderosa to Dunnigan. Turn right on Dunnigan and Gemini is the 4th street on your right.

Here are some scenes from this display in prior years.

Thousands Enjoy Annual Christmas Tree Lane Display in Oxnard Historic District

We stopped by the 2013 Annual Christmas Tree Lane Display on F and G streets between 5th and Palm in the Oxnard Historic District and had a great time, along with thousands of other local residents. This is the biggest residential display in Ventura County and makes for a great family evening. And the music and light show at nearby Plaza Park is another thing you want to check out. More information at www.oxnardhistoricdistrict.com. Video below provides some snippets of what's in store.

The Pumpkin Chucker at the Pumpkin Patch at Faulkner Farm in Santa Paula

A trebuchet is a catapult that works by using the energy of a raised counterweight to throw a projectile. It was popular in medieval times for hurling large stones and missiles. It became obsolete in the 15th century with the introduction of gunpowder.

However, in recent years, the Pumpkin Chucker at the Faulkner Farm Pumpkin Patch in Santa Paula has brought this ancient projectile thrower back into the spotlight!

For $5 (or 3 for $10), visitors to the pumpkin patch can select a small pumpkin that is carefully placed into a launch position on the Pumpkin Chucker, ring the Pumpkin Chucker bell, then pull the rope that triggers a 500 lb counterweight that projects the pumpkin 200 feet away towards a target.

In our recent visit, I was surprised to experience about a 45 minute wait for the Pumpkin Chucker! But that didn't seem to bother anyone, as everyone enjoyed watching the airborne pumpkins and cheering as they came close to the target. It was so popular in fact that I think this could be a great year-round business opportunity...flinging pumpkins, watermelons, canteloupes and other worthy produce!

Pumpkin commencing its 200 foot flight from the Pumpkin Chucker

The Faulkner Farm Pumpkin Patch, run by the Rotary Club of Santa Paula since 2007, is typically open on weekends in October each year. Learn more at www.faulknerfarmpumpkinpatch.com.

Pumpkin Chucker target area and post-flight remnants of pumpkins at Faulkner Farm