Celebrate Earth Day OC Style

Earth Day is officially Thursday, April 22nd but the celebrations are well underway in the OC. Some of the events for the next two weeks of celebrations and festivals kicking off this great day of awareness are listed below.

Saturday, April 17th @ UCI 10am - 6pm
Aldrich Park hosts carnival style games, multicultural foods, a car show and multiple stages featuring student performances.

Saturday, April 17th @ Huntington Beach Wetlands 10am - 4pm
This educational and exciting family event will feature interactive booths and a touch tank. The goal is to educate families on how our local wetlands affect our everyday lives. A highlight for this day will feature a release of rehabilitated Pelicans.

Saturday, April 17th & Sunday, April 18th @ San Clemente Park 1:00- 8:30pm
Featuring family fun and educational booths, this affordable carnival and expo will be host to several live performances. Enjoy the day and on into the evening with this fun-filled event.

Earth Day Thursday, April 22nd
Visit the official Earth Day website to find events in your local area to participate in. You can search for events that will be in your city or search by zip code. The website is also filled with ways to reuse, recycle and reduce for greener living.


Sunday, April 25th @ Peter & Mary Muth Upper Newport Interpretive Center
This family friendly day will include the Sharkmobile touch tank, science discovery booths, event scavenger hunt, and arts and crafts. It is a fabulous way to discover the natural resources and beauty of our great planet.

For more information on FREE and Low Cost activities in Orange County visit OC Fun Guide.

Be sure to sign up for our monthly OC Activities and Events Calendar so you won't miss another great OC event and hear about it later.

Happy Earth Day!

Fun Things to do this weekend!

Friday, March 19th






FREE Shark Lagoon Nights at Aquarium of the Pacific

Experience The Shark Lagoon Night (tonight) Friday at The Aquarium of the Pacific from 6-9pm. This is a great opportunity to get up close and personal. You will be able to touch Bamboo Sharks and see large sharks such as sand tigers as well as rays. This is a fun evening for the family and best off all it's FREE. For more information on The Aquarium of the Pacific visit their website. There is so much to do in Long Beach in this area and a ton of restaurants and fun at Rainbow Harbor to enjoy before or after your visit to the Aquarium.

Saturday, March 20th







Easter Eggstravaganza at Irvine Park Railroad

The Easter Eggstravaganza is finally here! The first egg hunt for ages 2-4 will begin at 10am. Be sure to arrive very early because last year the park was full by 8:30am. There will be face painting, games, bounce houses, pictures with the Easter Bunny and of course train rides. Tickets are $4 each. I have heard this called by many people the greatest Easter Egg Hunt in Orange County so bring your kiddies out for some fun! For more information on the Easter Eggstravaganza and schedules for the Egg Hunts be sure to visit Irvine Park Railroad's website.

Sunday, March 21st




FREE Rockin' Recorders Beginning Lessons at Pretend City

Pretend City is offering FREE beginning recorder lessons from 10:15-10:45am for ages 6-8 (parents must remain on premises) every Sunday in March in honor of "Music in our Museum" Month. This class teaches basis of music with simple rhythms, time signatures, note reading along with breath control and finger coordination. Wow! That sounds like so much fun! For more information on this class and many more just like it, you can visit Pretend City's website.

Fore more fun activities in Orange County visit OC Fun Guide . Be sure to sign up for our monthly email activity calendar for FREE and Low Cost events in Orange County. Don't miss out on a great event and hear about it after.

Happy Spring!

Beehive Expo Highlights

The Beehive Expo was held at The OC Great Park in Irvine this past weekend on March 13th & 14th. They offered FREE admission to each person who brought a donation of 3 canned goods for The Second Harvest Food Bank. All children under 12 were FREE. This was a great mini Expo that was not too overwhelming for mommy and yet there was enough for my kiddo to keep her heart happily content with activities galore. My daughter saw this as a mini-fair and I saw this as a way to find boutique niche businesses and great ideas which may or may not find me in my busy life. Orange County is full of businesses with great products and services that all too often fall short of exposure because they are small and family owned so this was a great way to find these businesses. I was drawn to Rock'n Baby Boutique and their awesome clothing designs for babies, toddlers and school age children. Any of their designs can be special ordered to fit a child of any size. Picture This Face Painting did a great job with the airbrush face painting & took a fraction of the time it normally takes. The face painting was FREE and sponsored by AmeriKidz.

