LEMONADE STAND PICS

THINGS WE LEARNED:

• Lemonade + Sand = Not a Tasty Combination
• A windy place is not an easy place to do business in
• People are not as excited to drink lemonade on a colder day

Zak made a grand total of $16.50 (+ a generous post stand donation of $10 from my boss). He used it to buy legos. Now that we learned a thing or 2, we will definitely try again next year!

(For more information, please view the original post http://zakchannarles.blogspot.com/2011/05/homemade-lemonade-come-and-get-your.html)

What Better Day than Today to Hop N Play?

$5 PER HOUR* FOR MY KID TO GET SOME EXERCISE AND BE READY FOR BED TIME? YES PLEASE!

http://www.hopnplay.com/

Location: The Shops at Tanforan, San Bruno, Ca

(also great for when you want to distract your child and husband, while you go shopping or get your nails done in the mall)

WHY TO GO:

• Its clean
• Your kid will SWEAT coming out of there
• Unique play structures
• If you go in the evening, your kid will go to sleep, NO PROBLEM
• It safe (everything is padded)
• Easy to see your kiddos from the parents area

THINGS TO BE AWARE OF:

• *Sometimes they wont let you do the $5/hour option and make you pay the $10 for the full day
• There are times when there are A LOT of kids
• Sometimes, when they are over capacity, you have to wait to get in 

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Tonight, we are going to build a Space Station.

With all this gloomy Bay Area weather, I was pleasantly surprised today when a package arrived for me at work! I had no recollection of making any recent online purchases, but was pleasantly surprised when I found the tools and instructions (as well as the nuts and bolts!) neccessary to build a Space Station!

...I'm not joking. Ever heard of Sandvik Innovations? Ya, neither had I until I came across them on one of my Mommy Deal websites.

They make all sorts of interesting educational products, but this one is JUST RIGHT for a 4 year old boy:

 This Book Includes:

• A plastic Wrench
• Plastic Nuts and Bolts
• A story book made entirely out of cardboard Space Station pieces!

You read this rhyming story and by the time you're done, are all ready and set to build a Space Station. So that is what we will be doing tonight.

(There are 4 different versions: a pirate ship, The House that Jack Built, the space station and a castle)

If you order it on their website, they have a great snail mail option that is REALLY cheap (but can take upto 25 business days, hence I forgot the order).

For cheaper versions:

1. The Space Station That Zargon Built (A Story Book That Assembles Into a Space Station)

IKEA Children's Storage: It's a Treasure Chest!!!

Amidst the festivities and activies with friends, I managed to score an AMAZING piece of storage equipment:

$15
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30079407

At $15, this fits PERFECTLY under our Thomas the Train Table and can store a suprising amount of toys. In fact, I have deciced I need a few more!

Bonus Feature: The lock really locks and unlocks (velcro style)!!

In other news... The SF Unified School District kinda came through by giving us Lakshore Elementary School. Not originally a top choice, but definitely something that we can work with. My only concern really is the test scores and whether the school will provide enough of a challenge for my child. On it's own, the school is in a good neighborhood and is recently rennovated, plus it is very convenient to get to. I think in this day and age we, as parents, all have to be a big part of our child's education in order for them to succeed, so I'll keep my eye out and make sure he's kept busy. ;)

San Francisco Public School District: 2011 Appeal #1 Results

SFUSD: Appeal #1 Results to be mailed tomorrow, May 13, 2011

On March 15, 2011 4,931 Kindergarten placement assignments were mailed out for the 2011-2012 school year:

• 2,816 parents received their 1st choice
• 518 received their 2nd choice
• 666 received their 3rd choice
• 931 received none of their choices (we were unfortunate enough to fall into this category)

(The full March Placement Highlights are available at http://www.sfusd.edu/en/assets/sfusd-staff/enroll/files/Post_March/Update%20April%2013%202011_Revised.pdf)

I put down 10 school choices, and, having thought this through and visited all of the schools, I would have been happy with any of the 10 choices I put down, but to not get ANY of them? It seems like it only made sense to put down 4 choices (a small % of parents received a choice other than their top 3), which would have saved me a lot of time visiting schools!

