Author: adventureswithcandy

Mommy. Knott's Berry Farm Season Passholder. Seaworld San Diego Season Passholder. Nature Nate's Brand Ambassador. We love theme parks, museums, kids play places, scary movies, Halloween, haunts of all sizes, The Monkees, 60s tunes, and clowns.

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark

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I grew up reading these books over and over with my brother. Every time our cousins came over to visit we would all sit around in the middle of the night and read them and scare the shit out of each other. I have some pretty good stories of how I, the little one, was always ditched when things got too scary.

Of course hearing about this movie coming out was exciting and of course I thought — FINALLY! Buttttt there are so many good stories, the way they are told, and the pictures that went along with them. It left me wondering what stories they would cover (which were revealed in the previews) and why this one, this one, and this one weren’t covered. AND would they be told how I always pictured them.

Obviously I was bringing Giuseppe to see this with me. I wasn’t expecting too much scare with a PG-13 rating. Giuseppe sat through the movie calling out every jump scare he thought was coming and questioning everything he saw. He did well for a pretty packed theater.

Giuseppe left the theater obsessed. We’ve now moved on to the books (he loves the pictures). When we can’t read them we do the audio listening on YouTube which has some great narrating on some. Every time we pass the theater he points out that Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is there. He thinks his nana and papa are taking him to see it again. He draws the pictures and thinks he’s writing — Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is so awesome.

Side note: I like the year it was set in

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

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I feel like every time I see a Quentin Tarantino film I tend to miss his older films. The excitement hearing that a new one is coming — longing for it. Then it’s here — and then it’s gone. It’s like separation anxiety. Then I have to movie marathon all of them and re-ask friends and family members what their favorite Tarantino film is. Older family members choose Reservoir Dogs, men choose Kill Bill, and the ladies choose Inglourious Basterds. Unless you’re my dad and you choose Death Proof because of the girls. Me, I am one of those ladies that chooses Inglourious Basterds and if you’re thinking I’m here for the men — you’re right — especially if his name is Eli Roth (I’m bias)

Brad & Leo are mom’s dream duo — and what a perfect duo they are. We ditched the kids and made a movie date out of this one. I’m not here to write a review because I’d just give it all away — but I do recommend it! I really enjoyed it. Always looking forward to the next!

National Night Out – SilverLakes, Norco

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My favorite event since having a child. There are a lot of great events happening all the time and every year that we attend — BUT this one just gets better and better.

Ours took place between 6-8pm and 2 hours wasn’t long enough to get everything done. We’re in Jurupa Valley and ours joins forces with Eastvale, Norco, and Riverside so that’s why it was so huge.

There were meet-n-greets from Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Jurupa Valley Sherrif’s Station, Norco Sherrif’s Station, CAL FIRE, Riverside County Fire Department, California Highway Patrol, Riverside Probation Department, Riverside County Humane Society, Riverside County Mounted Posse.

The fire department put the kids up in the truck to check it out and take pictures. They loved that. There were a lot of local businesses as well. The kids got to go around from tent to tent and spin the wheel for prizes, play a game for prizes, or just pick out a prize.

Arrowhead Credit Union had a racoon character running around — Seppe loves characters. The Riverside County Mounted Posse had therapy ponies — an adorable hit. Norco college were handing out free ice creams. Home Depot were handing out bags of popcorn as well as promoting their monthly kids building workshops by giving out enamel pins and a build your own rocket pencil box. Norco Area Chamber Of Commerce let the kids rope a fake pony for a Ready Education stress ball — which they call a squishy. SilverLakes has a build-your-own smores with color changing cups and neon sunglasses. I even got a flier for some upcoming events at The Ranch that we’ll be checking out. For info visit silverlakespark.com/ranch

Giuseppe gained badges from; CAL FIRE, Riverside County Deputy Sheriff, Riverside County Probation, Riverside County Junior Humane Officer, Riverside County Junior Deputy Sheriff, California Highway Patrol Junior Officer.