There were many pint sized fair rides for the kids to enjoy along with bounce houses, mazes and slides. There was no shortage of food and drink booths. There was enough to keep everyone busy all day.

The highlight of the Expo for my daughter was the kid's band Sabrina & Minor After Shock. Here's a little video of their performance. I was surprised at the talent these kids have. My daughter has become their new "groupie". She was trying to pass out their free CD's to everyone in the crowd. It was great to watch her dance to all the songs. She was almost as entertaining as the entertainment.

We had a blast and I came home with lots of great information. We will definitley attend these events in the future. Especially when the weather is as good as it was this weekend. For more information on activities and events in Orange County visit OC Fun Guide. Be sure to sign up for our monthly email activity and event calendar. Don't miss another great event and hear about it after.

Happy Spring!

Richard Nixon Birthplace & Library

I am in love with Orange County all over again. We visited the Richard Nixon Birthplace & Library and to be honest with you, I was not expecting much nor very exciting. Unless brought to life in some interesting way, history can be a bit of a bore for me I am sad to say. We visited this landmark on President's Day so there were a few special visitors waiting for us when we arrived. Good ole Honest Abe and George Washington greeted us at the entrance. The first marvel we came upon was the grave site of Richard & Patricia Nixon. Grave sites are not my normal cup of tea but there was a sense of awe standing over the exact spot where a president of the United States was laid to rest.

The real highlight for me was the house where the 37th President was born. He was actually born inside the bedroom of this house in 1913. His father built the house one year earlier from a catalogue kit. Richard Milhous Nixon had 3 brothers with whom he shared a bedroom with. Wow 4 boys sharing the same room. That is unheard of these days. There were a few other rooms in the house which were his mother's domain such as her sewing room and the like. The most amazing part was that over 90% of the furniture and decor was original and belonged to the house when The Nixon's lived there. You feel like you can really get a realistic picture of what life would have felt like in their household in the early 1900's.

A few other really neat exhibits on this 9 acre property were the in the museum and also presidential helicopter which transported dignitaries, diplomats and world leaders in it's seats. If the walls of this helicopter could talk, I wonder what it would report? Inside the museum there were so many aspects of history from remnants of the Vietnam war, The Berlin Wall and Cold War, Space missions, US economy, Crime and Safety and the gown displays if you are into the fashion of Pat Nixon and their daughters.

Overall this was a great landmark that I would have never thought to be as spectacular as it really was. Please visit The Richard Nixon Birthplace & Library's website for more information on this landmark and visiting. Orange County has so many gems just like this. For information on Fun Free and Low Cost activities in Orange County visit OC Fun Guide. Be sure to sign up for our FREE and Low Cost Activity Calendar by email.

OC Fun Guide was in no way compensated for writing this review in any form. This blog post reflects my family's experience and personal opinions.

And the winners are....

The winners for this past week's Irvine Park Railroad ticket Giveaway are:

"Ramya Prasad" who wrote "Owwww.. I never knew about it, I live in Mission Viejo and work at Irvine!! isn't OC awesome"

Elle.Kogler who wrote "Our Child & Me group talks about this all the time and I have never been. I can't wait to take the family"

MOMMY-MOMO who wrote "OH NICE!!! We live in Laguna Niguel and my little guy would love to ride this train!!! how fun. We would love some tickets!"

Congratulations to our winners!

Winners, please email me at ocfunguide@gmail.com with your mailing information.

The Whales are Coming to Town!

