Fruit Salsa

Are you looking for a yummy snack that is kid approved?  Look no farther, I've got your fruit salsa recipe that the kids can actually help with.

2 Golden Delicious apples
1 small tub of blueberries or blackberries
1 small container of strawberries
2 kiwi
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP white sugar
3 TBSP of fruit preserves (pick any kind you want, you can't really go wrong)

Peel and dice the apples and kiwi.  While you are working with that have the kids use a straw to core the strawberries (I think this is better for older kids because it takes a little strength and concentration) and an egg slicer to slice the strawberries (perfect for the younger kids).  Once the strawberries are cored and sliced, you can quickly cut them in the opposite direction.  If you use blackberries I suggest cutting them, the blueberries are fine the way they are.

Have kids dump everything into the bowl and stir (you might need to stir again just to be safe than sorry).  I like to refrigerate my salsa for an hour or so, but it's not necessary.  I just think it brings out the flavor a bit more.

While kids are doing that stack two or three tortillas and run a pizza cutter over the tortillas to make bite sized chips.  Spray lightly with butter flavored spray, sprinkle with some cinnamon and bake until golden brown or crunchy.

Bon appetite

My Backyard Excitement

I really want a backyard that will keep my kids smiling all summer long.  Something that make's them excited, and their friends are happy to come over and hang (ask me if I'm still liking it come September 1st haha).  So on Memorial Day I asked my poor unsuspecting boyfriend to run to KMart with me.  We bought a pool, correction I bought a pool, he gave me the look haha.

So once we figured out an area that seemed level I ran out and bought some wood, weed barrier, and sand to make sure it stayed level.  What I learned is that area is nowhere near as level as I thought, eighteen bags of sand did not make it better, my animals love to be involved in everything I'm doing

and four kids splashing in a pool totally decimated the sand level that we had achieved.

Oh and I learned that raking send is not nearly as relaxing and zen like for me as it is the boyfriend.  Crazy guy.

Now I need to demolish this old and questionably safe wooden play structure (kids haven't used it in three years but what do you want to bet I hear farting, moaning, and groaning about taking it down), move the swing set to that location.  Then I am getting an outdoor inflatable movie screen, projector, and speakers (no clue what I'm doing here, just that I want it).  This will be set up so the kids can sit in the pool to watch movies at night if they want.

I'm keeping my eyes open for an affordable outdoor tables and chairs set also set with-in watching distance of the screen.  As if my next month isn't going to be crazy enough trying to find all this at an affordable price (Thank you Walmart for having the screen priced at about $160), I want to make some outdoor games that won't be harmed by the elements.

Right now I am gung-ho and excited.  By September first I bet I will hate my yard, movie screen, and be thankful that the pool will be coming down within a few weeks of that day haha.  But I hope this inspires you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new.  It doesn't have to be a blow up screen and pool, it can be something far more simpler.  You might experience some difficulties (did you see the gap under the wood frame for my pool, holy cow) along the way, but hopefully you experience a ton of laughter too.

Summer Adventure 2014

Maybe you're driving somewhere exciting this summer, or maybe you have to stay at home.  It doesn't matter because life is an adventure.  I challenge you to find a summer adventure.  Remember all adventure's have their sometimes ugly challenge.  We (I) decided  I wanted an exciting backyard, you can read about it tomorrow. Here are some ideas for those that are limited to staying close to home:

