Toby B

Toby is our uber-busy events editor for Mommy Poppins LA. Feel free to email Toby about events for our LA area calendar.

Latest posts by Toby

Fun & Free Things to Do This Weekend with LA Kids: CicLAvia, Sand Snowmen, and Scuba Santa Dec 6- 7

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 12/04/2014 - 9:08am

Oh, it's here all right. De one and only December, with nonstop boat-parading, breakfasting, nutcracking, bright-lighting goodness. There's only one story this month, and whether it's told with a ho ho ho, a bah humbug, or a "pass the latkes," it's all about raking in the gift-wrapped goodies. (And helping our fellow man. That's in there, too.)

Mother Nature has been doing her part to set the seasonal tone. If you call soggy "seasonal." (I don't.) Luckily, Los Angeles offers plenty of ways to feel the true chill of Winter (snow and everything!).

Not everything is Santa this weekend: there's a Special Needs Resources Fair that comes with a free day at the Zimmer, the Grand Re-Opening of Kidseum, CicLAvia in South LA, a Sand Snowman contest, Santa in a firetruck, Santa in scuba gear, Santa swimming with the sharks... Ah, who am I kidding? It's Santa Santa Santa. And one Duck.

Keep reading for our most seasonal picks for the weekend.

Fun & Free Things to Do This Weekend with LA Kids: Chill, Yo Gabba, and Mariachi Nov 22 - 23

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 11/20/2014 - 8:24am

It's beginning to feel a lot like winter, what with the Arctic chill, the record snow fall; I think there's another Polar Vortex on the way and.... oh, not here of course. Here we have our standard 72 and sunny. Kind of hard to get in the holiday spirit when you look outside and all you see is... snow? Snow in Los Angeles - that can't be right... I mean, check out the thermometer, it's a balmy...

...9 degrees Fahrenheit?!?! What kind of insane Bizarro World, SoCal ice wonderland are we talking about? (I bet that Elsa chick had something to do with it!) What am I going to do? I'll have to put on a sweater, or one of those coat things I've heard people talk about...

No. No, it's just not right. I'm going to go to my happy place, ~~chill~~ hang out at the beach and watch the waves come in, and sunshine and butterflies... And Santa Claus surfing to shore. If anyone needs me I'll be hibernating 'til spring.

Keep reading for our most chilling picks for the weekend.

Fun & Free Things to Do This Weekend with LA Kids: Discovery Cube LA, S.T.E.A.M, and Doo Dah,Nov 15 - 16

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 11/13/2014 - 9:47am

Science science science! We are going to fill you with the smarts this weekend, as LA becomes the most sciency town this side of that comet that ESA just landed on. (And that's 300 million miles away, so not so good for weekend plans.) We have a S.T.E.A.M. Festival on Santa Monica Pier to thrill and inspire your kids. The science-heads at UCLA share their enthusiasm for our universe and all things in it at the annual Exploring Your Universe event. (Do you think anyone told them about the comet?)

But perhaps the biggest science news we've got is the opening of the new Discovery Cube LA. That's right, Orange County, you don't own discovering any more. (Don't worry, we still love you, never change.) We got a sneak peek at the new Discovery Cube over the weekend, and let me tell you, it is kid heaven. Just the right mix of techno-gadgety interfaces, attractions that keep kids actively engaged, and the sheer exhilaration of natural and engineered wonders. This is no gimmick: true science is taking center stage here.

Some science is best left to the parents, though. Specifically, coffee, and the mystical timey-wimey alchemy that turns caffeine into pure happiness. Starbucks Holiday BOGO is back. Keep your paws of my chestnut praline latte and no one gets hurt.

Keep reading for our favorite picks for the weekend.

Fun & Free Things to Do Veterans Day Weekend with LA Kids: Nov 8 - 9

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 11/06/2014 - 8:36am

Well done, parents. We made it through the season's first challenge (and hopefully got rewarded with our share of the Snickersy, Kit Katty goodness). Now is a good time to take a moment to reflect, and what better time than Veterans' Day, as we honor those who have served our country. Unlike most holidays, this one isn't all about the kids, but Veterans' Day is a school holiday, and we've got the scoop to help you commemorate the holiday with your kids.

Soon enough, we'll be feeling winter's first chill and stuffing stockings with figgy pudding (that's a tradition somewhere, isn't it?), but luckily none of that's started yet. I mean, it's barely November. It's not like you can already go ice skating at outdoor rinks across LA (gasp!). No one's putting up any Christmas trees (zoinks!) or inviting you to come see Santa (ho ho ...seriously?).

But. But. We haven't even done Thanksgiving yet! (At least this year T-Day doesn't coincide with Hanukkah .. but Christmas Eve does!)

Keep reading for our favorite picks for the weekend. (99.9% yuletide free!)

