Recently in Family Category

My first-born starts kindergarten in a few weeks. So I turned to the Web to research the latest in packing school lunches. I want her to eat healthy stuff, be eco-friendly and feel loved.

I found bento.

Here's a lovely description from one site I found:

'O-bento' is what the Japanese call a packed meal, usually lunch. Bento boxes have internal dividers, and sometimes several stacked layers, so different kinds of food sit in their own little compartments... and the goal is to make the whole package as attractive as possible - from considering the colour combinations of the food and presenting and garnishing it as neatly and artfully as you can...

The most informative and down-to-earth site I found for the novice bento-er was Lunch in a Box. Blogger Biggie, who won a 2007 Food Blog Award for Best Kids/Family Blog, focuses primarily on speed and nutrition in packing lunches for her preschooler. She also lived in Japan for nine years and speaks Japanese, so some of her tips and recipes are culled from Japanese cookbooks for you purists.

Her site is where you'll find a tips page that covers everything from the science of choosing the right size bento box and how to care for bento gear to smart packing strategies to keep a meal looking like you designed it to look.

If her site inspires you as much as it did me, you need to start shopping for some bento gear before school starts. Fortunately, the South Bay has quite a few Japanese markets that stock cheap and cute bento stuff. In Torrance, you can find things like cutters that turn a simple hot dog into a tulip to an egg shaper that turns a hard-boiled egg into a car. Find the goods with Biggie's Bento Store Locator.

Find more info on bento at:
Cooking Cute's links and resources
Adventures in Bento Making
Dallas Morning News' tips for bentoesque school lunches

I liked the idea that with a bento box, you can avoid disposable food containers like plastic sandwich bags. The bento supply aisles are full of cute little re-usable containers in fun shapes and colors that kids will love using. You can also avoid plastics and go with stainless steel containers if you're worried about the plastic factor.

Tips for packing a no-waste lunch box

I also liked that bento is supposed to be creative. I'll likely include comic strips and photos clipped from the Breeze, or some of my husband's doodles. Here are some more ideas I found that I might incorporate in my daughter's boxes:
Clever strategies for packing fun lunches
Lunch box love letter ideas from Tiffintin.net
Dumb jokes to include in the notes

1) Cabrillo Marine Aquarium: Marine exhibits, touch tanks and special events.
Hours: Tuesdays through Fridays noon to 5 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Admission is a suggested a donation of $5 for adults, and $1 for children and seniors.
3720 Stephen M.White Drive, San Pedro. 310-548-7562.

2) South Coast Botanic Garden: 87 acres of land with a collection of plants from all over the world, classes, tours, walks and special shows.
Hours: Garden open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and students, $2.50 for children 5-12, and free for those under 5.
26300 Crenshaw Blvd., Palos Verdes Peninsula. 310-544-6815.

3) Madrona Marsh Preserve and Nature Center: Learn about the animal and plant species that benefit from the marsh at the Nature Center, then explore the marsh itself and see them in their natural habitat. Call for special nature walks and other events.
3201 Plaza del Amo, Torrance. 310-782-3989.

4) Point Vicente Interpretive Center: The 10,000-square-foot center features exhibits about the natural and cultural history of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, with an emphasis on the Pacific gray whale.
Hours: Daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Park grounds close at dusk.
No admission fee, but donations are appreciated.
31501 Palos Verdes Drive West, Rancho Palos Verdes. 310-377-5370.

5) Roundhouse Lab, Aquarium: Native and non-native marine life, including sharks, moray eels, lobsters and octopi, on display in tanks; educational programs for kindergarten through 12th-grade classes; outreach programs and birthday parties.
Hours: 3 p.m. to dusk Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to dusk Saturdays and Sundays.
Free admission but donations are welcome.
End of Manhattan Beach Pier. 310-379-8117.

6) Western Museum of Flight: Focuses on the history of the aerospace industry in Southern California, with planes from all eras on display.
Hours: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays through Sundays.
General admission is $5, students $3.
3315 Airport Drive, Red Baron Hangar No. 3, Torrance. 310-326-9544.

7) Charles H. Wilson Park: Free Little Train Rides on the first Sunday of the month (except in July). The park also has a treehouse. The train rides are closest to the park's eastern Washington St. entrance.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
2200 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance.

8) Sea Aire Golf Course: Sea-Aire is a very short nine-hole, 27 par, pitch and putt golf course nestled in the Seaside Ranchos neighborhood of SouthTorrance. It's a low-stress, relatively low-cost place to learn the game. Club and ball rental available.
Hours: Mondays 3 p.m. until dusk, Tuesdays through Sundays 9 a.m. until dusk.
22780 Lupine Drive, Torrance. 310-543-4653.

9) Banning Residence Museum: Built in 1864, the restored, 23-room Greek revival mansion is the former home of Phineas Banning, who founded Wilmington in 1858. Call for information on guided tours and special events.
General admission is $5, $1 for children under 12.
401 E. M St., Wilmington. 310-548-7777.

10) L.A. Maritime Museum: Exhibits include vessels, models, paintings and memorabilia of maritime life. Hands-on exhibits include knot board and amateur radio room.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays, closed Mondays
General admission $3 general, seniors and youths ages 7-18 $1, children 6 and under free.
Berth 84, foot of Sixth St., San Pedro. 310-548-7618.

