Stacks Of Pancakes, Tall Ships And Tide Pools, The Pacific Pocket Mouse, Panoramas, And Richard Henry Dana's White Squirrels

Do you have a few hours on a weekend morning to visit Dana Point Harbor? Need to kill some time before your whale watching trip? Well then, here's the oddballkidfun plan.

Stop for breakfast at Stacks Pancake House on PCH. Get there early to avoid lines and feast on Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Hawaiian Bread French Toast with bananas and coconut syrup. If your kids don't like that perfect goodness from a sweet, tropical heaven then you can order them a plain cheese omelette with fruit off the kid's menu.

After filling your belly it's time to drive down PCH and enter the harbor on Dana Point Harbor Drive. You'll pass the entrance to Doheny State Beach on your left. It's a great beach for a bike ride. It has large grassy areas for picnics and is usually full of beach campers, surf camps, families, and a few people who've set up homes in the parking lot. But we're going to skip Doheny. We only have a few fours, right?

At the end of Dana Point Harbor Drive is the parking lot for the Ocean Institute. It's an education facility focused on teaching the community about the ocean with lessons in oceanography, conservation, and even maritime history. It's open 10-3 on the weekends and there's a charge for admission - $6.50 for adults, kids $4.50. It's not a museum or aquarium but there are a few exhibits and a small touch tank inside. On weekends you can also tour the Tall Ships. The Pilgrim is built to look like the brig Richard Henry Dana wrote about in his book Two Years Before the Mast. There's often another tall ship called the Spirit of Dana Point which is a replica of a privateer from the late 1700's.

For a great experience with nature, walk behind the Ocean Institute past the picnic tables and down the stairs. To the left is the jetty that now blocks the KillerDana swells and to the right is a stretch of beach with tide pools. You'll see everything from sea stars to sea lions depending on the tide and weather.

After seeing ocean life it's a good idea to get a peek at some interesting life on land. Head on over to the Richard Henry Dana statue which is at the end of Island Way. There's a small grass area around the statue and a walking trail along the cove. It's a nice place to watch stand up paddle-boarders and ships leaving the harbor. You'll see a few dog walkers and it's the only place, except for that one pirate convention, I've seen people walking with pet parrots on their shoulders.

Behind the statue you can try to find the white ground squirrels that live there. They aren't shy if you have a scrap of food. And each light colored squirrel has different markings so you can tell them apart.

For the last stop make your way back onto Dana Point Harbor Drive and head back toward the Ocean Institute but make a right turn on Cove Road and drive up the cliff. At the top of the cliff turn left and follow the road to the Dana Point Nature Interpretive Center, open from 10-4 everyday except Monday. It's the entry spot for the Dana Point Headlands and the Dana Point Preserve. Along with a few displays of local animals and plants they have an informative brochure with a good trail map.

The area around the center has a few critters that are unusual. The star is the Pacific Pocket Mouse, a protected animal living in the Headlands. Mr. Pocket Mouse was thought to be extinct until it was discovered in 1993 right there in the Headlands. It's a nocturnal animal so although it's cute, your family will only get a chance to see pictures of it. There's a 1/2 mile hilly up and back trail in the preserve or a longer trail around the neighborhood.

For the final stop and a great view of the harbor drive from the nature center a short way along Green Lantern. Pass the Chart House restaurant and right across from Cannon's Seafood Grill there are stairs leading to a viewing spot. Park along the road and hit the stairs, It's a workout- we counted 112 steps going up and 102 going down- maybe you'll get the correct number.

At the top of the stairs there's a terrific panorama of Dana Point harbor. There's another small trail that will take you to the top of the hill for a great 360 degree view of Dana Point.




Stacks Pancake House 34255 Pacific Coast Highway Ste 110, Dana Point, CA 92629 (949) 429-2222
Ocean Institute 24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr. Dana Point, CA 92629 (949) 496-2274
Dana Point Nature Interpretive Center 34588 Scenic Dr. Dana Point, CA 92629 

Super Soaker And The Toy Hall Of Fame

The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, is home to the Toy Hall of Fame. Every year they induct two or three new toys into the pantheon.

They have a few requirements for a toy or childhood play item to get in. They toy needs to be widely recognized, respected, and remembered. It also needs to show longevity by being more than a passing fad and enjoying popularity over multiple generations. The toy should also promote discovery, foster learning, creativity or discovery through play. And a toy can also be chosen if it was innovative and profoundly changed play or toy design.

There are over forty toys already in the Hall. You can see them here. They include favorites like LEGO, Barbie, a cardboard box, jump rope, jacks, marbles, Easy-Bake Oven, and Etch A Sketch. It's a fun list to go over and reminisce.

The purpose of a hall of fame is to honor the best in a field but it also leads to discussions about who or what should be included.

But do we need to argue about toys and the Toy Hall of Fame? Yes. Yes we do. I mean how does the Game of Life get into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2010? Just because Hasbro keeps on making it doesn't mean it's good. I know it's historical and is in the Smithsonian. But that's where it can stay. I can't remember playing an entire game when I was a kid and now my kids don't like it. It's not fun and we lost the tiny blue and pink people pegs within an hour. All I liked was the game board and the spinner. But the game- no. 

I know everyone has their opinion. And someone played Life with their grandparents and parents at their cabin around a fire while it was snowing outside and the entire night is like the perfect family memory but that's only because the game cupboard was missing Yahtzee or Sorry and the deck of cards was missing the kings. The Game of Life is never a kid's first choice. 

I'm done ranting.

How about my picks for the next toy that should be included, okay? I have a few.

The way it works is the museum puts together some nominations at the end of summer then a month before Christmas they whittle it down to two or three inductees. Last year for instance, some of the nominees included Star Wars action figures, Jenga, the pogo stick, puppets, Transformers, Rubik's Cube, and Twister. These didn't make the cut but the Game of Life did? What?! Now I'm done ranting, for real.

My online write-in nominations this year include Colorforms, Lite Brite, bubbles, and sand toys. Pretty vanilla, right? Those are the safe ones. My favorite choice is the Super Soaker.

Let me break it down. Super soakers have been around now for more than 20 years. It was launched in 1989 as the Power Drencher after being bounced around in development in a few different companies. The idea for the Super Soaker was hatched in 1982 at home in a bathroom sink by nuclear engineer, Lonnie Johnson, while researching heat pumps for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Before Lonnie's invention squirt guns had a  traditional trigger pump, were plastic, and not very powerful. In 1985 battery powered squirt guns were on the market and were faster and more powerful than traditional squirt guns because they had an electric motor pulling water and pushing it through a nozzle. 

The Super Soaker has a chamber that uses air pressure to shoot a stream of water with more power than any other squirt gun. Super Soakers changed the way all kids use water guns. My kids have grown up not knowing how much of a bummer it was to drop a cheap plastic squirt gun and have it crack or standing five feet from someone and not being able to shoot them because your gun squirts only four feet. 

The Super Soaker should definitely make the cut at the Toy Hall of Fame just based on its innovation not to mention the fact that it's been a toy that's been enjoyed for over twenty years by everyone from kids to Michael Jackson to our current Vice President.

But the only way to get it there is to nominate it by July 31. I've nominated it the last three years with no luck. Maybe Hasbro can get behind this instead of Transformers. 

You can nominate a toy for the Hall of Fame at their website. The deadline is the the end of July- so hurry!

Gags and Giggles

Behind the counter of House of Humor in Costa Mesa is a collection of things any 10 year-old kid can appreciate and enjoy. Items like a fart alarm, three different types of fart spray, and a Fart-O-Matic that can cause "a real fart attack" to name just a few. 

This oddballkidfun spot is a magic, costume, and novelty store. When you visit, make a beeline for the gag and novelty section in the back of this small shop. You'll find two large racks of S. S. Adams items- the king of novelties.

Picking your pranks and gags is a complicated thing. You have to consider who you might use it on, where to use it and when. It's like designing a perfect tasting menu for a chef.

So to make it easier I've set up a little menu for gags and novelties at House of Humor.

We're starting with a classic- the hand buzzer. It's fun and surprising but won't hurt the person being pranked. A little bland but everyone can enjoy it. Just a note - don't overwind or the fun will be over and tears from an eight year old won't fix the buzzer. 

Now this one is fairly new. It might take a while for the payoff and if your prankee doesn't live in an area with regular gunfire it's a little hard to pull off. Good prank for our second course.

Oooh penetrating wit! What an appetizing entree. This is one that can be used over and over. Of course, you might be asked why the nurse who bandaged your wound didn't take out the nail. This one works well on parents after school on the car ride home looking at the back seat prankster in the rear view mirror. Trust me.

For dessert we have a newer prank. The spider that comes out of the creamer container. Brilliant! It says it can be used over and over but I'm not sure coffee drinkers grab already opened creamers again and again. 

Don't forget to pick up other classics like itching or sneezing powder, snake in a can, black soap, cockroach gum, and all of your other favorites from childhood. If you want to buy stink bombs (and you do, right?), ask the owner; they're behind the counter and must be bought by a parent. 

1215 West Baker, Unit C  Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Super Secret Slides

Okay, I don't always like to give away my family's secret oddballkidfun spots but I think it's time to let this one out. In Santa Ana, in a hidden corner next to a river trail and built into a hillside, there are two beautiful steel slides. What makes these slides special is their size. Each one is at least 20 feet long.

