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

Things To Do in LA this Weekend with Kids: Surfing Santas, Doo Dah Parade, Frozen 2

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 11/21/2019 - 1:00am

Surfing Santa Competition. Photo by Pacific Dream Photography courtesy of Surfers Healing

It's not Thanksgiving; that's the first thing you need to know. No turkey, no punkin pie—instead we're serving up hot cars, icy princesses, and great white whales. Not a holiday, no celebration, just the usual doo dah in the City of Angels.

Speaking of, time to get started on your yuletide cheer, with Santas (both surfing and landbound), Nutcrackers, and tree lightings galore. We've a roundup chock full o' holiday jubilation, but I have to tell you the title is an outright lie. While, yes, it is the ultimate list, don't buy into the claim that there are only 50 celebrations listed. In fact, it's more like 58, or maybe 60, or possibly 6 zillion. But we're definitely not stopping at 50.

Thankfully, we have several more weeks to work on our truthfulness skills, which is pretty important if you want to stay off the naughty list. So we'll start with the following verified statement:

Keep reading for our most festive picks for weekend fun. For reals.

Things To Do in LA this Weekend with Kids: Zoo Lights, Tree Lightings, Lego Escape

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 11/14/2019 - 2:03am

Holiday lights at the Los Angeles Zoo. Photo by Jamie Pham

The truth is about to come out. All of it: the trees, the lights, the lighted trees...

Maleficent may be on the way out in Hollywood, but next week winter is coming—or at least some Frozen version of it.

There's really no escaping it (though you could look for a way). When the jolly old elf comes calling, you best be in, and for heaven's sake clean up before he gets here—especially since in SoCal Santa can look a little different.

Keep reading for our best picks for this weekend, truly...

Things To Do in LA this Weekend with Kids: Dia de los Muertos, Pumpkin Launch, Grand Avenue Arts

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 10/31/2019 - 1:21am

Try conducting an orchestra at Grand Ave Arts: All Access. Photo courtesy of The Colburn School

As I write this, Halloween is before us. We're still putting the finishing touches on our costumes and greedily anticipating the bounty of treats that awaits us. It's the one night of the year when we let our kids take candy from strangers (and might even grab a few pieces for ourselves).

But what about the weekend ahead? Some weekends would have a hard time living up to such a world-class Thursday, but not November 2-3, 2019, nosirree. Because this weekend we celebrate another holiday of otherworldly import: Día de los Muertos. It's marigolds from here to Sunday, and Los Angeles offers endless opportunities to honor dearly departed loved ones. We're particularly fond of the celebration at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which is why we're a proud media partner.

And as if two holidays in close succession weren't enough, this weekend offers an additional gift that we all can appreciate: an extra hour of sleep. It’s the end of Daylight Savings Time for 2019, so in the wee hours of November 3, the clock “falls back” an hour. Make sure to reset your clocks (and it’s a good time to check the batteries in your smoke alarm, as well).

Keep reading for events so good you're gonna need an extra hour of sleep and several pieces of your kids' candy...

West Virginia with Kids: Top Things to Do in the Mountain State

Submitted by Toby B on Sat, 10/26/2019 - 2:29pm

Take in the view of Cheat River Canyon from Raven Rock in Coopers Rock State Forest

From the moment my family arrived, we found West Virginia to be quite literally a breath of fresh air. A quick four-day family vacation to the Mountain State left such an impression that my tween daughter announced nearly immediately that she'll be moving there!

Whether seeking outdoor adventures, such as whitewater rafting and hiking in stunning West Virginia's state parks, or enjoying a classic state fair and exploring caves, families with kids of all ages will find plenty of fun things to do in West Virginia. We knew little of this mountainous southern state beyond the refrain of John Denver's anthem...."almost heaven, West Virginia." But we couldn't agree more. What we found was a refreshingly authentic travel experience, steeped in nature and sweetened by welcoming locals. Our overwhelming impression is just the absolute greenness of the sate: thick forests of trees, so many trees, and lush, dense greenery. More than three-quarters of the state is covered by forest.

Read on for our family-friendly travel guide-slash-love-letter to the state of West Virginia. We're sharing some of the favorite restaurants, resorts, cities in West Virginia, and yes the abundance of outdoor opportunities and more fun things to do in West Virginia when traveling with kids, from camping to skiing and more.

Things To Do Halloween Weekend with Kids in LA

Submitted by Toby B on Wed, 10/23/2019 - 11:33pm

Trick or... well look at that. It's all treat. Our calendar, just like a goodie bag, is overflowing. With tons of carnivals and festivals and parades and celebrations, LA is aquiver with the pumpkin-mania that is Halloween. Find the fun at parks, parks, and parks; at zoos, zoos, and zoos; and at theme parks, theme parks, and theme parks... you get the picture. There's no way we can fit them all here, so this weekend more than ever I encourage you to check out our full listings.

As if the schedule wasn't full enough, there's another major holiday nipping at Halloween's heels. Many Día de los Muertos events are this weekend, and there's no better place than LA to rejoice in the memory of our departed loved ones. There are even a few events with no holiday affiliation this weekend, though it's not hard to see the synergism between Halloween and, say, Steampunk, horror-driven science, or 8-legged killing machines.

Whatever your plans, conserve your strength: Thursday is coming.

Keep reading for our trickiest treats for this weekend...

Things To Do in LA this Weekend: Enchanted Crawly Halloween, Boos at Zoos, and P-22

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 10/17/2019 - 1:25am

Get hands on with some creepy crawlers at the Enchanted Crawly Hallow's Eve. Photo courtesy of STAR Eco Station

Throw on your masks and open up your treat sacks, because this is the weekend we start taking Halloween seriously. True, in some corners Halloween has always been deadly serious (as in full-on Zombie attack), but for the most part we have been attending our trick or treateries sans costumes, and more in onlooker mode. Well, no more. This weekend you start trick-or-treating at the LA Zoo. You can trick-or-treat at the Santa Ana Zoo. You can trick-or-treat with the Peanuts gang, and you can trick-or-treat with bugs (though hopefully not for bugs).

You can get pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins, from a town called pumpkin (ish), and then you can watch as they light up the night.

You can party with guinea pigs (no, that's not a costume; they're always that adorbs). You can party with the Jonas Brothers (no that's not a costume, they're always that adorbs). You can party with P-22 (don't bother calling an Uber, he'll get there on his own).

Or you can spend the weekend with a bunch of superheroes. Not the types who wear capes: I'm talking the kind who save lives. The 22nd Annual LA Cancer Challenge 5K Walk/Run brings folks together on the UCLA campus for fun times, fitness, and raising awareness about pancreatic cancer research. It's a cause we believe in so much we became a media sponsor. (Do we still have to do 5 kilometers if we're sponsors? Asking for my knees.)

Keep reading for our most heroic picks for the weekend, because next week things are going to get real:

Things To Do in LA this Weekend: Farmers Market Fall Fest, Depot Day, and Lots of Halloween Scares

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 10/10/2019 - 12:21am

Photo courtesy of The Original Farmers Market

The weekends around here have been Halloweeny for a while now, but they're starting to get a little...scary. And I don't just mean because you realized that your kid's desired costume is on backorder til Christmas so you may have to make one yourself. I mean honest to goodness, Momma's too old for this, scare the bejeebus out of you, old school nightmare-inducing terror.

Thank heavens for the light side. The pumpkin paths with a little extra, the fall festival in the middle of our big city, the old fashioned mechanisms, and the prehistoric history. Nothing beats the look of joy on an elephant's face as he chows down on a whole pumpkin. (At least I think that's joy?) Nothing beats the look of joy on a mom's face when she meets her childhood hearthrob. (Now I know that's joy!)

This weekend you can go to your happy place, whether it's a train depot, a Japanese garden, the land of the dead, or outer space. Tons of fun, and none of it scary. Except for that thing about the costume. Anyone know a good seamstress?

Keep reading for our favorite picks for the weekend, which totally aren't scary...

Things To Do in LA this Weekend: Boo at the Zoo, Children's Book Fest, Mark in the Park

Submitted by Toby B on Thu, 10/03/2019 - 1:01am

Make Your Mark in the Park. Photo by Debra Morrison courtesy of The Big Draw LA

It's beginning to look a lot like pumpkins, everywhere I go. And so it begins! The Harvest. The Corn Mazes. The Patches. We are on a crazed, giddy run to the end of the month.

But don't get spooked! Yes, there are scary things afoot. Yes, you can choose the dark and shadowy path. But you can also choose to welcome the season with laughs (and science!). You can fear the night or you can get in on the fun. Halloween is what you make it, and LA makes it easy to choose family-friendly. Or not.

Public service announcement for purists who wait to celebrate Halloween until, well, Halloween: There's still lots to do! This weekend sees festivals Greek and Southeast Asian, Manhattan Beachian and Encinoish. You can buy a ticket to the 20s, catch a plane, train, or (very small) automobile. The streets of Los Angeles are open wide, and you can make your mark in Grand Park. So go out there and scare up some fun.

Keep reading for our favorite treats for this weekend, no trick!