As if we weren't "Lucky" enough, Round 1 Appeal Decisions will be mailed out on Friday the 13th (May 13, 2011). I'm not superstitious, but at the rate this is going...

I assume we will be receiving out second breathtaking letter on Saturday, as we did in March, only hopefully, this time, with better results.

If 50% of the SF population put only 14 (out of 70) schools as their first choice, perhaps it's time to do something about the schools and not the placement process...

Bacon and HotDogs, O My!

BACON AND HOT DOGS

My boys love hot dogs and bacon, but let's face it... they're not that healthy!

My recent finds have me feel just a little bit more comfortable feeding my family these meaty treats!

NOW AVAILABLE at TRADER JOE'S

ORGANIC HOT DOGS!

A little a harder to find (and more pricey), but definitely worth it is ORGANIC BACON:





Visit AppleGate for more Organic meaty treats! Apparently, you can even order online!



Theater: an excellent alternative to TV!

A TV ALTERNATIVE:

Pediatricians recommend that kids over the age of 3 have no more than 2 hours a day of "screen time." That includes computers, video games, iGadgets, movie theaters and TV. In this day and age is that even possible? YES!

My reservoir of TV-Alternatives is this precious, Bay Area pearl: Bay Area Children's Theater! It's just like going to the movies, only better!

For the second year in a row we have bought a Family Flex Pass, which allows you to see to chose between a package of 4, 5 or all 6 of the season's shows at a discounted rate. Of course if you're not into these "deals" or don't like to buy too far in advance, you're always welcome to buy individual show tickets as well.

Every other month, for a year, we get to go to a show! They even give out posters and sign them at the end. What a great way to feed you're child's imagination and introduce him/her to the arts!

Bay Area Children's Theater brings to life some of the best children's stories and this year will be performing (HINT: click on a picture of the show to get more information!):

Homemade LEMONADE!... Come and get your Homemade LEMONADE!

Thought the days of cute little kids selling lemonade were over? Think again!

Lemonade stands are back in a BIG way and better than ever!

http://sanfrancisco.lemonadeday.org/

Registration is FREE and so is the backpack of materials you pick up at your neighborhood WellsFargo. Visit the site for details, including information on THIS weekends best-tasting lemonade contest at Pier 39! We personally wont be in attendance, but I encourage you and yours to participate for a grand prize of $150.

I am sure looking forward to making some tasty lemonade!

Participating WellsFargo Locations (for Backpack pick-up):

• Wells Fargo Geary-Nineteenth Avenue Office
• Wells Fargo Marina Office
• Wells Fargo Webster Street Office-Safeway
• Wells Fargo 725 Irving Street Office
• Wells Fargo Stonestown Office
• Wells Fargo West Portal Office
• Wells Fargo Mission-Ocean Avenue Office
• Wells Fargo 16th & Mission Office
• Wells Fargo Union Trust Office
• Wells Fargo Broadway-Grant Avenue Office 
• Wells Fargo The Castro Office
• Wells Fargo Van Ness-California Office
• Wells Fargo Bayview Hunter's Point Office

MAMAS DESERVE TO GET PAMPERED

Mamas Deserve to Get Pampered... ALL THE TIME!

Just because Mother's Day is over, doesn't mean you don't deserve to get pampered and look good once in a while... or, in this case, every 2 weeks (follow my lead here):

Richmond Nail Salon

• Twice a month, get a Gel Polish Manicure (wont chip for 3 weeks, but starts to grow out after 2 weeks) - $20 ($25 for French)
• Once a month, get a pedicure, soaking your feet in a bowl of water with floating lemon slices (they remove callouses and scrub your feet with a relaxing foot scrub) - $20
• Put your feet up, lay back, or both in their amazing massage chairs (seriously, these are not the typical massage chairs you see at other salons)
• Listen to soothing, meditation music (no TVs in this place at all)
• Sip authentic green tea (no baggies here) or water with lemon slices

Basically, for $15/wk I get 2 amazing relaxation experiences and my nails look amazing all month!