Let me start with directions. East of the Main Place Mall and behind the Mother's Market center there is a walking and biking trail. Drive on Memory Lane which runs parallel to the trail and turn right into the small driveway for the Santiago Creek Wildlife and Watershed Center.

You'll see the recently built nature center to the right. Park in the dirt along the riverbed.

Follow the road a few feet to find the slides under the shade of a few large eucalyptus trees. There are two slides. The one to the right is the smaller of the two.

The large slide on the left is a beauty - just waiting for a family to slide down. Don't forget to bring wax paper or a piece of cardboard to sit on. You want to go faster don't you? Some daredevils try to go down the slides on bikes, skateboards, and even Tonka trucks. You'll even notice a few dings and dents on the slides. 

Here's a view from the top of the larger slide. Looks pretty fun, right? See the bottom? It's past the last bit of shade- probably more than 25 feet down. Of course, many first-timers use the old-fashioned extended leg foot brake method the entire way down.  

We've been coming to the slides for years. The slide steps and platform used to be in pretty bad shape and the park wasn't maintained as well as it is now. So I started telling a spooky little story about an overcast, cloudy day at the park and a girl who disappeared on the slide and whose voice can still be heard if you...

Sorry, time's up. 

Story or no story the super secret slides are some of the best slides still around in Orange County. Just try to keep it sort of a secret, okay? And make it there before Santa Ana's insurance company or law firm suggests  knocking it down. 

Pint-Sized Art At The Brea Art Gallery

Kids like small things, right? Small erasers, small toys, tiny dollhouse furniture and miniature origami. Some kids like to sharpen a pencil down to the nib and make it as puny as possible. For those kids, here's a place to go.

There are quite a few artists displayed and many types of art - everything from glass, mixed media, ceramic, painting, pen and pencil drawing, to felt, jewelry, tilt-shifted video, and sculpture. Although every piece is smaller scaled not every piece was pint-sized enough for my kids. We were looking for real pipsqueak pieces. And there are a few gems that are truly tiny. You might even need a magnifying glass to get a closer look. (And the gallery has a few on hand to lend out.)

There are some fanciful fish cars along with colorful depictions of cryptids like Loch Ness, Chupacabra, and Yeti.

My daughter liked the miniature robots with zipper mouths and the miniature robots coloring book that was about the size of a postage stamp when closed. 

The pencil sculptures were really interesting. I wanted to touch and hold the black sea urchin. It was like a school supply tidal pool. 

This tiny ice cream in the park sculpture caught my daughter's eye. She mentioned how real and alive it looked. Like a moment frozen in time. She noticed under the fake grass there's a layer of hidden soil that you can only see if you look close with your magnifying glass. 

My favorite was a set of matchbooks with tiny, detailed drawings on the inside of the covers. It reminded me of trying to draw tiny passengers, luggage, and pilots on the inside fold of my small paper airplanes when I was a kid. .

Before we left we noticed the Styrofoam cup art work. Also known as bored at the party art.

Head over to the gallery before the end of this week, The exhibition only runs until July 13th. By the way, much of the work is for sale at reasonable prices. So grab a Miniature Robots Coloring Book for $5 or splurge and take home this Styrofoam cup art for just over $1,000. 

Brea Art Gallery 1 Civic Center Circle Brea, CA 92821 714-990-7731. Open Wed-Sun 12-5 during exhibitions. $2 admission fee or free for Brea residents and kids 12 and under. 

Happy Fourth of July

History time. Take a look at some heroes from our country's past courtesy of the 1976 bicentennial edition of Pez dispensers. 

Summer Crew Cut

My son has had longer hair the last few years so we decided to get an old-fashioned clipper crew cut for the summer. There's no better place for that kind of cut than  Kay Mar Barbers in Orange.

It's a classic, old school style barber shop with four chairs and barbers that have been cutting hair for decades. It's cash only and they've been known to tell moms not to put too much gel in a kid's hair and give unsolicited lessons on the correct way to brush your hair. But they always have bubble gum for the kids and you're in and out of the chair lickety split.

There's an impressive collection of law enforcement and military badges along the back wall. There's an old operating cash register next to a television that I've never seen turned on and a pay phone I've never seen used. The small talk between the barbers and customers makes the place seems like a social club. Just the kind the place for a dad to take a son for a summer crew cut.

Here's the before. (Notice that hand painted lettering for the dry cleaner in the background. Pretty impressive.)

And the after. 

Bring on summer camp! Bring on the beach and the pool! This haircut screams, "I'm ready!" 

Kay Mar Barbers 1764 N. Tustin St. Orange, CA 92865  (714)-637-9810