Link Love - What I'm reading

Thought I'd share a few links I've been reading lately.

Bay Area Itsy Bitsy Museums - a list of small, but inviting Bay Area Museums from Red Tricycle.

iTunes playlists for kids - kid-friendly music that won't make you tear out your hair, from TravelSavvyMom.

Toothpick San Francisco - check out this toothpick version of our beloved San Francisco. The video is worth watching.

Ecocrafting from Attainable Sustainable. Learn about a bunch of ecofriendly crafts you can make. I'm a huge fan of writer Kris Bordessa, who writes about all kinds of things, including crafts, ecology, and family travel. I've given her book Team Challenges: 170+ Group Activities to Build Cooperation, Communication  & Creativity as teacher gifts and my kids really like Great Medieval Projects You Can Build Yourselves. I'm having fun following her new blog, Attainable Sustainable.

Coupon Rockstars - Like much of the country, I've been fascinated with the show Extreme Couponing. Coupon Rockstars is a Q&A with some extreme couponers - easy to read when you have a few minutes.

Visit Henry Coe State Park - we're big camping and hiking fans, and this California state park is a good one (we've camped here). Read why you should go from A Frog Mom in California.

Coming Up: Free LEGO event

Build this really cute LEGO graduate, and take it home for free!

When: June 7 starting at 5 p.m., while supplies last
Where: LEGO stores - find one here (there's one in San Mateo and Santa Clara 
Cost: Free

Blue Star Museum Entrances for Military Families - Free

Memorial Day may be over, but military families can enjoy free museum entrance all summer long, starting on Memorial Day, ending on Labor Day (and some museums have special military entrance fees all year long). This partnership between museums and the National Endowment for the Arts, is in its second year, allowing free admission to more than 1,000 museums nationally.

Here are the Bay Area participating museums;

SAN FRANCISCO
Asian Art Museum
San Francisco Fire Department Museum

San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design

The Beat Museum
Walt Disney Family MuseumZeum


EAST BAY
Antioch Historical Society
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Forest Home Farms Historic Park and Glass House Museum
Habitot Children's Museum
Lindsay Wildlife Museum
McConaghy House Museum
MOCHA Museum of Children's Art
Museum of the San Ramon Valley
Oakland Museum of California
Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology
Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum


MARIN
Bay Area Discovery Museum 



PENINSULA/SOUTH BAY
CuriOdyssey (formerly Coyote Point Museum)
Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo
San Jose Museum of Art
The Monterey Museum of Art
The Museums of Los Gatos
Filoli Gardens


Click here for nationwide Blue Star Museum entrances.

Coming Up: Redwood Mountain Fair

Music, crafts, kids activities and food/drinks (including microbreweries and wines). The Redwood Mountain Fair at Roaring Camp (in Felton), is coming up. See the extensive music line-up here.

When: June 4-5 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Roaring Camp in Felton
Cost: $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Students are $13 in advance, $15 at the door. Proceeds benefit local nonprofits and service groups.

Coming Up: Foster City Art & Wine Festival - free

The Foster City Art & Wine Festival is a fun, famiily-friendly home-town event. Look for traditional offerings (like art and wine and entertainment, fire truck, ambulance etc.), and the kids' favorite, the popular carnival area, with rides for kid/teens/adults.

The festival is June 4th to 5th. The booths shut down earlier than the rides, in case you planned to do some late-night shopping.

Saturday June 4 - 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sunday June 5 - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Parking is free at Parkside Towers (exit 92 at Foster City Blvd, and follow the signs). The festival is next to the lagoon at Leo Ryan Park (corner of E. Hillsdale and Shell Blvd.)

Coming Up: Israel in the Gardens - SF - Free

This Sunday is Israel in the Gardens, a great event with crafts, music, vendors, food and more. Plus you're guaranteed to run into SOMEONE you know. Or your money back. Here's the schedule. We've gone several times and LOVE IT.

When: Sunday, June 5 from 11-5
Where: Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
Cost: Free

Coming Up: Home Depot Workshop to Make Valet Organizer

This Saturday, make dad a personal valet organizer at a Home Depot workshop. Plus they'll get a kid-size Home Depot apron.

When: Saturday, June 4
Where: Home Depot
Cost: Free
Age: kids 5-12