Tiny Oranges – Fresh, fun blog for OC moms

Sorry I am so late in posting this, but I just read it in the paper this weekend!  From now until FEBRUARY 1st, for each can of food to Knott’s Berry Farm, each adult will get in for the Junior (ages 3 and up, under 48″ tall) price of $22.99!  That is $29.00 off the regular admission price.   Plus, it goes to a good cause, benefiting the OC Food Bank.  Visit the website for more details!  

I had been hearing about Tanaka Farms in Irvine through the pumpkin vine (hee hee), so we ventured out to check it out last week.  It is just DARLING!  Only bummer was that it was sooooo hot that day!   It felt like 100 degrees and the sun was really intense.  Do you ever remember it being this hot in mid-October?  I am really longing for some crisp Fall weather.  These hot temps have seemed to last forever this year!

Moving on, Tanaka Farms is this darling little farm off University Dr. in Irvine.   They have family events going year round, and right now you can go out and visit their awesome pumpkin patch!  There were a ton of things for the kids…”u pick” pumpkins, pick your own vegetable patch, corn maze, tractor rides, and a pretty big petting zoo.   When you pull into the parking lot, you will see the petting zoo on the corner off of University Dr., then you will pull into a dirt parking lot.   You will walk to the entrance off the parking lot to get to the enormous pumpkin patch.   There, you can buy tickets for the tractor rides and petting zoo.   We took the tractor down to the petting zoo, so you can use it like a shuttle.   Or, you can walk there too.   We went on a weekday, but it seems like there is even more stuff going on during the weekends. 

We met a nice lady there who was super enthusiastic about the farm and told us about their strawberry event in the spring.   I guess you can go and pick your own strawberries and actually eat them right off the vine since this farm is totally organic!  Isn’t that cool?  She said the kids love it!  We will definitely check that out when the time comes.  

The pumpkin patch is open daily from 9am – 6pm through October 31st. 

Irvine Park Railroad is located inside the Irvine Regional Park in the foothills of Orange, and this time of year, their Pumpkin Patch is a must visit!   Admission to the Pumpkin Patch is free (however, you do have to pay for parking to get into the park.)   There are thousands and thousands of pumpkins of all sizes, train rides, hay rides, a bounce house, haunted house and face painting on the weekends.  There are tons of cute photo ops, so don’t forget your camera!    

If you have time, walk over to the Orange County Zoo which is also located in the park and is about a 5 minute walk from the Pumpkin Patch.  It is only $2.00 per person to get in, and you can walk through the entire zoo in about 15 minutes.   There are a good number of animals and a little petting zoo area.  

The park also has lakes with ducks, so you can throw in your old bread to feed the ducks too! 

Have a great weekend everyone!   See you back on Monday with another fabulous giveaway and the winner of the B.Y.O.G. gown.  There is still time to enter!  Email me today by 5pm PST to giveaways@tinyoranges.com and tell me your favorite print! 

We love the playground at the Balboa Pier, where you truly appreciate just how lucky we are to live close to playgrounds that are smack on the sand!   To get there, go to the end of the Peninsula and pass the Balboa Pier parking lot signs.   Turn right at the next street past the pier, A Street.  Metered parking is available, so bring your quarters.  I have gone on non-summer weekdays and there is usually plenty of parking.  There are restrooms right adjacent to the playground.  You can also plan your outing around lunch or dinner and then grab a bite to eat at Ruby’s on the Pier.  Even better, plan your outing for late afternoon on a Tuesday, and your kids will eat for free!  (Did you know kids eat free at Ruby’s on Tuesdays after 4pm?) 
 
(Images from Beach California.)

I am really inspired by people who are truly committed to doing their part to help the environment.  Here is a great tip from a local couple ( ..and I didn’t even know Starbucks had an “in-house” mug!!!) She writes…

”My husband and I talk about cutting out waste all of the time and want to do our part so that our children may enjoy the planet. At first, we thought that ‘going green’ involved a lot of sacrifice. The deeper we get, however, the more we seem to enjoy it. Going green ‘feels’ good!!! We now ride our bikes to the local Farmers’ Market on Sunday mornings….stopping off at Starbucks along the way. We bring our own cups to Starbucks or we ask for their ‘in-house’ mug. Nothing to throw away. Buying our produce at the Farmers’ Market means our food is grown closer to home on organic farms. The upshot of this is that we’re eating more vegetables and fruit. We bring our own canvas shopping bags to avoid using the plastic.” 
- Taylor and Steve, Laguna Niguel

Note from the peanut gallery: I took my daughter to the Farmers’ Market at the OC Fairgrounds recently, and we had so much fun! It is held on Thursday mornings from 9am – 1pm. It is small, so you can make your way through quickly. Most of the vendors had samples. My daughter LOVES fruit more than anything, so she was in heaven tasting the fresh peaches, strawberries, apples and mangos. The quality of the produce doesn’t compare to anything you would get in a store. Parking was right adjacent, super easy to get to. I plan to make this a weekly outing on Thursday AM’s to buy our produce for the week.  Bonus is that it is a fun little outing to boot! 

Here are two websites that list local OC farmers’ markets, the Farm Bureau and the California Federation of Certified Farmers’ Markets.