• Library reading program.  Visit other countries, time periods, learn about other people with your kids.
• Plant a learning garden.  Butterflies, hummingbird's, flowers to attract bees..  Then look up the information about your visitors.
• Lowe's and Home Depot offer free classes for kids to build things.  FREE, 100% free, and to my knowledge they are on the weekends.  Maybe the kids can make them, paint them at home and give them to various family members as presents.
• Teach your kids about civic duty at an early age.  
• Collect old newspapers, blankets, and more for your local SPCA or animal rescue (call them ahead of time to find out exactly what they need).  You and the kids can make flyers and leave them with your neighbors with a promised pick up date.  
• Maybe make some snack bags for the homeless, with a little research you can find who is accepting donations.
• Clean a park or even your neighborhood
• Build a stand to hold your old grocery bags and place a small garbage can under it.  Paint a sign to let passerby's know it's a poop collection area.
• Visit the elderly and maybe adopt a grand-parent......
• Completely re-do your kids room (with their input of course).  New paint on the walls goes a long way.  Don't get rid of their old blanket, cover it with a duvet or make a duvet cover.  An area rug, and maybe update the furniture with some paint or wall paper/contact paper and wow you have a new room for pennies.
• Find out about your community.  Is there anything of historical significance?  Go see it with the kids.
• Build something.  Lowe's has a great how-to area with all sorts of building ideas.  From the itty-bitty to the big ticket, you'll find it here.
• Make a goal.  Maybe your summer adventure will be to spend every Saturday at a park with the kids or to learn a sign language with your kids.  There are some great adventure's that are free and educational.
• Challenge your fears, and let your kids see them.  A friend of mine was terrified of shocking herself.  She decided to up her marathon runs and did two Tough Mudder's and a few others that include being shocked.  Her son learned to face his own fears and she learned an inner strength that she didn't know existed.  That being said, be smart about it.  If you're terrified of shark's, pick a different activity than shark diving, maybe get a fish tank with a small shark in it.
• Movies.  Many theater's offer discounted movies during the summer.  Your city may even offer movies under the stars.

How Are My Kids Learning

If you are lucky all of your children learn fairly the same way.  They are these great kids, that never have academic problems, and you receive glowing comments from the teachers.  Not all kids are created the same.  Therefore they do not all learn the same.  Chances are your kids are very different.  The chart below explains Gardner's Multiple Intelligence's.  I'm not going to bore you with the individual information, however look at the chart and think about where you see your kids.  Ask friends for their input.  Once you know this, you can completely change the way your kids learn.

I have a daughter whose heart is made of poetry, music, and love for all people.  This falls under Musical, Interpersonal, and Linguistic.  Three of my kids are very Logical-Mathematical, in fact two of them will explain something to death to you if you don't run.  A fourth child is very active and loves all things in nature which falls under Bodily-Kinesthetic and Naturalist.  I'm still trying to figure out where my daughter Taelin falls, she's a hard nut to crack.  She is a spatial learner when interested, and linguistic to an extent.  She loves music, but I don't think it talks to her like it does the oldest.  I can tell you that like many people with Autism, she struggles with Interpersonal.

Okay so you have my examples, and you have your ideas.  What does this mean for your kids?  Well it tells you how to help teach your kids.  If you have a naturalist in the family, get outside with him or her.  Learn about things outside.  Practice real life math using your garden, practice biology by learning about animals, make a hammock and lay outside reading.  For musical kids, sing songs or chants to help them learn things (I will never forget the quick song for our address, three kids learned it this way), play music quietly in the background while doing homework.  Bodily-Kinesthetic kids like to be moving, so take brain breaks during homework by stretching.  Throw a ball around while practice spelling or math facts.  Linguistic kids may prefer to learn on their own by reading books or web sites, which is great for them but it means you need to monitor what they are learning (I know right, I thought everything in print was true).  Spatial kids might do better in art class, but they can do just as well with projects.  Logical-mathematical kids are going to challenge you with why.  Be prepared to find the answers, or help them find the answers, but make sure they don't get caught up in finding out why when they are supposed to be doing something else.  Intrapersonal kids are self-smart, these are the kids that you can use their life to teach them things.  Interpersonal kids are the ones that you can use their relationships to teach them.

Remember your kids are likely to fall under several of these categories and that is okay.  They do NOT have to fit under all of them, despite what some tests out there try to force.  If you work with their natural tendencies you will go much farther than if you try to force something.  Just saying....

ROAD TRIP!!!

I don't know about you, but nothing strikes fear into my heart quite like taking my kids in the car.  Nooo, I'm not worried about the other maniacal drivers on the road.  I'm worried about the irritable, back-seat driving, adorable kids that like to argue with one another, cause fights, and ask incessantly "Are we there yet?"  You're laughing right now so you've either never experienced this (lucky you), or you totally get me (wine party my house Friday, 8pm).  So what do you do?