Prizes they earned, City Of Eastvale Frisbee. Bubbles from a local dentist. New York Life Insurance water bottle. City Of Norco foam cowboy hat and basketball squishy. Western Community Energy light bulb squishy. Riverside County Library System book squishy. Enamel pin from Norco softball. Temporary tattoos from My Gym, KFROG, and US Bank. Coloring books from My Gym, City Of Norco, CHP, and California State Senate. Sports Nut Pizza had a spin the wheel for prizes they give at their restaurant, and Seppe won a sticky hand. Seppe spun the wheel and won chapstick from Boot Barn. Our Jurupa Valley Recreation & Park were there. Seppe does all of his sports through them — they gave him chapstick.

Mommy even picked up some goodies; charging cable, magnet, and chip clips from Western Community Energy. Chapstick, hand sanitizer, hand towel from Riverside Probation Department. Measuring tape from City Of Jurupa Valley. Pen and chip clip from US Bank. Hand sanitizer and chip clip from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. First Aid Kit and pen from Norco Healthcare. Pen & notepad combo from iE Parenting Magazine, Chip clip from Hope Collabrative. Doggy bags from Riverside County Watershed Protection. Popsocket from Riverside County Film Commission as well as a super cool pamphlet about some of the films that were made in the area — check that out at filmriversidecounty.com. Pen and discount coupon from The Derby Room. Pens from Riverside County Sheriff and Arrowhead Credit Union.

Laney also got golfing gear and a ton of other things but that’s because she went around to every single tent.

The big hit for Giuseppe was the Jeep course from EcoKrawl. The wait was about an hour but he said it was amazing!

I also found out about the Martial Arts History Museum located in Burbank. They say to plan for an hour when you take your kids because it includes a tour and a scavenger hunt. MAmuseum.com for more info.

I got a $2 off coupon for La La Barn indoor play center. $13.99 child admission. lalabarn.com Anyone interested in joining us for a play date let me know.

I met our Jurupa Valley Rotary, they were lovely. I can’t wait to support them at Food Fest taking place on Saturday September 28th at the Jurupa Valley Spectrum. Tickets are $20 in advance and can be purchased at True Value Hardware and Jurupa 14. Gates open at 4:30 and food starts at 5:00. For my info visit jurupavalleyrotary.org/foodfest

Great news! We’re having our First Annual Fall Parade in Jurupa Valley!! So excited to hear about this — I’ve been daydreaming for years that we’d have a parade! Taking place on November 2nd at 9am. There will be entertainment, floats, horses, and bands. It’s to celebrate and showcase local buisnesses, groups, and schools throughout Jurupa Valley. They say that farms, ranches, and harvests have been an ongoing theme in our history books so we’re sharing our past and celebrating our future! I’ll have more info as it becomes available.

Christmas Festival & Parade Of Lights in Norco is happening Saturday December 14th at George Ingalls Equestrian Event Center on Crestview Ave in Norco. Breakfast with Santa is happening 8-11am. Christmas Festival is happening 8-9am. Illuminated Parade is happening at 5pm. For more info visit norco.ca.us

This is all the fun that I’ve found out at National Night Out. We also have the Jurupa Valley Tree Lighting Ceremony taking place at City Hall. Festival Of Lights happening at Mission Inn. Winder Wonderland and Tree Lighting Ceremony at Eastvale Community Center. I’ll talk about more events as they get closer. There are a lot of fun and exciting things happening in our neck of the woods. Join in on the fun!

Check out YOUR National Night Out next year — natw.org and save the date!

Clay Park & Sports 4 Tykes Soccer

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This is the 3rd recreational activity we’ve signed Giuseppe up for through Jurupa. At the beginning of summer he was in ballet/tap at the Veterans Memorial Community Center on Monday’s. Halfway through that session he started Sports for Tykes football at Agate Park on Tuesday’s and Thurday’s — we were a busy bunch of a while. Ballet/tap fills up quickly so we weren’t able to get another Monday spot — we were offered Thursday’s but that meant he’d either miss his first day of ballet/tap or the last day of football which was receiving his certificate. We passed on ballet/tap for the moment. Soccer was already filled up for July/August so we were put on a wait list. I decided to sign him up for Tee-Ball in August/Sept. We got a call saying there was an opening for soccer at Clay Park. Yay!

Sports 4 Tykes is really cool. Especially for Seppe. Tap/ballet was teaching them to listen and be focused. He was there for the structure, discipline, and balance. He did great the first month but then got really comfortable and decided he’d walk off to look out a window or lay down when they were on the floor stretching. Football was rowdy. Boys running around being goofy, making faces at each other, getting in trouble. During the weeks that we did both activities I think Seppe brought a lot of the football with him to ballet/tap.

All sports are 4 weeks long taking place every Tuesday and Thurday from 5:30 – 6:15. There are always 2-3 coaches on hand and are very kind but firm to the kids. All sports are taught with mini equipment and non-scoring. It’s teaching the little ones the basic of the sport, exercise, how to work with a group or one-on-one, waiting your turn. Each child receives a t-shirt when they sign up and the award ceremony at the end of the session.

The football group wasn’t that big. Soccer is double the size. Football only had boys. Soccer is boys and girls. The coaches remembered Seppe so it’s been very fun and comfortable for him.

The playground equipment at Clay is about as old as Giuseppe. It was being re-done when I was pregnant with him. Seppe has always been adventurous with this playground and ready to climb up the ropes, tubes, rock wall, bridges and I’ve always had to spot him. Now, he’s big enough to do it all on his own and wants to be timed. There are two slides in the big part of the playground for kids to race each other, a few ride on horses, and regular swings. The small part of the playground also has two slides for the littles to race, a little station where Seppe pretends that he’s serving food, moveable planet map, some steering wheels, baby swings, and Giuseppe’s current favorite — the mini monkey bars.

The only thing I would have liked to have seen at this park was covering over the equipment. It seems that the newer parks are being built with these. (there’s a brand new little secret hidden park down the street from us like this — I’ll be showing it soon)

https://www.jarpd.org/ – for information on sports, swimming lessons, list of parks, splash pads, and special events happening in the area.

Tonight Is National Night Out

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National Night Out takes place annually the first Tuesday in August. It’s a community event taking place between 4-8 pm all over the nation. It’s the opportunity for police and neighbors to come together in a positive atmosphere.

Last year ours took place down the street from us at our local community center/park. We didn’t know what to expect but the kids had a ball. There was a jumper, free food, lots of vendors with goodies for the kids to grab, police department, K-9 unit, fire department. The police finger printed the kids for ID cards.

Our city rotates locations each year; Jurupa Valley, Eastvale, Norco. This year ours is taking place in Norco. There are a few others happening in Riverside as well as Corona and Moreno Valley.

For more information visit natw.org and find an event near you!

Knott’s Date Night – Knott’s Summer Nights

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Our goal is to have a Knott’s Date Night at least once month, especially during school days, when we’re able to get on all of the big rides. We’ve made it about 4 times solo this year. One of those solo trips being for the Boysenberry Festival.

Since the summer rush and the heat we made our Knott’s trip a night time adventure. Right now Knott’s has two amazing events going on. During the day you can experience Ghost Town Alive and at night the all new Summer Nights. We made it just in time for the hoedown. Since we didn’t have our kids I wasn’t quick to jump in and participate — until I was told, there’s still time to join it. You don’t have to ask me twice! I marched around with the rest of the residents of Calico.

When all the fun of Ghost Town Alive comes to an end the Summer Nights fun begins at the Calico Mine Stage. To me it looks like a giant block party — picnic tables under strings of lights, fire pits for roasting smores, and food booths. There are free games to enjoy like; tiki toss, cornhole, giant beer pong, giant checkers, giant connect four, hole-in-one. As well as your friendly neighborhood characters dancing to the live band; dad cook, town drunk lady, boy scout, neighborhood watch. When the band stops playing there’s a DJ on the roof of Charleston Circle.

Now, let’s talk about the tasting card. Just like the Boysenberry Festival the tasting card comes on a lanyard with 8 pull tabs for 8 tasty treats located at the adorable booths around Calico Mine Stage. The treats we chose this round were; Cookiewich — boysenberry ice cream smashed in between two chocolate chip cookies. You could also choose vanilla ice cream, snickerdoodle cookie, boysenberry cookie. Next up was the chili in a cornbread bowl. Knott’s Berry Farm are always super generous with their portions. The bowl is a full meal that can leave you stuffed or shareable. On the side — a shrimp and sausage skewer loaded with bell peppers and onions. We finished off our eating festival with the Farmer’s Market Shortcake with a mountain high pile of whipped cream. The winner for this tasting card — the chili.

