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My husband works a shift work schedule and I work remotely part-time from home as a contractor for a local company in SLO.

During the school year, when I don't have a work project to do, I would use the day time to go to the gym, grocery shop and run other errands. However, in the rare occasion that my husband is home during the week while the kids are at school, we usually catch up on adult shows (like Mature/Rated R stuff). Shows we currently watch and waiting to continue to watch include The Boys, The Witcher, The Wheel of Time, and Better Call Saul.  We recently finished watching The Expanse. 

Every once in awhile, I'd like to take advantage of our proximity to fantastic places around San Luis Obispo County and do something different.

Here is a list of things that I'd like to do in my spare time, besides watching shows and movies, with my partner around SLO County:

• Eat at a nice and high-rated restaurant that has slow service. Usually my sons do not have the patience to sit still for meals that take over 1 hour. So when I don't have work to do and my partner is home, we would try to go have lunch somewhere that we normally wouldn't. Our first choice is usually Pacific Umi Sushi.
  
  (Read about my experience on this Asian Restaurant List page to see the items I've tried at Pacific Umi Sushi.) See a list of restaurants that I've tried.
• Go get a mineral soak at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa in Avila. We're known for the hot mineral springs around here but I've only had a mineral soak there a couple of times. I would really like to go again! I haven't had a facial in years so maybe I will need to schedule one there during the first month when school starts back up again in the fall and it's less busy! Read about my experience at Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa for Valentine's Day weekend.
• Work out with my partner. Usually I work out by myself but when he wants to do some cardio, he would occasionally join me at my gym. It is nice eyeing him across the room as I feel safer with him near. Earlier this year, while I was on the treadmill with my headphones on, a guy walk over to me to give me a thumbs up and tried to have a conversation with me. I feel uneasy when strange men try to talk to me as I've been stalked before when I was much younger. He was complimenting me on my treadmill work out session for some reason. I uttered a quick 'thanks' and thankfully he left not long after my unamused response. When my husband comes, no one tries to talk to me so I think his presence help scare off the strangers for me. Furthermore, I enjoy being able to do more active things with my husband.
• Get some boba! I've had boba since I was a teenager back when I lived in San Diego. I'm really excited about all the new boba shops that are springing around San Luis Obispo County lately! See all of the boba shops I've tried around San Luis Obispo (SLO) County!
  
  My kids still aren't into boba yet. I had them try it when I would order one and even when I made my own boba at home. Boba balls do have an interesting texture and hopefully in a couple of years, they will grow to like it. My husband and I enjoyed boba while we were dating so it is nice to relive something that we used to do together.

We went to the Mustang Waterpark at Lopez Lake in Arroyo Grande today! We had a wonderful experience. I actually prefer this Waterpark to the Ravine Waterpark. (See our Ravine Waterpark review here.) 

The water park is smaller than Ravine Waterpark, the only other waterpark in SLO County, and that makes it less stressful for me as a mother of two little boys! There is a nice kids pool area with 3 kids' water slides. For bigger kids and adults, there are 3 water slides that you can enjoy. Best yet, all of these bigger waterslides can be ridden in tandem with your kid if they are big enough!

We rented a Cabana for $125 plus booking fees. I think that is a good deal because it is reserved for you for the whole day and it comes with nice chairs, shade and a reserved area. There is also a server who checks up on your party at the cabana every hour so you never have to wait by the snack bar to order!

We knew this water park is located at a county park so you'll find campers and tents here as you drive your way towards the water park. We were expecting this so we were not surprised but if you're not used to the camping scenery, I've forewarned you that you will see these cool camping areas before you make your way to the parking lot across from the Waterpark. We're locals so we are not campers and just coming to the Waterpark for some summer fun.