Well, I make it a habit to hit the local thrift store and look for look and find books.  I store them in easy reach of the kids and rotate them often.  Why do I rotate them?  Well if I leave them all out the kids make a big mess, don't really use them that much, and they take up a lot of room!!!  I'm pretty sure we've hit the end of the line with those books for awhile.  So here are a few other options:

• Maps.  I spent years on my neighbors porch with my best friend pretending to drive a car while we planned vacations using maps.  Put  marks on point A and point B, and let the kids natural curiosity take over.  You might have to ask a few questions to get them started like the names of rivers, weird city names, etc.
• Crayola wonder markers.  These amazing gizmos are clear until they come into contact with special Crayola paper.  We've used these for two Disney trips no with no problems, however one of the b-rats grabbed a fluorescent orange crayon and boy did that leave a mark on my vinyl.  UGH.
• Etch a sketch.  Who doesn't like an etch a sketch?  At one point Etch a sketch came up with maze sheets that you put over them and the kids found their way through maze after maze, repeatedly.  I'm not sure what ever happened with these sheets, but I am confident that you can make them again with permanent markers and some strong, clear plastic sheets that you cut down to size.  
• Magna Doodle.  Enough said.  But actually there are even more magnetic things, like Hair-do Harriet, Buddy Beagle, located at the Office Playground.
• Make your own look and find lists (yes I'm back on the scavenger hunt thing again haha).  It helps if you have knowledge about where you will be going.  But make a word/picture list of things the kids have to find.  They can check it off or hand you the card once it's found.  The winner gets a prize.
• Car puppets.  I wouldn't recommend the tiny finger puppets, nor would I suggest the full size ones at the store.  Simple ones that fit over your hand (maybe even home made sock puppets).
• Books and comic books are great also.  My kids really dig Weird But True Facts and the Ripley's books because they are not long and drawn out, and they can read them in any order (yep a few of you just cringed haha).
• Pamphlets.  Where are you going?  What will the kids see?  Any interesting historical info along the way?  Yeah this takes some advance notice because you have to either get these sent to you or kill your ink printing them up, but they're cool.
• Ball.  No not for inside the car, but if you have a long trip.  Grab or pack a lunch, pull into a picnic road side area and let them kill some energy.  
• Okay and lets not forget the electronics:  tablets, iPad, iPhone, smart phone, hand held games, DVD player, etc.

The list above gets my kids through about 26 hours or a bit more in a car for a trip.  The trick is this, NO SMALL PIECES, rotate car stuff on a regular basis, and make car stuff JUST FOR THE CAR, never to be seen or used elsewhere.  They're kids, and they aren't going to use it as much as you hope if they have constant access to it.  I know it sounds like a lot, but you can fit them into small containers easily.  I personally sell Thirty-One and so I use the following containers that can be found at my site Erica.  Here are a few of my favorite things; you can use any containers these are just my preferences:

FLIP TOP ORGANIZING BIN THE TOP ALSO BECOMES A TABLE

HANG UP ACTIVITY ORGANIZER/PACK AND PULL CADDY

LARGE UTILITY TOTE

Words of Wisdom

I don't know what brilliant mind wrote this, but it is 100% true.  So today I want you to realize none of us are perfect, especially the person looking down their nose at you.  Forgive yourself for the screw-ups, if they are that bad make a plan of attack to avoid them, and continue on.

If you are in a place where you can't figure out how to dig yourself out of a hole, you feel like you are constantly messing up.  If you are crying, sad, can't sleep, frustrated, yelling a lot, wishing you could run away more often then you are thankful you are there, realize you need someone to talk to.  Women feel this need to be perfect, and more so to have everyone else think we are perfect.  I am here to tell you, at any given point my house has dishes in the sink, my bathroom has dirty clothes on the floor, my living room needs to be swept (three cats, two dogs, eight people...), my kids eat fast food, I turn in late homework assignments, and instead of paying all my bills I postpone the unimportant ones so I can take my kids to the movies because it buys me two hours of peace and quiet and shows them I love them.  None of us are perfect.  But if you can't get past it, talk to a professional, because along with being perfect we internalize our stress.  Which puts us in a higher risk category for heart attacks, and depression issues.

Your kids love you!!!!  If you're reading my blog, it means you are trying to be a wonderful mom and you're kids appreciate you!!!!  So love yourself, and realize you are doing the best that you can.  Now go give your kids a squeeze and tell them you love them.  Right before the tickle monster comes out.

Lunchbox Silliness

Are you trying to find something a little extra to put into your kids lunchbox?  Maybe their standardized testing is coming up, or you miss them, or maybe you're doing it just because.  Here are a few ideas:

• Jokes (these can be shared and have an entire table laughing)
• Special edible treat
• A note telling them how proud you are of them
• Homemade fortune cookies
• A quick note explaining big plans that night (Chuck E. Cheese, a movie, picnic...)
• Inspirational quote from their favorite movie
• Picture you have drawn

All of these things can be made very quickly, yes even the fortune cookies, and the impact will last all day.  In fact I bet they will remember it when they have kids.

Dinner Time Conversation

Here is a simple conversation during dinner time.  Everyone has to tell a low part of their day, followed by a high part of their day.  That said, everyone should be given a time limit since some kids are attention hogs.

I'll start:  Today I quit drinking coffee, so my morning was a bit off.  But then I finished my class project and I am done for three weeks so that was awesome.

Now do it with your kids.

Rhyme Time

Do you remember rhyming as a child?  It was fun, especially if you could stump mom and dad.  Why not do that with your kids today?  You can do it while walking, cleaning, driving, eating dinner.  The only thing it requires is people and levels of attention.

Be forewarned your kids may make some words up, that is okay.  Let them.  I know my OCD parents are absolutely cringing with various looks of horror crossing their face.  If it helps, I'm with you.  But even various school systems have been letting students make up their own words and sounds to help them develop proper pronunciation.

A twist, begin every word with the same first letter or blended sound: dog, dark, dilly...

Ready?  Go...

Reading to Baby and Beyond

I have lost track of the web sites and books that tell you how important reading is to your child.  They further go on to heap mounds of guilt upon the parents who do not read to their children.  These parents are single-handedly going to be responsible for the low IQ of their child, which means there goes all hope of Harvard. And well inevitably America will follow right behind.

I'm here to absolve you of all your guilt.  No, I'm not going to tell you DON'T read to your child, that is ridiculous.  However, Junior will not fail high school because you didn't read him every Doctor Seuss book in print.  Read your children anything from the point you find out that you're pregnant on.  Babies don't care what you're reading, they just like hearing you're beautiful voice.  Take advantage of it, because in a few years your children will be locking their doors to avoid that voice!!!

So what is it okay to read to babies and young children?

• Ingredients and recipe's
• Newspaper
• Magazine article's
• Plays
• Stephen King (seriously I'm giving you permission to read terrifying stories to your babies)
• Instruction Manuals
• Signs
• Fliers

Well now your kids are mobile and they don't like to sit down to read.  What do you do?  Well you visit your library and get suggestions from a librarian.  These fabulous men and women went to college to learn the best books for all age development.  And the best part of the library the books are free and when you return them you don't have a pile laying around your house somewhere.  Tadah.

I work more than full-time.  When I get home I don't have time to read because I'm doing homework with my other kids and cooking dinner, running herd on physical activities, etc...

Do you have a computer?  Does it have a camera?  Make a few videos of you reading books.  You can save them to your laptop or to a YouTube account so your kids can access them from anywhere.

Here is another idea, kill two birds with one stone.  Most kids, if not all, are required to read nightly for elementary school.  Have your older child read out loud to the little one.  Yes, I'm promoting using your children, but it is ethical and healthy while giving you ten minutes of breathing time.

Here is a twist on an oldie but goodie.  Upload books to your kids iPod, Nabi, whatever it is they have and give it to them to listen to in the car while they turn the pages.

My elementary age child doesn't like to read.

I don't believe that.  What I believe is that he or she doesn't like to read what is being offered to him or her.  What is the selection in your house?  Are there too many pictures in it so they feel like it's a baby book?  Maybe they want the occasional picture every chapter or so.  Do you have comic books in the house?  YES they count.  What about non-fiction?  Maybe your daughter would be interested in hearing about famous women in sports or your son is naturally curious about butterflies.  Try some books that have also been made into a movie and then compare the difference with your kids.

I've tried everything and they still don't want to read.

Do your kids see you read?  I'm not saying you have to read Jane Austen, but even watching you spend fifteen minutes actively reading a magazine is better than nothing.  

Do not make reading an option, at a certain time at night turn the TV off and everyone spend fifteen minutes reading something together.  Just because your child is older, they may just want to spend time in the room with you.  So everyone lounging about the living room for fifteen minutes shows them you feel reading is important, but so is being in a room together.

Finally talk about what your kids are reading.  At the end of the day you are responsible for your children and their actions.  You need to know that they are comprehending what they are reading and finding a way to deal with it.  My older kids knew that at any given moment I would grab a copy of whatever book they were reading and read it too.  We never had a problem with inappropriate literature in our house (unlike my mother who bought me The Graduate to read in the fifth grade).  But even better we could hold discussions about it, what they thought about actions, what they would have done differently, etc.  You can do this with young children too.  Just sayin'.

"You're Child Has Lice"

No one wants to get that call from the school, yet it happens.  Kids jackets all hang up closely together where bugs can crawl from one jacket to another.  Teenage girls share brushes.  Not to mention our kids have friends who spend the night.  So do you bundle your kids in a plastic ball, homeschool them and tell them they are never allowed to see their friends?  That's a bit extreme.  There are over the counter COSTLY chemicals that you can put in your kids hair daily.  I have always kept 2 Tablespoons of Eucalyptus oil in my shampoo (shake it before using it) and washed my hair daily.  When my kids got it, I didn't (it didn't work for them because as small children we didn't wash their hair every single day).  A friend of mine uses 2 Tablespoons of Tea Tree oil in her shampoo the same way.  

The above picture is the various stages of lice BLOWN UP.  Lice are small little buggers.

Above are pictures of what the eggs will look like in blondish and brown hair.  The bugs are just slightly larger.

So what do you do if you have lice?  Well I think shaving your kids head bald is extreme, we surround ourselves with toxic chemicals everyday, so let's not add more chemicals to our kids heads.  Here is a simple, common sense treatment for lice.  There is an important trick, the quicker you take care of this the quicker it is over.  It may even be in eyebrows and eyelashes.

• Bag up all the stuffies in your house and leave them in the garage for two weeks.  If your kids have a few that they can't live without, wash them in 130 degree water and then dry them in high heat for twenty minutes.  

• Wash all of your bedding in 130 degree water and dry in high heat for twenty minutes (but it's going to be longer, let's be honest.

• Vacuum beds, carpets, corners of beds, couches etc.  We're talking deep clean.  Do not dump your vacuum in the house, take it outside and dump it.  Then go back in the house and keep going with your deep cleaning.

• You can either throw away barrette's, combs, brushes, etc.  Soak them in boiling hot water (good luck not melting them), or spray them with rubbing alcohol.

• I've seen recommendations to spray your bed, etc with bleach water.  But let's be real, your kids will be inhaling this and it's dangerous.  Just spend the time vacuuming.  Use a an upholstery brush or a nail brush to dig deep on the edges of beds where they can be hiding.

• Take some vegetable oil and warm it (key words are warm, not boil it), if you can comfortably tolerate the oil on your wrist you should be okay on the stove top and then pour it in a zip lock bag.  Have the members in your house wearing crappy clothing and sitting in the kitchen or somewhere that has a tile floor.  Carefully poor the oil from the top of the head down.  It helps to have the family member hold a wash cloth over their eyes as a buffer zone.  You will probably see the lice falling out of their hair, and that is fantastic.  Bag their hair for twenty or thirty minutes while you clean up the mess.

Okay so it's been twenty minutes, what now?  Sit them down and section their hair into small sections starting with the top.  Carefully comb their hair with a nit comb starting from their scalp and go all the way to the end.  Make sure you clean the nit comb often.  The heat from the oil should help melt the glue on the eggs.  The kids hair will be so slippery the bugs and eggs SHOULD slide right out.

If it is in their eyebrows and eyelashes, you are going to have to comb their eyebrows.  To get rid of it in eye lashes you will have to smear petroleum jelly on the eyelashes and comb them out while your kid is squiggling and mistrusting you.  Did I tell you this would be easy?  Nope.  In the long run, you may wind up visiting your doctor about the eyelash ice if you can't get rid of them.  But doing it this way is cheaper and as safe as natural remedies get.

When you're done, wash their hair like normal but add some Tea Tree oil to their shampoo.  It will help alleviate any discomfort from scratching the bugs.  Check their head, bedding, etc every few days for signs of re-infestation.