Fun & Free Things to Do with LA Kids this (Almost Halloween) Weekend: Pumpkins, Fall, More Pumpkins Oct 25 - 26

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 10/23/2014 - 7:31am

This is the weekend of Halloween in all but the name. True, Halloween is next Friday, which really makes it part of next weekend if you want to get all official about it, but its Halloween part is only at the beginning. The pre-weekend day, really, and 10/31 is going to be all about the trick-or-treating anyway. Then come Saturday and Sunday, and at that point you might as well launch your pumpkins into the sky, because it'll be November and Dia de Los Muertos and Halloween will be little more than a sweet, cavity-inducing memory.

See, all the real Halloween action is this weekend. The festivals. The pumpkin patches. The chills and the thrills. Halloween at the aquarium, the zoo, the garden, the museum, another aquarium, another zoo, a scary train ride. Halloween with fairies, books, puppets, another garden, comic book Halloween, surfing Halloween, science Halloween. Dancing Halloween, racing Halloween, eco Halloween, Haute Dog Halloween, another aquarium. Chances are you're going to be so busy Halloweening in this "not Halloween" weekend that come next weekend you'll be all "Halloween? That was so last weekend."

Well, that is until next week when we tell you all the spookilicious fright-tivities that lay in wait for you. But in the mean time:

Keep reading for our most Halloweeny picks for this weekend...

Fun & Free Things to Do with LA Kids this Weekend: Dan Zanes, Read for the Record, and So Long Petersen, Oct 18 - 19

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 10/16/2014 - 6:57am

Someone file a name change because Philadelphia is about to become the city of Motherly love. That's right, Mommy Poppins is setting up shop in the town William Penn founded. I'm looking forward to cheesesteaks and soft pretzels and runs up the steps of the Art Museum. But that crack in the Liberty Bell? We had nothing to do with it, nothing, you hear? (We were being careful!)

Of course, the real excitement is in our little hometown (which is, for the record, bigger than Philadelphia, not that we're bragging). This weekend we can explore the communities that make LA great, with the Found: LA Festival of Neighborhoods, the Sherman Oaks Street Fair, Taste of Soul LA, the Mar Vista Community Fall Festival; Fall/Harvest/Pumpkin/Halloween festivals at Underwood Farms, the Original Farmers Market, Kidspace, Descanso Gardens, Calabasas, the LA Zoo, Shadow Hills Equestrian Center, and the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium - to name a few.

The Read for the Record fun starts this weekend, with high octane readers like Josh Duhamel and kid-favorite locations like Lakeshore Learning. LeVar Burton boldly goes where no one has gone before...scratch that, where a lot of people have gone (the Santa Monica Library), but dudes, he's Geordi, Kunta Kinte, and the Reading Rainbow guy! If you're looking for a theatrical experience, we've got a mouse with no tail, a hungry caterpillar (so hungry it'll take him two days to eat through the Southland), a tree-planting man, a princess with a pea and a newly clad emperor, and a silent Joan of Arc (with choral accompaniment).

And Dan Zanes, pretty much our all-time favorite kids' performer, makes a rare LA appearance for two shows at the Wallis. Catch that train, Philadelphia!

Keep reading for our favorite picks for the weekend...

Fun & Free Things to Do with LA Kids this Weekend: JPL Open House, Discover MDR and Music Center Pop Ups, Oct 11 - 12

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 10/09/2014 - 6:04am

Look to the stars, baby! It’s a truly astronomical weekend in Los Angeles. First we had another one of those blood moon things, (which I’m told was lovely but, you know, late. Momma needs sleep). Then we had all sorts of executive visits (both presidential and vice). I didn’t actually see those either, though I may have heard them (helicopters and Tea Party rants). But I tell you what I wouldn’t miss for all the world: the return of the JPL Open House. Science, dudes! Rockets! Spacecraft!

If the only star you need to see is your own beaming baby, you might want to check out LA Parent’s cover kids contest. If you can’t say Star without Wars, you can join fellow readers at Barnes and Noble or fellow bricklayers at Toys R Us. The Music Center is the star of its own festivities, as is Marina del Rey.

And as any child will tell you, the real star of October is Halloween. The trains, mazes, and spook-fests have begun. You have two more weekends to get your spook spirits up, before the most hallowed eve arrives. And possibly the Great Pumpkin.

Keep reading for our most out of this world picks for the weekend...

Fun & Free Things to Do with LA Kids this Weekend: CicLAvia, Jack O'Lanterns & Hot Wheels, Oct 4 - 5

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 10/02/2014 - 5:59am

This is a weekend of the weird and the quirky, the spooky and the ooky. Things popping up unexpectedly, nothing where you expect it to be, and surprises at every turn. What has put such mystery in the air? Is it the end of the summer and the beginning of the Fall? The approach of our most spooktacular holiday season? Or maybe, just maybe, it's the renovations our site is undergoing which might lead to some extraordinary and/or unexplainable results. For which we apologize and/or say you're welcome.

There is also much going on to leave you inspired. It is a weekend filled with compassion, and hope, and giving back. Whether there's an angel on your shoulder, or a Mustang in your garden, this is the kind of weekend that reminds us that LA is really just our own little hometown. Grab your bike or take a stroll, say hola to your amigos and listen to the music of your neighborhood.

You know what else? Pie! And Hot Wheels! Let the October fun begin!

Keep reading for our most perfectly placed picks for the weekend...