Once a year a spectacular sight can be witnessed by those in the charming Southern California, seaside village of Dana Point as the Majestic Gray Whale makes it's yearly migration of 6,000 miles from Alaska to Mexico to mate or give birth. During this time about 40-50 whales pass by Dana Point each day.



Photos Courtesy of Dana Point Festival of Whales Committee


The community of Dana Point, along with the 100,000 visitors the festival draws, celebrates this amazing journey and the life of the once endangered Mammal that has reproduced themselves back to a safe number. The Festival of Whales will take place on March 6 & 7 and March 13 & 14. During this festival there are many activities to enjoy including an opening day parade, street faire and farmer's market, art exhibits, classic car exhibits, concerts on the land and water, environmental activities, educational opportunities, interpretive crafts, kids activities, and of course whale watching excursions.

This is a great chance to learn about ocean ecology and introduce this idea to your kiddies. The hands on educational opportunity here is remarkable. Seeing is really believing! The demonstrations and displays are so interactive that you don't even realize how much information is being retained.

Be sure to check out the Ocean Institute for a free look into the Wyland Clean Water Mobile Learning Center during the festival. The festival shuttle offers free transportation to visitors making stops at each venue of the festival. Our family is so excited this year for The Festival of the Whales and can't wait! With the age difference between our daughters, 13 years and 5 years old there is something that each of them can enjoy.

For more information click on The Festival of Whales to visit their website. For more fun FREE and Low Cost activities in Orange County visit http://www.ocfunguide/. Be sure to stop in and sign up for our FREE and Low Cost Activity Calendar so you won't miss another great event and hear about it after.


Happy Whale Watching!

Turning a childhood dream into a reality....Happy Anniversary Irvine Park Railroad!

See Giveaway details at end of post.

Irvine Park Railroad, a favorite fun spot in Orange County for locals and tourists alike, is celebrating their 14th anniversary this coming weekend; Saturday, February 27 and Sunday February 28th.

For John Ford and Steve Horn, Irvine Park Railroad is a story of perseverance and commitment, a message that is all too often forgotten in our fast moving world full of immediate gratification. What began as a summer job at Doheny State beach renting bikes and selling concessions, with hard work, patience and lots of learning, turned into a favorite family Orange County attraction. Starting at the ripe old age of 13, John and Steve began to learn the building blocks of business. The ABC's of business if you will. Little did these two 13 year old boys know, but they would some day climb the ladder bringing them to where they are today, owners and operators of a top Southern California amusement attraction that has brought families together enjoying what has become a favorite pastime that will be cherished throughout their lives.

Although officially founded in 1996, John and Steve of Irvine Park Railroad began building this recreational attraction in 1986 when they took the fantastic opportunity to lease their own concession and bike rental business at Irvine Regional Park. Step by step, they have built a business they love alongside a community who loves it right along with them.

As a token of their appreciation and commitment to their community, they are rolling back their prices to their 1996 prices. Now that's a price I can handle! Join our family as we ride the train, bounce in the bounce house, eat a hot dog and some ice cream, or maybe even get our faces painted. Each of these fun activities are only $2 a person during this celebration weekend. There is a $5 cost per car for parking at Irvine Regional Park and you can spend the day with so much to enjoy. We are counting the days and will be there to join the fun and celebrate with our friends at The Irvine Park Railroad.

OC Fun Guide will be giving away two train tickets to three lucky winners courtesy of Irvine Park Railroad. Enter to win! All you need to do is follow our blog and leave a comment here.

This giveaway will run until Saturday, February 28th at 12 midnight. The winners will be drawn at random and announced on Monday, March 1st. Good Luck to everyone!

For more information on the Irvine Park Railroad or their anniversary celebration please visit their website. Visit OC Fun Guide for fun FREE and Low Cost activities in Orange County! Be sure to sign up for our NEW email activity calendar. Don't miss out on another Fun FREE or Low Cost event in OC and hear about it after.

Happy Anniversary Irvine Park Railroad!