SHOPPING LIST

Tea Tree or Eucalyptus oil (prevention)

vegetable oil

large zip lock bags

nit comb

rubbing alcohol

spray bottle

large garbage bags

petroleum jelly (if you have eyelash lice)

A LOT OF PATIENCE FOR EVERYONE

I am not going to lie.  I am blessed, I am blessed a thousand times over and I know it.  Two of my kids have Autism, but they are so high-functioning that people forget they have it.  I forget they have it.  So when a tendency pops up it takes me by surprise.  That said, I always have a plan B to try and prevent things from going wrong.

Whenever we go to Walt Disney World I always give my kids a lanyard and attach the fabulously decorated luggage tag that Disney so kindly supplies me with.  In this tag I have my child's name, my name, a phone number for everyone in the party, and any special instructions.  For instance my ten year old daughter will run and hide if she is scared or perceives that people are laughing at her.  It's hard to find her if she doesn't want to be found, so I think this is an important thing for someone to know if we get separated.

Parenting fail, I never do this when we go somewhere local.  For some reason I assume that I have zero risk of losing my kids in local places like the children's museum.  In March I turned my back for five seconds to hand a wallet to an employee for their lost and found.  When I turned around she was gone.  My eleven year old and eight year old stayed together and I frantically tried to search for her without losing sight of the main staircase.  It was the longest three minutes of my life, there wasn't even an employee around to enlist their help.  When my eleven year old started bouncing up and down, flapping his arms like a maniac the relief I felt was so sweet.

That night I wondered why I didn't have the kids wear their lanyards more often?  It's not often that I lose sight of them (in fact I have never needed them at Disney, ironic eh?), but why wouldn't I have them wear these beautiful, sanity saving items when we went to the park, the mall, children's museum?

That said, I did some research about what goes into these fabulous child identity kit's for missing kids.  These are simple things that you can do at home.  You can upload them to a family web site that is password protected, keep hard copies at home, in the car, etc....  But here is the general information you can expect a kit to contain:

• Important information:  Child's name, address, birthdate, allergies, birthmarks, medications, and anything else that will help authorities do their job.
• Detailed physical description:  Again birthmarks, scars, tattoo's...
• Fingerprint's!  You can take your child to get these done accurately, but if you can't afford it try following this video by CrimeScene.com.
• Recent photo of your child.  Update your photo every 6 months.  I always take photo's of my kids, on my phone and post them on Facebook (cough cough), to family members, everywhere you can think of.  So even if you update your child file every six months, be sure to take a picture of your kids in their outfit before y'all head out on your adventure.  If your child goes missing, you might not remember details about their outfit!

Blackboard Dining Table

I'm either the most self-punishing person I know, or the most hopeful.  I always, always do things with my kids with these visions of how wonderful they will be.  With each new idea I just know my kids will go along with it, not fight, be kind to each other....  Like I said self-punishing or most hopeful.

I have this really old dining room table.  Half of it was painted red, and the other half was fuzzy from where an arts & crafts project went wrong.  I hated this table, but at the same time I'm not going to throw out a perfectly good table and then have to replace it.  So I decided to make it a blackboard.  I just knew I had hit on something, that my kids were going to be drawing pictures and playing "paper and pencil" games on that table while I cooked dinner and even afterwards.  I envisioned uplifting messages being left from one sibling to the next (I should tell you, my kids are ages 20, 18, 16, 11, 10, and 8).  Now in reality I was expecting the teenagers to leave rude, snarky comments, to one another.

 Do you see what I mean?  Horrid, ugly table. Cute kid though.

So it wasn't as easy as I thought.  I tried sanding it with sandpaper.  My hands were cramped, I thought I was done, and then the boyfriend walked in and said I didn't sand it enough.  Luckily he ran out, grabbed a sander that I did not know we had and sanded the table for me.  No more fuzz, but still red.

I purchased a quart of Rust-Oleum black blackboard paint for about $15 and a small rolling brush.  Three coats of paint later and 72 hours of curing time and we have a fantastic blackboard table.  I wish I could say the same for the copper paint edging.  It took more than a week to dry, and it needs a third, possibly a fourth coat.  But I'm not sure I want to go another week without a dining room table.

Here are some snippets of the fun we have (and the snarky from the teenagers *L*).

Not too bad if I do say so.  I have a ton of paint left over, wonder what I will paint next???