Piano Lessons... for 4 year olds!

Every Monday evening, Zak and 1 of his best friends attend piano lessons at Inspire Music (on Taravel St., just off of 19th).




At home, we use Pianolo HD on the iPad to practice!


But here is the REAL kicker: they are 4 year olds and with just 30 minutes of lessons per week (and occassional practice when I can get my son to do it!) both boys are starting to play the piano, which I myself never got to do. I figure by the they are 10 they will be the next great musicians of our time!... well maybe not, but knowing how to play music is no doubt an excellent way to get their brains working and sparking new interests.

Classes are under $25 a lesson (depending on whether you do it with 2 kids or 1 it can be under $20) and it's such a great skill to learn... My little future rock star is reading musical notes and getting to a place where Mommy can't do much to help him with practice!

How to Go to the Movies... and NOT spend $100

GOING TO THE MOVIES?

1. DON'T buy your tickets at the box office (or on Ticket websites, they charge processing fees). We stock up on tickets from Coscto (2 tickets for $15.99 = less than $8 / ticket)
2. DON'T waste your money at the concession stands. It's unhealthy and expensive! Instead, bring with you healthy snacks, like fat free popcorn (great in a large ZipLock), Organic Hot Dogs and water. I'm not sure how much they approve of this... but if it's a problem, just eat something right before
3. Enjoy your movie!

We are looking forward to seeing Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil for Mother's Day!


If you haven't seen the first one... it's awesome!

THURSDAYS: Swim Night @ the JCCSF

SWIM LESSON @ JCCSF

Instead of packing our weekend tight with activites (or even tighter), I like to spreed out physical activity throughout the week. So Thursdays we SWIM!

I like the JCCSF pool because they have kids pool that is the side of a regular pool, but the water is warm.

What we get for $105 / month at JCCSF?

• Swim lessons (40 mins) once a week 4 -5 per month (depending on how many Thursdays are in the month)
• FREE Family Swim before (or after) the lessons
• Ability to to sit in the Jacuzzi with Charles and watch my son swim during his lesson...

                                                       ............Priceless :)
          

FREE Comic Book Day!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

Just another way to get kids excited about reading...


If your child is into Super Heros as mine is (and has been since about age 2)... they I think you MUST check this out.


Who new? Theres a FREE Comic Book Day and it happens EVERY year, the first Saturday in May!

We have never been, as of yet, but are sure to attend one of the many participating SF locations in order to have my baby pick out a book to read. He LOVES looking through comic books on his own and can be entertained for 10's of minutes at a time with a comic book, which frankly, I prefer to him sitting at the TV, on my iPad or on the computer.

Thanks, SFKids.org for sharing!

I'll let you know about our experience this weekend, but hoepfully this will become a fun May tradition in our family!

California Academy of Sciences FREE ADMISSION SECRET

If you are like us (i.e. on a budget, have a preschooler, love adventure, and hate sitting around the house on weekends) then you are going to LOVE my yearly approach to visiting the INSANELY priced California Academy of Sciences.

I don't know about YOU, but WE cannot afford to spend $100 to visit the lovely California Academy of Sciences... and if we get a membership, we will feel stuck visiting them more often than we may want, or feel guilty for not being able to go enough!

So here is how the Tretyakov-Gonzalez Family visits the Cal Academy for FREE severall time a year:

1. I visit http://www.calacademy.org/newsroom/releases/2011/free_days.php at the beginning of the year, each year, and mark down on my calender the 2 times a year the academy is FREE for our zip code. We make it a priority to go those 2 days.
2. If we ever want to visit more often, we can always rent a FREE pass for 4 through the San Francisco Public Library Familly Pass! (you must be an SF resident, with at least one child, to participate in this program)