If you collect postcards, and even if you don't, you might like The Tacky Postcard Archive, a bizarre collection of well-meaning but incredibly outrageous cards from around the world guaranteed to leave you scratching your head. There's nothing like a postcard with a photo of a gigantic roll of toilet paper (seriously, it's huge). You can't order these quirky cards by mail, but you can send electronic versions via e-mail.

But if snail mail is more your style and you'd like to send and receive postcards from around the world, log on to Postcrossing. Sign up for a user account, request an address and you'll be e-mailed information from another user. Send your postcards and you're on your way. Your own address will end up in the database for another person to retrieve. Before you know it, your mailbox will be full of cards from Finland, Malaysia, Australia or any of the other 184 participating countries. It's an addicting and cheap way to make some use of your downtime. Even your little ones can get some mail; several users have signed up accounts for their children.

Here's a list including all things Fourth of July -- fun facts, fireworks and barbecue safety tips and more from the U.S. Government's official Web portal. Some of the standout links are:

• Reminders on barbecue safety from the Agriculture Department

• A virtual visit to the Liberty Bell Center

• Have your children test their knowledge on the Declaration of Independence with this quiz. This site also offers quizzes on life in the White House, First Ladies and even presidents' pets.

• All-American recipes, including a recipe for Laura Bush's Hot Chocolate.

• If you're interested in donating your time and effort for a patriotic cause, this link is a thorough compilation of donation projects, volunteering opportunities and other ways to support your country.

Be safe and have a great Fourth!

Is the Happiest Place on Earth the coolest place in the virtual world, too?

The Disney experience will be tweeted. Twisney has set up a Twitter account to report length of ride lines and other goings-on in Anaheim at Disneyland, California Adventure, Downtown Disney and hotels.

The coolness doesn't end there. Each message gets tagged on an actual map of the parks, with the precise tweets pinpointed on a map that can be seen in aerial or birds-eye views.

Disney has harnessed the web to imagineer a virtual theme park experience. Lojoconnect.com reports that Disney's 3-D rendering of Walt Disney World on Google Earth is the largest corporate contribution to the global mapping service. The richly textured model may bog down the memory of some computers, but otherwise ... wow. We eagerly await a similar initiative for Anaheim's parks.

Looking for something to keep your kids busy this summer without breaking the bank? Check out some of these summer movie programs geared toward kids.

AMC Theaters runs $1 movies during its "Summer Movie Camp" every Wednesday at 10 a.m. The Southbay Galleria 16 in Redondo Beach and the Del Amo 18 are participating this year. Here's the schedule:

June 25: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
July 2: The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep
July 9: Alvin & The Chipmunks
July 16: Shrek The Third
July 23: Bee Movie
July 30: Surf's Up
August 6: TMNT

The Promenade Stadium 13 in Rolling Hills Estates participates in Regal Cinema's "Free Family Film Festival." Every Tuesday and Wednesday during the program, movies are free at 10 a.m. for kids and their parents. Here's the movie schedule:

06/17/2008-06/18/2008 Clifford's Really Big Movie (G) Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)

06/24/2008-06/25/2008 Jonah: A Veggie Tale Movie (G)
The Martian Child (PG)

07/01/2008-07/02/2008 Adventure Of Elm In Grouchland (G)
Water Horse: Legend Of The Deep (PG)

07/08/2008-07/09/2008 Doogal (G)
Shrek The Third (PG)

07/15/2008-07/16/2008 Everyone's Hero (G)
Open Season (PG)
07/22/2008-07/23/2008 Carebears 2 (G)
Firehouse Dog (PG)

07/29/2008-07/30/2008 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything - Veggie Tales (G)
Monster House (PG)

08/05/2008-08/06/2008 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
Bee Movie (PG)

08/12/2008-08/13/2008 Charlotte's Web (G)
Surf's Up (PG)

Pacific Theaters don't have a kids program, but they do have Monday Morning Mommy Movies at the El Segundo theater each week at 11 a.m. Here's the spiel:

Moms, Dads and Caregivers - here's your chance to see a first run adult-themed movie...with your baby! No one will mind if your baby cries, everyone will have a baby and all babies cry. So pack up your diaper bag and stroller, and we'll see you at the movies!

RELATED POSTS:
San Pedro's Shakespeare by the Sea
Summer Music Fesitvals

San Pedro's annual Shakespeare by the Sea opens June 12 in Point Fermin Park with "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It's billed as "an enchanting comedy where magical mayhem rules. Feisty fairies finagle a four square love affair in this fast, furious fantasy which proves 'the course of true love never did run smooth.'"

The Shakespeare by the Sea production is but one of 47 Shakespeare festivals and theaters in California. And that's just the beginning. There's the San Francisco Shakespeare in the Park, the Oklahoma City Shakespeare in the Park, the Louisville, Kentucky Shakespeare in Central Park, and New York's Shakespeare in Central Park. And then, of course, there's London's Royal Shakespeare Company, Germany's Shakespeare Festival in the Neuss Globe and Mexico's Baja Shakespeare Festival.

If you want to take a road trip to see a sampling of the Bard's work across the nation and the world, Shakespeare Fellowship offers what it calls "the most comprehensive and current list of Shakespeare festivals and theatres on the Web today."