Balloon Volleyball

Just a few weeks ago my three youngest and I went to Disney World for a three day trip.  Not counting the long thirteen hour drive (MapQuest you lie, it's not twelve hours after stopping, even if you speed) it was a blast.

Our third morning we had nothing planned except pool time.  Bless my youngest daughter, she wakes up with the same amount of energy and excitement as she faces her entire day with.  Her brothers and I, not so much.  The youngest son wouldn't even wake up he was so tired *L*.  I didn't just want to throw her in front of the TV while I stared at my pain ridden feet.  Instead I remembered one of my favorite things as a kid, balloon volleyball.  And will you just look at that, All Star Movie resort just happened to give us four or five balloons when we checked in.

So the bed was our buffer zone and we stood on each side of the bed playing balloon volleyball and laughing hysterically.  Even the ultra-cool eleven year old jumped in on the action.

Parenting Win!

Tea Party

Kids are spending more time with technology and less time doing things like tea parties.  Why not bring back the tea party with your daughters and maybe your sons?

In advance make some "fancy sandwiches".  Make whatever sandwiches your kids will eat (this is about having fun, not causing tears), cut off the edges and cut them in four.  If your kids will help you, it's all the more fun.  Will your kids drink tea?  If not make something they will drink and pour it into a tea pot.  Grab a few small sized cookies (or make them) for your table.

Set the table for tea.  If you don't have a pretty table cloth, use an old sheet spread out over the table (or on the ground outside).  Plates for the food, tea cups and saucers, napkins, and of course the lovely food and tea pot.

Have everyone dress the part (yep even you who is reading this).  If your daughters don't have dresses, have them dress in their best.  Add some dollar store beads, and gloves and your tea time is ready to go.  It's the perfect time to practice manners, sharing, and conversational skills.

**If it's just you and your child, maybe invite a teddy bear or two

Critter Walk

This can be done with any age kids, you just need to know what your kids will and will not do.  I got this idea from my kids.  On Easter we always lay out real eggs and plastic eggs.  The kids will hide the plastic eggs over and over for each other.  So why not use critters?

We live in the city, so the majority of nature is on the highway and in our backyards.  And honestly I'd have a heart attack if I saw a huge snake in my backyard so it is safe to say I'm not opposed to fake critters.

Grab some plastic critters from your dollar store, make some fake butterflies with the kids (1 dimensional or 3 dimensional, it doesn't matter), grab some fake birds from a craft store, you are only limited by your imagination in this.  Once you have everything, sneak outside and "plant" them around your yard.  Maybe clip a butterfly or two to a bush, have a toy snake sneaking his head out of a potted plant, make a birds nest and place the nest and bird in the tree, you're getting the idea.

Then when everything is placed somewhere, give each of the kids an old recycled milk gallon and have them go look for the critters.  Whoever has the most critters gets to hide the critters while everyone goes inside, and the game starts all over again.

Family Game Night

Despite what the title sounds like, this does not have to take hours and hours to do.  Family game night can include dinner and multiple games or just one game.  Despite what specialists say YOU know what works for YOUR family, and if you're killing yourself trying to live up to these grand ideas of what family time should be like you will stress about it and probably grow to hate it.  So family game night should be fun and stress free.  So how do we get there?

