Saturdays are adventure day for my family -- we like to try new things as well as revisit old haunts. As we live in Los Angeles, there are many day trips available to us, and one of our preferred places to explore is Pasadena. There are many ways to spend an incredibly fantastic day as a family in Pasadena. One of our perennial favorites is the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. We happen to be members, so it is an easy solution for us, and there is a ton of options that are good for both children and adults.
Highlights of the Huntington include: the Japanese Garden, Rose Garden, Desert Garden, a Gutenberg Bible, a manuscript of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Gainsborough's Blue Boy and Lawrence's Pinkie. (The art is not always a draw for young patrons, but there are many other things to attract their attention).
(Water Bells in the Huntington Children's Garden)
My daughter's two favorite places at the Huntington are the Japanese Garden (with it's koi ponds, bonsai tree gardens and tea house), and the newly completed Children's Garden. A bit of fantasy, mixed with the wonder of nature, the children's garden is a blend of landscape elements and interactive sculptures, such as the pebble chime, fog grotto, metallic sand, and water bells.
(Rainbow Room in the Huntington Children's Garden)
It's a pity the whole place only stays open until 4pm, because we never seem to have enough time here.
The
Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and
Botanical Gardens 1151
Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
(626) 405-2100
Another popular destination for families, and a new particular favorite of ours, is Kidspace Children's Museum -- dubbed an "interactive learning environment promoting exploration, investigation and expression through the arts, sciences and humanities where kids can feed bugs, create an earthquake, and climb raindrops!" It's an apt description.
Most memorable for me was the climbing -- the S. Mark Taper Foundation Rainbow Climber (shown above) is an enclosed glass tower that rises 35 feet up into the air. Both adults and children scramble from one circular glass platform to another until you reach the top, from which you can look out over the entire Kidspace. The outside is as impressive as the inside, with an outdoor amphitheater, climbing wall, tricycle arena, and gardens. Another place to easily while away a day.
Kidspace Children's Museum
480 N. Arroyo Blvd Pasadena, CA 91103  |
After the museums close, we usually head over to Old Pasadena, and stroll around the 22-block historic district looking for a restaurant that strikes our fancy. The main artery through the old town is Colorado Boulevard. Situated on the boulevard and in the surrounding area are more than 200 shops and restaurants, including child-friendly options such as Barnes & Noble, Papillion, and Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop. We've tried lots of restaurants on and off of Colorado, and one of our favorites is Nonya. Not necessarily a kid-oriented eatery, Nonya is a cuisine that creatively combines Chinese, Malay and Indonesian ingredients and cooking techniques. The result in my opinion is absolutely delicious. My kids love it too, but they do have adventuresome palates. If your kids don't like the food, there's always plain rice, and as distraction there's a large pot with goldfish!
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