New LEGO Store is Now Open at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park

/

Please, don't tell my kids that there's a new LEGO Store at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park! I've lost track but I believe my house contains a college education's worth of LEGOs!

Yes, for several weeks now, the newest and now closest LEGO Store to Ventura County has been open. It is located on the first floor of the Topanga Mall near Target and across from the Baby Gap store. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m on Sunday. Call 818.884.8597 or visit stores.lego.com/en-us/stores/us/topanga for more information. The mall is located at 6800 Topanga Canyon Road.

Previously, the closest LEGO Store to us here in the Conejo Valley / Greater Ventura County area was at the Glendale Galleria. My kids have an insatiable appetite for LEGO sets and nearly every room in the house shows signs of LEGOS.

Roughly 1% of the LEGOs in my house.

But wait...you can celebrate the grand opening of the LEGO Store at Westfield Topanga on September 27-29, 2013 with a huge LEGO Master Build event!

Join in and help a real LEGO® Master Builder construct an 8-foot tall model of Yoda™ completely out of LEGO bricks! You'll receive a free Certificate of Achievement for participating! This event will take place on Friday, the 27th from 11am-7pm, Saturday from 10am-6pm and Sunday from 11am-7pm.

Be one of the first 300 people each day to make a qualifying purchase at the LEGO Store and you will receive one of the following giveaways:

  • Friday, September 27: Free Collectible LEGO T-Shirt with a $50 Purchase!*
  • Saturday, September 28: Free Limited-Edition LEGO Store Set with a $75 Purchase!
  • Sunday, September 29: Free Exclusive LEGO Minifigure Set with a $50 Purchase!

Offers valid while supplies last only. *T-shirts are available in child sizes only.

Interesting and Amazing Facts and Tidbits About LEGO® Blocks

Visit to the New "Make Meaning" Store at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks is Fun!

/

Make Meaning opened at The Oaks Shopping Mall on Monday, February 2013. Located in the outdoor shops area of the mall, upper level, south side, first store outside of the mall, Make Meaning offers seven creative experiences, including customized soap, candles, paper, ceramics, glass, jewelry and cake decorating.

This is quite a large store, open, light and airy, with an upbeat atmosphere. We stopped by over the weekend and checked it out. My son picked out a froggy piggy bank and the store was buzzing with others busy creating their own items.

The staff are called Associate Creativity Enthusiasts (ACE's), there to help you through the process. And that they were. I was able to just walk in and they kind of took over with my son while enjoyed watching him in his creative efforts. And they took care of the prep and the mess.

My son's froggy piggy bank masterpiece in it final stages. Make Meaning glazes it and fires it, then you pick it up in 4 days.

Neat selection of supplies to individualize your cake!

Read More

Gull Wings Children's Museum Unveils Colorful Piece by Local Artist Chuck Trunks

/

Note: The museum closed its Oxnard location on January 10, 2016 to focus on procuring a new location.

The Gull Wings Children's Museum, previously located at 418 W. Fourth Street in Downtown Oxnard, is the only museum in Ventura County geared solely towards kids. Gull Wings recently commissioned Camarillo artist Chuck Trunks to create art that reflects the education and creativity spawned by the interactive exhibits within the museum. Trunks presented this colorful piece that is now prominently displayed on the walls of the museum.

Trunks_GullWings.jpg
Chuck Trunks in Gull Wings Gift Shop (Photo Credit: Claudia Pardo)

Chuck Trunks in Gull Wings Gift Shop (Photo Credit: Claudia Pardo)

If you've never taken your young kids to Gull Wings, do it! Gull Wings is a very low key, interactive place where within the span of an hour they can dress like firefighters, explore a space shuttle, play around in a car, build LEGOs, role play in a kitchen, touch sea stars, learn about the human body, see lizards and snakes and the list goes on. My sons brought a 1st grader friend last weekend and he had a BLAST! Learn more at www.gullwings.org.

Tooth Fairy Wisdom From My 6 Year Old

/

This past Saturday night, my 6 year old lost his first tooth. It was a momentous, proud occasion for him. A coming of age. Yet another major event in the "firsts" of a 6 year old's life that up to that point includes things like first burp, first giggle, first solid food, first words, first steps, first day at preschool and first day of kindergarten.