1. Let everyone know when it is.  Once a month, once a week, it doesn't matter if you tell your family members the morning of "Oh Jake, you can't go out to the movies tonight.  Tonight is family game night, and we're going to have fun."  No, it doesn't work like that.
2. Make rules for family game night:  Are the neighborhood kids or adopted kids allowed or is it just for family members?  Do your teens need to ask for the night off from work, or will work be the exception to the rule for attendance?  How long will it last, will it be for hours and hours of fun, meaning game after game (or one game of Monopoly)?
3. If dinner is included I'd suggest a simple dinner, with a simple clean up.  Pizza and paper plates are about as simple as they come, even when you're making the pizza from scratch.  Have some snacks on hand regardless, because winning builds up an appetite and do you want everyone grumbling about hunger instead of laughing?
4. Let's go back to Monopoly for a second.  Are there any games that one person in your family loves, but has the rest of the crew high-tailing it for the road?  Perhaps allow each person to choose a game for family game night, or allow one person to plan the night on a rotating schedule.  Yes this means that someone will get stuck playing a game they dislike, but they will eventually get a game they like.
5. Family game night does not have to be about spending money.  I'll repeat myself.  FAMILY GAME NIGHT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE ABOUT SPENDING MONEY.  There are plenty of games that are free, but it will take a few minutes of internet research and patience.  Let's see:
1. Pictionary (grab a few of the kids favorite books and or movies and write out cards in advance or allow the kids to pick these things and write down the answer before drawing.  Extra good parenting points if you can link it to what they are learning in school)
2. Charades, see above
3. Freeze (grab the radio and dance away til someone turns the volume off)
4. Simon Says
5. Card games, okay so you have to buy a pack of cards from the dollar store.  $1.00 and some internet research and you'll have more then twenty different games.
6. Hide and Seek
7. Hot Potato (use a sock, ewwwww)
8. Balloon Volley Ball
9. Memory Game (put several things on the table, give everyone ten seconds to look at it, when they close their eyes remove something, and see who gets it right)
10. I Spy
11. Tic Tac Toe or other pen and paper games
6. Do you have some old games that are missing pieces?  Make a new game out of it.  Why not have your best friend do the same thing and invite everyone over to share the new old games?
7. In fact if you're inviting your best friend, why not invite the neighborhood once in a blue moon?

Neighborhood Game Night

By now I know you've seen the family game night post.  So why not open your yard to your neighbors and have a neighborhood game night?  Same rules:

1. Tell your neighbors in advance the day and time.
2. Realize not everyone will be there for the entire thing.
3. Will there be food?  Ask everyone to bring a covered dish, assign a few houses to veggie duty, deserts, main dishes, paper plates..
4. Everyone has to bring a game to share, whether it is a board game or a game they invented.
5. Nothing is funnier than projecting just dance on the garage door and watching the neighbors try it out.  Just be safe about it, have someone near the projector to keep it safe from bumps, secure cords so no one trips, and put it away when you are done.
6. Warn all your neighbors about the outdoor family game night, some people may not appreciate a lot of noise and decide to go out to dinner that night.

The Zoo Again????

I don't know about y'all, but I prefer to have memberships to places like the children's museum, zoo, etc.  You pay one time and have unlimited access for the rest of the year. Pack a lunch and you're gold for the rest of the day. Or not....  Let's face it, we can only go to these places so many times before our kids can predict what is coming around the next bend.  As much as we'd like to see new and improved updates, we don't want to see our membership dues go up, so it is up to us to make the trip interesting and exciting.  So how do we do that?

Make a scavenger hunt!  It can be as simple or complex as your kids and you want it.  Here are a few themes:

• Color's:  each child is assigned a color
• ABC:  find something that begins with an A (apple tree), then a B (book), then a C (cone)
• List: Make a list of specific things they have to find
• Question:  Write specific questions that they have to find the answers to (hint look at the plaques)
• Flowers/Trees/Plants
• Animals
• The list is endless depending on where you are going, your kids ages, and how much effort you want to put into it.  HINT:  Decide how the kids will keep track of their findings, if it's on paper they will need something to write with, paper, and possible something to write on; if it's electronically bring extra batteries.  Also for younger kids I would post a picture of what they are looking for as well as the written word.

The above scavenger hunt ideas will work in your neighborhood, a mall, some car trips, and more.  But if a scavenger hunt is not your thing, try these ideas:

For younger kids decide to write a family story about your day.  Pass out cameras to your kids and make them responsible for taking pictures of their favorite things.  Print the pictures and let the kids write about the pictures (or have them dictate to you and you write the story), bind them into a book and your kids have a special keepsake that they can review whenever they want.

Start a family blog that has limited access to family and friends only.  Post all of the interesting things you see on these trips, silliness the kids make and do, and more.  More often people are moving away from home and really miss seeing these things, so it's a great way to keep family in touch for free.  DISCLAIMER:  If you are allowing your child to make this family blog independently have a strong conversation about internet safety and what is or is not allowed.

Walk through and make a verbal story with your kids.  You can start it, and as you all see different things the kids can add on to it.  These stories can be recorded to listen to and laugh over at a later time as well.

Give younger kids some paper, crayons, and a clipboard.  Have them draw pictures of some of the things they see.  The pictures won't be picture perfect, but they will be astounding.