Here are my tips for your Mustang Waterpark visit that I think you might find useful:

• Even though Mustang Waterpark opens at 10:30AM, you don't have to come right at 10:30AM as peak warm hours depending on the day could be right about noon. We came a bit after noon and stayed until it closed at 5PM. I think if we came really early, then we might be drained and not stay until the end. We had lunch before we arrived at the Arroyo Grande Village area. It's on the way there and only about 18 minutes from the Mustang Waterpark.
• Coolers and outside drinks (except water) and food are not allowed inside the waterpark but you can still keep it in your car and come out there when you want to enjoy your own snacks and beverages. Make sure you still have your wristband on to get back into the water park.
• Restrooms right outside the water park has a shorter line so if you really need to go as quickly as possible, put on your sandals, make sure your wristband is still for in and out privileges and go to the restroom outside the water park. There are restrooms inside the water park but for women, there's a line except for the last hour when we were there.
• We rented a cabana ahead of time and I highly recommend it! It was my son's birthday weekend and my sons were so impressed. They felt special. The cabana we reserved has seats for 6 but I see a lot of people having more than 6 hovering in and out of their cabanas and it's okay. As mentioned earlier, we arrived a little bit past noon and someone ushered us inside and gave us an option between that last two that were left. Even though we had booked the cabana a month ahead, you don't book for the exact cabana location. There was only Cabana #2 and #5 left when we arrived and we chose Cabana #5 as there was more privacy in that area. I was very happy with Cabana #5. From what I observed, Cabanas #1, #2 and #3 had the least privacy but they are closest to the entrance.
• Everything on the snack bar was so reasonably priced and I love that about Mustang Waterpark. We ordered drinks and snacks for 4 and the bill plus a 25% tip was under $50. That's amazing for 2022. I never had to go to the snack bar line because the server checked up with us every hour at the cabana. We ordered 1 hot dog, 1 pretzel, 1 dippin' dots, 1 snow cone and a few plastic cups of wine.
• Remember to leave your glasses in your bag and don't wear them as you go down any of the waterslides. My husband lost his as he was going down the water slide. 
• Parking is $10 per car for entering the Lopez Lake park so make sure to account that to your budget. You will be passing a lot of farms along the way and won't see a gas station so gas or charge up ahead of time.
• Lay out your towels flat on your chairs while you are not using them. You will enjoy the warmth and dryness of those towels when you're ready to dry up. It is a wonderful comfort.
• You're not allowed to bring in your own tubes or water toys, etc. However, my sons brought their sun hats and used those to scoop up water to play with each other. I thought that was really creative of them.

This trip to the Mustang Waterpark was not sponsored in any way and is an unbiased review. My family can't wait to come back again.

Read about our experience at another water park in San Luis Obispo County called Ravine Waterpark in Paso Robles.

Water Fun:

I've been to three Mother & Son Dances so far: one on the East Coast and two on the West Coast.

I think I enjoyed my very first one the most because it was my first Mother & Son experience, food was ready right when the event started and there were a lot of activities for the kids. It felt like a party.

Even though I enjoyed my first one the best, I still appreciate it when organizations plan a Mother & Son event. From what I've seen in many cities, there are way more Father & Daughter Dances than Mother & Son Dances and if you even have a Mother & Son Dance in your city, I consider you lucky! Furthermore, any event requires planning, effort, time and money, As a guest, I have the easy tasks. I buy the tickets, dress nicely, drive there, find a parking spot and show up with my sons. For the organizers, it takes months of hard work and planning!

Tonight, I decided to create a table on Pros and Cons on Going to a Mother and Son Dance based on my personal experiences and feelings, and I hope this will help you if you're on the fence about going to one.
 

Pros

Cons

You get to bond and spend special time with your son(s). It can be fun to dress up according to the theme of the Dance or dress up nicely. The kids may really enjoy the Dance. You usually get to take nice pictures with your sons as a memory keepsake. If you're going with another mommy friend who also has sons, this might be a great night out of catching up with friends as well. If the event includes dinner, you get to enjoy a dinner that you didn't have to cook. They usually have a DJ playing fun and appropriate music at Mother & Son Dances so it's nice entertainment. There are usually fun activities for the kids to participate in besides dancings.

