Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in san diego, CA

Rancho SD's Peter Piper Bday Fun

by Terese Farmen

May 25, 2009

About three months ago, my daughter started expressing an interest in how her 5 year old birthday party would turn out. She decided on the type and color of cookies and the contents of her goodie bags, long before it was time for me to even consider the guest list.

My partner and I threw around a few ideas about a month ahead of time - something about a BBQ on the beach or possibly the park. We knew she had high expectations for her birthday, and of course, we wanted to make sure she'd have a good time.

Then escrow decided to be complicated and late and we had to find something that did not require a lot of effort and planning. We needed something that was affordable, where someone else did all the work and where we might be able to sit back and enjoy the precious moments celebrating the birth of our child without worrying about all the work and complications of moving into a new home.

We settled on Peter Piper's Pizza in Rancho San Diego off of Jamacha Blvd (http://www.peterpiperpizza.com/). It was wonderful. I made a 2 minute phone call, told them what day and time and the approximate number of guests  and mailed out all of the invitations.

We had pizza and soda for all of the kids, pizza, salad and soda for all of the grownups and each kid was given bonus tickets, tokens to play the arcade games, and a nice, clean, safe environment to run around and play in. They had such a great time and the food was really decent.

We had to supply our own cake and ice cream, but they brought us all the plates and utensils. I managed to forget candles and matches and they were able to supply those as well.

Also, I didn't have to hunt and peck for goodie bags. The made them for me and I was able to distribute to all of the lovely guests.

 Best of all, they cleaned up everything and I can get back to focusing on the big move.

A Fun & Heavenly Cupcake

by Jenny Ciampa

September 29, 2008

We have had the pleasure of welcoming a new deliciousness to downtown San Diego and it comes in the form of a personal sized piece of cake. Yep, that's right. We finally have a cupcake place in downtown on 6 th and J and it is appropriately named Heavenly Cupcake! I hate to admit this, but for the past two weeks after dinner, we have walked down to Heavenly Cupcake for dessert. Ok, not  Read more...

Petco Park, Home of the Padres

by Jenny Ciampa

July 29, 2008

If you haven't taken your kids to see the Padres , you are striking out. Petco Park is a fantastic place to take the kiddies to experience America's pastime. We live downtown and take our girl to games all of time-we know this place well and think you should too. Here's our take on the best ways to enjoy Petco Park. Take Me Out to the Ballgame -the best bang for your buck is a Park  Read more...

Gym Ventures, An Educational Workout

by Jenny Ciampa

July 14, 2008

Hula hoops, obstacle courses, balloons, and speed bumps-these were just a few brilliant encounters my girl had at Gym Ventures in Pacific Beach. Let me say, I was blown away with not only the physical component of this gym class, but the imaginative, educational one as well. Oh, and watching Miss Debbie single-handedly manage these busy and needy preschoolers was flat out impressive. This  Read more...

Best Birthday Venues in San Diego

by Jenny Ciampa

June 03, 2008

[photo credit: stockx.chng] As a child, don't you remember all of the dreamy details you envisioned for your birthday party? The cake, the gifts, the menu, the venue-oh the venue, that always spoke volumes about the birthday kid. For the active kiddo with daydreams of jumping, tumbling, rolling and climbing, My Gym puts on one heck of a party. These peeps not only know how to  Read more...