Earth Day 2k17!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you've all had a splendid weekend filled with adventures. I know we did.

Over the weekend we celebrated the classic Earth Day, which is basically a day to give thanks to the Earth and to realize how precious she really is. This should be a conscientious thought all of us have throughout the rest of the year (reduce, reuse, recycle people), but I do understand that it's not always in the front of our minds. While we can do our part daily with small changes - less showers, less trash, ect. - we might not always know how to help make a bigger difference, even if it's slightly. 

Well on Sunday Balboa Park (here in San Diego) brought together numerous vendors to help spread the word of respecting the Earth in a wide variety of ways. From showing unique ways on how to better grow with less chemicals to bettering our planet overall, Balboa Park was FILLED with people willing to help improve your way in all things living. 

I for one love taking my padawan to this event, teaching him how to recreate things out of common items and showing him the importance of minimizing our waste to help preserve what we have left. I also (of course) love going for the food, but mostly the lemonade. I tend to save my adventurous food taste buds for the Del Mar Fair (June can't come soon enough!!!).

At the Earth festival this year, we got to see an artistic "protest", to the deportation and segregation of immigrants that fill the US nation. I for one thought that this was an excellent representation of how the overall Earth day went. Vendors sharing knowledge without force and welcoming all in harmony.

I was hoping for the tortoise society to be there - mostly because I wanted more education - but alas they didn't come. It wasn't really their "forte" to be at the Earth fair, but in July they will be holding a tortoise and turtle show - which I will definitely be going to!

One thing that was there, was the faithful Goodwill stand. Now I know most people think they hike the prices for this event, but the reality is they don't. Trust me, I'm an avid Goodwill-er and after checking out the prices at the booth, they were identical (some even better) deals as you'd find in the stores. In fact, my little one found two educational games for relatively cheap and I purchased a pair of super cute bejeweled flip flops that look practically brand new. 

I was also hoping to see tiny houses again, because last year they had an excellent guest who was himself a tiny house builder. He discussed the turmoils and triumphs of doing the build himself AND allowed people to tour the house for themselves. But again, this did not happen.

I will say that there was an increase in medial marijuana vendors near the food section - which I found comical - but that's neither here nor there.

My little guy was able to play a few games - like giant ring toss with hula-hoops and blown up Coke bottles - along with loads of crafts. He even made a mini bag our of ribbon and newspaper, with the help from the Target booths. Along with planting his own seeds, my padawan was able to scarf down some seasoned fries, get some freebies (as did his momma), and play like a nature boy. He even got his own alien balloon made special for him.

Once we ventured the whole park and grabbed as many freebies and samples as we could get, we headed out before the crowds got crazy. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there, with ease from us arriving early. 

Parking was a little hectic, but as long as you arrive early-ish, you'll be ok. But as Master Yoda always says, "patience young padawan". 

Earth Day may have come and gone, but our planet matters everyday. So do your part in trying to better the Earth and make a difference - no matter how big or small - so we can all enjoy this beautiful world!

Peace and love Jedi's!