But losing that first tooth is different from all of these other firsts because it involves "losing" something for the first time. And in turn, this loss is parlayed into something bigger, better and more exciting...a visit from "The Tooth Fairy."

And so yesterday, when I received my wife's emailed picture of my newly toothless little guy, that my next step was to create a Tooth Fairy certificate to accompany the next morning's under-pillow excitement. Been there, done that. I don't recall such fanfare when I was a kid. But my wife is really into this stuff.

Losing your first truth is an exciting time indeed, an experience shared with the entire family. The cheers, hugs, smiles, knuckle bumps and high fives ensued when they got home. And later that night at bedtime my wife gave him careful instructions for proper placement of the

Read More

Child Car Booster Seat Laws in California are Changing on January 1, 2012

/
ChildSeat.jpg

Something to be aware of for next year. Earlier this month Governor Brown signed into law SB 929 to change child booster seat requirements and align them with National Highway Transportation Safety Administration standards effective January 1, 2012.

Current law requires children in the State of California under age 6 or under 60 pounds to be seated in a child restraint seat (e.g. booster seat).

The new law changes this requirement to children under 8 years of age, unless they are 4' 9" or taller.

As a father of kids in this age range, I do think this new law makes sense. The lap belt is supposed to cross the hip area, not lie across the tummy, while the shoulder belt should lie across the chest, not hike up the neck. We've experimented and without the booster seats my kids are simply not fully protected and the belt could do some major damage to their small bodies if not situated correctly.

This law is interesting in that it takes away the weight parameter and replaces it with height. Your kid is "off the hook" if they are 4' 9" or taller before the age of 8. Jersey Shore "celebrity" Snooki Polizzi is 4' 9" tall at the age of 23. If she were just slightly shorter perhaps it would be in her interest to use a booster seat in her car.

I digress. It is interesting how laws vary state by state on this issue. The majority of states require kids 7 and under to sit in booster seats, yet it is currently perfectly legal for a 4 year old to use an adult seat belt in the state of Florida, while Arizona and South Dakota allows 5 year olds to wear adult seat belts. At the other extreme, kids under age 9 in Wyoming all must be in kid seats.

Check out www.iihs.org/laws/mapchildrestraintagerequirements.aspx for well organized information regarding child seat belt laws by state.

Interesting and Amazing Facts and Tidbits About LEGO® Blocks

/

My kids are LEGO® fanatics and I'm constantly being nagged for new LEGO sets. Our house must have thousands of dollars of them. So recently we visited the only LEGO store within an hour range of the Conejo Valley, at the Glendale Galleria. To make it a full day, we stopped by the Los Angeles Zoo and Griffith Park for mini-train rides. Needless to say, they loved the LEGO store and we spent quite a bit of time exploring.

Some amazing facts about LEGO bricks and products (Source: Lego.com):

  • There are over 915 million ways to combine 6 8-stud LEGO bricks. Go try it for yourself! The exact number of combinations is 915,103,765.
  • The LEGO Group made over 31 billion LEGO elements in 2010, or 1,000 per second.
  • There are over 3,900 LEGO elements and 58 different LEGO colors.
  • Over 400 million children and adults will play with LEGO bricks this year.
  • Laid end to end, the LEGO bricks sold in one year would circle the earth 10 times.
  • With over 300 million tires produced each year, LEGO is the world's largest tire maker.
  • Nearly half a TRILLION LEGO elements have been manufactured over the years.
  • Over the years, an estimated 4 BILLION LEGO minifigures have been produced, making them the world's largest population group!
  • There are 4 LEGOLAND® parks in the world, including Denmark, England, California and Germany. A new LEGOLAND, the largest ever, will open in Florida (midway between Tampa and Orlando) in mid-October 2011! A 6th park is planned in Malaysia in 2012.
  • Our "local" LEGOLAND here in Carlsbad, California opened in 1999 using 35 million LEGO brocks in the park's 15,000 LEGO models.

The name LEGO originated in 1934 when Ole Kirk Kristiansen took the Danish words LEG GODT "play well" and created the name that has become a household word. The LEGO Group is very protective of its brand...they require the following:

  • LEGO should always be written in capital letters.
  • LEGO must not be used as a generic term or in the plural (e.g. LEGOs).
  • When used as part of a noun, LEGO must not appear on its own (e.g. LEGO bricks).

ROCK ON, LEGO!

Read More