You may have to sit nearby strangers who you don't know, which could be unpleasant if you get anxiety in a social setting like this. The DJ may ask you to do the limbo. If you or your kids don't like to participate in a limbo, this can be a scary thought. Your kids might not have as much fun as you'd thought. Watching other moms have their mom friends while you don't have any with you can feel like a drag. People reserving seats for people who haven't shown up yet while it's not an assigned seating situation can be annoying. There may be bigger and aggressive kids there who you're afraid may intimidate your little kids. It usually costs money. If the event includes dinner and the food is not ready right when the event starts, you may have to wait around with a growling stomach until it's ready. (This is the case for any event.)

Judging by my word count between the Pros and Cons columns above, you may think that I'm leaning towards not going next year, which at the time that I am writing this post, I'm gearing towards not attending again. I've went to the Mother & Son Dance with both of my sons and created great memories from them but unless it's going to be extraordinarily different, like a video gaming type event for the next Mother & Son event, I think I'll figure out a Mother & Son thing to do on my own.

Most Mother & Son Dances take place in May, close to Mother's Day. See Upcoming Family-Friendly Events in San Luis Obispo County.

Here is a video clip of a past Mother & Son event.

There may come a time when your sons may not be interested in going to these dances with you as they grow up, especially when they'll have dances of their own in high school so enjoy it when they're little and still eager to go!

I hope you had a great Mother's Day!

Mother & Son Gifts:

Located on the corner of HWY 1 & Hinds Ave. in Pismo Beach is a newer boba shop named MilkT Society. I tried their boba for the first time today, on their opening day!

I was anxious and excited! Their sign wasn't up yet at the time (sign is up now) nor was their kitchen ready but I already liked the decor of it inside. I ordered the Black Tea with boba while my husband ordered the Iced Vietnamese Coffee with boba. (Update: I came back a couple of weeks later to try the blush matcha as pictured below and the Milk T Special which is the first boba drink at the top.)


MilkT Society has some board games available for your to borrow to play with your party. We played Jenga and Penguin Game.

I've been loyal to Fay's Fusion (read about Fay's Fusion), a boba place just down the street from MilkT Society, but since Fay's Fusion is only open in the evenings, I'm glad I can resort to MilkT Society for my day time fix!

A picture I took while sitting under Fay's Fusion's awning, waiting for my drinks while looking towards the ocean's direction in Pismo Beach is below:

See a list of boba shops in San Luis Obispo County.

See pictures on my instagram @sanluisobispomom.

Make Boba at Home:

When we want to go to the movies, we usually go to Regal Arroyo Grande as they have a lot of restaurants close by! The restaurants list that are close include: In N Out, Urbane Cafe, Poke Morro, Palo Mesa Pizza, Blaze Pizza and Jamba Juice.

If you have an electric car, they have Tesla Charging Stations right next to this Regal Theater, which makes it very convenient to charge up. The charging stations are located to the right side of the building if you're facing their entrance. (We don't have an electric car but it always fascinates me when I see charging stations.)

We typically watch new Marvel movies and DC movies here at Regal Arroyo Grande. For the last couple of years, since the pandemic, we've been having to buy tickets at the concession stand. You don't buy tickets at the window in front, even though it looks like you would.

You could probably save more time if you buy the tickets online instead. Exact seat selections have to be picked upon buying tickets so that is another step you have to consider now.

We have a Regal Cinema account and you can earn points for a free popcorn or other concession goods if you accumulate enough points. I think it's worth joining. It's free to join currently.

The seats are nothing spectacular than the usual fold up theater seats you would expect. They have a small arcade area that's kind of tucked in the far corner. They have about 10 different games, which is great for kids if you happen to arrive too early before the movie starts.

Movie Care Packages: