Family is a huge priority at Family Entourage… it’s right in our name. We know family is important to you too which is why you even engage with us. But sometimes making family number one, creating keepsakes or spending time together is harder than it needs to be.
We want to share Unique Ways to Bring the Family Together. Of course as the holidays approach, there is more of a focus on family time, or events, but we think family time should be celebrated all year. We expanded the idea to also include was to preserve and relive memories in a couple of great keepsakes.
Fall Fiesta
Flower Hill in Del Mar is decked out with colorful, interactive installations and events as a part of their seasonal Fall Fiesta series. Families can experience their upcoming Makers Bazaar on November 17th featuring more than 20 local makers displaying their unique offerings, Pam’s Petting Farm, balloon artist, face painting, live music and goodies.
Flower Hill also has dedicated days to Shop for Kids like on October 25th with their A Rady Children’s Happening. It’s a day of shopping at Flower Hill Promenade where
proceeds from sales at participating merchants benefit Rady Children’s Hospital followed by a wine and cheese reception.
Craft and Crust
When you think of Four Seasons hotels, most likely you think luxury, an unparalleled staff, and personal touches… but you may not think kid-friendly. You might be surprised at the care that goes into crafting an amazing experience for the whole family, including babies and children.
Step inside Seasons, the restaurant at the Four Seasons Aviara, working kitchen each Wednesday for an interactive class that the whole family will enjoy. With the guidance of from their chef, you can create your own artisanal style pizza. Plus pair it with a beer flight tasting or craft soda depending on your age or mood. You can also book the Chef’s Table for your own private Craft and Crust whether it be a family gathering or even your child’s birthday party.
We also love that Seasons got it’s name from the olive tree that’s on their Veranda. The tree is a gathering place and roots them to their belief that food is best enjoyed shared among family and friends. It also plays to their food style in that their menu is every changing, seasonal and market driven.
Flight of 32 (Ice Cream!)
Ice cream is a hit with most families and at Hammonds Gourmet Ice Cream there is no fighting over flavors, especially when it comes to their signature flight of 32 flavors. They have your standards, classics and then fun flavors like Kona coffee, chocolate coconut macadamia nut, or peanut butter guava… sure to be a big hit with all.
We had such a great time bring our families to the Point Loma location to indulge in their flavors and learn more about their super premium Hawaiian ice cream and sorbet. It’s handmade with 18% butterfat, adding a rich, creamy texture and they have 300 flavors to pick from!
Clay Creations
Rolling up your sleeves to get a little dirty also brings families together… especially if that means getting your hands covered in paint! We spent an entire morning with our families at CeramiCafe, at the Del Mar Highlands, and even got the grandparents involved! Creating clay keepsakes is not only fun in the moment, but it also doubles as a great gift idea as well.
We each did a personalized plate where we painted our kids hands and had them imprint them as part of our masterpiece. We even had some added laughs turning the handprints into turkeys to remind us to give thanks at Thanksgiving time. We loved the idea of creating a grateful jar where you can remember the importance of maintaining a heart of gratitude by either writing things you are thankful for on slips of paper and storing them in the jar, or drawing a slip of paper each day that already has written on it something that you are grateful for — either way you are taking the focus off of self and onto others.
Say Cheese! Photo Time
If you’re like most families you take a hundreds of pictures a month from school to sports, vacations, events and more… but do they ever leave your phone? Creating a photo book can not only be a great way to reflect and revisit the fun you share as a family, but it also is so much fun to create as a family too. Mixbook great options including my favorite the flat lay book!
I have done several photo books over the years for varying occasions from a variety of companies and none have looked as good as my Mixbook. The quality is fantastic but it was the color that impressed me most. When you make a photo book on your computer it is tough to know the exact color that will be printed because depending on how bright you keep your computer screen, the color can vary quite a bit. I also like that there are a lot of options… Mei Ling chose a predetermined theme and pattern for her book and so it made plugging in pictures easy and there were cool fonts and designs throughout. I chose a flat lay book and designed my pages and photos from scratch. It took a little bit at first to figure out, but once I did, I loved the freedom of being able to pick any amount of photos, any size and even spanning across both pages. Now we have beautiful keepsakes from vacations past!
Tablescapes for Hosting
With Thanksgiving only weeks away and family coming into town as the holidays approach, it’s guaranteed their is a lot of hosting going on. Sometimes a tablescape can transform a typical meal into a memorable event. Pottery Barn Kids has everything you need from the kids table to the adults with so many personalized touches.
We love the Peanuts gang and being able to have everything from plates and glasses to coloring paper runner, chair decor and tablecloths, you’ll be “thankful” to give these characters a seat at your table.