Our ride list — Montezooma’s Revenge. Supreme Scream — always seems like a bad idea once we get to the top. Finally took a ride on the new Calico Rapids where I only caught a glimpse of Big Foot in the steamy foggy cave. Finishing off the night with Ghostrider which is WAY scarier at night.

You can catch Ghost Town Alive daily from now until August 11th. Weekends starting August 17th – September 2nd. Ghost Town is active from open until the hoedown at 5:30. There’s a lot of interactive action and contests going on in the streets of Calico.

Summer Nights is happening daily from now until August 11th. The action starts at 6 until closing. Tasting cards are $35 and are easy to buy throughout the park. We bought ours at the booth right when you step foot in the park.

See you at Knott’s!

Vernola Family Park

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There are a lot of parks surrounding the little area we live. Seppe has done ballet & tap at one, football recently at one, and starting soccer at another. We decided to try out one that isn’t as close, but still in the area, and much bigger.

Giuseppe thought we were in some dream land when we pulled up. The kiddie section, which doesn’t look so kiddie, looks like a pirate ship. With a few small slides, lots of area to climb, and even a sitting area inside the ship. There’s also a little crawl through hut area for the kids to sit and have a chat. The big playground looks like a prehistoric getaway. Lots of climbing action, rock wall, and multiple slides. They had a 3 section slide that was a big hit. Kids liked to race, usually the biggest kid in the center — which was a straight down drop of doom. Underneath it all were more places for kids to sit and chat with each other in the shade. Giuseppe found the secret map of the park. The biggest hit with G was the climbable Triceratops.

After all that play the kids took a ride on their scooters. There’s a perfect trail to go around without getting in anyone’s way. There’s a big shelter to hang out under but I also loved how there are a lot of benches. The nice part was a lot of these benches were placed under trees with plenty of shade. There’s also a wall all around the park so even if you don’t find a bench to sit on, which is unlikely, then there’s plenty of low wall space. As well as a lot of shaded grass area.

Vernola Park is located at 5211 Wineville, Jurupa Valley. For more information about the park visit www.jarpd.org Where you can find information about all the other great parks in the area — including parks with free splash pads. Or visit their Facebook page www.facebook.com/JARPD1984/ where you can see pictures of the parks and upcoming free activities in our neighborhood.

Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-A-Long @ Fox Performing Arts Center – Riverside

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Jack Skellington and his gang in Halloween Town are some of Giuseppe’s favorites. It’s why we always take our November trip to Disneyland so Seppe can give him hugs and visit the Nightmare Mansion. It was an amazing surprise that we won tickets through Riverside Live.

We have been to the Fox once before for Daniel Tiger Live. It’s still easy to get in. With an entrance at the front door and an entrance on the side. There are three separate bars on your way into the theater — one of them is also a concession stand — obviously a hit with the kids.

They had a spooky tree decorated with a Jack Skellington topper. Everyone was stopping to pose. Costumes were encouraged and of course Jack “Giuseppe” Skellington went in his best costume. There were a lot of Little Jack and Sally’s and most adults were sporting their tees and accessories.

Our seats were in the back for this one, let me tell you, there isn’t a bad seat in the house. Seppe laughed nervously and uncontrollably when the lights went out and the music started. The whole room roared when “This Is Halloween” started up. This mommy loudmouth couldn’t control herself. You said sing-a-long — OKAY! Everyone even cheered when the folks from Halloween Town cheered. The next few songs had less people singing along. I think everyone may have been a little shy.

We took a little water break between songs and someone asked if they could take a picture of Seppe and then someone gave Seppe their Christmas hat. He wore the hat proudly.

It was great seeing Nightmare Before Christmas on the big screen. It’s definitely getting us excited for our Disneyland adventure.

I love seeing my favorite movies on the big screen. If you do too then you might like to check out their upcoming showings —

July 27th – Kill Bill – The Complete Saga – $14

August 3rd – Pee-wee’s Big Adventure – $14

August 24th – Frozen – $11

Visit riversidelive.com for tickets to these showings as well as Disney Jr Live, Nick Jr Live, and live performances by popular bands/artists.