July is the month to travel, play, soak up the sun, and enjoy friends and family! Has your family done any traveling this summer? If so, we would love for you to tag us on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram and let us know all about the fabulous places you have been. This is a great way for people to learn about other places they may want to visit too. I have to say after hearing so many things from other mom friends about THE AULANI hotel in Oahu(check out this drone footage), we were so excited to spend a week there and we loved it. It is the perfect place to take children and I cannot say enough about the Kids Club. One of the BEST Kids Clubs I have seen and my daughter loved it. Aunties Beach House was a massive 5 room house with activities in each room and a giant outdoor shaded patio. The kids were GPS tagged and a counselor was in each room supervising so I felt great knowing she was well taken care of and I could enjoy my alone time too.
We have about 3-4 weeks of summer left (depending on what school district you belong to) and if you are a glass half empty kind of person, summer is almost over. There is about a 50% chance that some of you are BOO-HOOing and some of you are counting the days until you can send the kids back to school. Either way, Santa Monica Macaroni Kid has got some great ideas for you to spend the next few weeks of summer so you can make it a memorable time for the whole family. I have spent the past few weeks taking some time off myself with family and regrouping, but now I am back feeling organized, energetic and ready to keep you filled in on all the fun activities and events going on in and around Santa Monica.
If you are looking for some things to do this weekend, be sure to check out our events calendar full of daily activities. I also highly recommend "Suessical The Musical" at the Morgan-Wixson Theater in Santa Monica. It is the last weekend it is playing and it was really enjoyable. There are 17 Dr. Suess books referenced in the musical. The cast is terrific and we really loved Miss Gertrude McFuzz, as well as Horton and the Sour Kangaroo. The set design was so colorful and imaginative and we were also really impressed with the costumes. This was NOT a low-budget community theater production. You could tell these were professionals and they put on a great show that was entertaining and funny. My daughter loved it and so did the rest of the audience which was packed full of adults and children. The Whos were great as well and you really got the sense that they were living on the little speck of dust that Horton was carrying around. We are looking forward to some of the other productions coming soon, including Pinocchio. The family-friendly Morgan-Wixson Theater is a great first place to take your kids to introduce them to musicals and the theater.
Other events this weekend include "Animal Farm" playing at the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, Roman Holidays at the Getty, and The Star Parties at the the Santa Monica Planetarium. Don't forget the weeknight concerts throughout LA at the Pier, the Armand Hammer Museum, Burton Chace Park, etc. Take a picnic and listen to some great music with your family. Speaking of picnics, we just visited the Skirball Museum on Sunday to see the Paul Simon exhibition and decided to take a picnic. As it turns out, we made it for the 2PM performance of Upstream, a calypso band from Trinidad and Tobago, and we enjoyed our delicious sandwiches while listening and dancing along to some steel drums and fun music. Loved the Paul Simon exhibition, a complete history of the talented musician. It was interactive so we really got to see and hear all about his life. The best part was when my daughter was listening to "The Sound of Silence" and sung along, knowing all the words. Bewildered, I asked her how she knew the words and she said the song was in the "Trolls" movie. It's amazing that a song written after the assassination of President Kennedy could still be so powerful decades later to a new generation. You have until September 9th to see the Paul Simon exhibition, but Skirball will be hosting different world music bands every weekend, so check our calendar again for info.
Last thing, if you are still looking for camps to finish up the summer, please check out our SUMMER CAMP GUIDE and do not hesitate to email me for a recommendation as well. Or please tell me about a great camp you might know about. You can EMAIL me anytime at chaninv@macaronikid.com.
SO, looking forward to August, definitely some fun things coming up, including the Solar Eclipse on August 21st. We are planning some great Guides for the new school year as well as some fun Labor Day Weekend ideas for everyone.
Have a great rest of your week and a fun, relaxing weekend!
XX,
Chanin
