Favorite Kid Dates/Activities

This weekend it’s gonna be me and the boys while daddy does some golfing!  So, I’ve started to think of things the boys and I can do together for some extra special fun.

Here are some of my favorite kid dates:

1. Fro yo or donuts.  Who doesn’t love sweet treats with delicious toppings?  My kids love when we go for a special treat date.  Plus it’s a great way for me to enforce good behavior all day – “if you have kind behavior and good listening all weekend, we’ll go get a treat tonight.”
2. Trying out a new park.  Or an old favorite.  Sometimes, it’s enough to just hop on the bikes and head over to the playground.  Since we haven’t done a ton of park activity over the past three months with the winter cold, they aren’t OVER playgrounds and parks like they sometimes get when we do them every weekend in the spring and summer.
3. A kid place.  Not my favorite thing, but when I see how excited they are to play in the bounce house, arcade game or trampoline park, I love that I get a little down time to watch them play and see them have so much fun burning off that extra energy.
4. Visiting family.  Not that they don’t see their family enough, but when Dean is out, I don’t feel guilty taking them for a couple hour playdate. Then I get to catch up with the adults and the kids have their own fun.
5. Restaurant date. Sometimes just hitting a kid-friendly restaurant and letting them pick off the menu is a fun treat.  Especially when they’re expecting the same old dinner at home and it’s an unexpected surprise.
6. Doing cooking class.  It’s fun to also do our own little “cooking class” at home. And my special helpers do a great job assisting with the flour and sugar and turning on the mixer while we make something delicious to snack on!
7. Buying a fun new toy to try out.  I’ve bought a cheap blow up kiddie pool or some fun water toys and surprised them with a new activity in the backyard that is hours of fun.  I always find something on the clearance section so I don’t feel guilty about spending a lot but love a good several-hour play session outside.  And mom can play or watch from the side with a book and cool drink!
8. Chalk games.  If the weather is great, my kids love to do chalk games outside.  Sometimes we’ll take chalk to a nearby park and create our own game or obstacle course to follow.  It’s funny to see them make up rules and motions for each chalk station.
9. Movie date.  Whether it’s hitting the cheap movie theater or watching a redbox at home, we don’t have time for extended tv watching at home with the kids (nor do I want them to sit in front of the boob tube all day), so getting a full two hour movie is extra special.  And mom usually sneaks some sort of snack into the movies to get them thru to the end if they start getting antsy.
10. Craft time.  I’m kinda stingy when it comes to setting up a big craft time because it can get so messy. I don’t mind crayons, markers and some glue, but when you get those big kits to make crazy blobs or big painting projects, I can get anxious before we begin because I know what messiness is to come.  But, I definitely tend to take on a fun craft project with the kids on weekends when we have some free mom/boys time. It may be painting ornaments or play doh kits, but it’s guaranteed to be extra messy when we’re done!

What are some of your best go-to kid activities or date ideas when you’re running solo?

Dean Family Tradition: The Kindergarten Trip

While there are some traditions Dean and I grew up with and have incorporated into our family (like halfbirthdays or hiding clues to the big Christmas present), we’ve also tried to make some of our own traditions that hopefully will stick with our boys after they leave the nest and have their own families. One of these traditions is the Kindergarten Trip.

Our first was this year.  This trip is a way to celebrate our almost-Kindergartener on their accomplishment of heading off to school.  We spent a weekend away, just Dean, Landon and I to really focus on our firstborn and the excitement of this upcoming milestone.  We asked Landon what he wanted to do for his weekend away and he said rides and the beach. So of course, the first thing that popped in my head was Myrtle Beach!

This weekend was all about him. He picked everything – from where we stopped for dinner, to the activities we did.  It was a jam packed weekend, but so much fun. And most importantly – he really loved it. He loved being able to pick everything and not compete with anything/anyone else for Dean and I’s attention.

Here’s the recap of what we did:

1/Cruising to the beach.  Super excited about his special “Landon trip” – we’d been counting down the days!
2/ We got started immediately. Upon arrival to our hotel. We put down our luggage and then headed to Friendly’s for big sundaes!
3/Saturday morning we hit the beach early and played in the sand, found seashells and…

4/…buried Landon in the sand!
5/ Then we made time for the hotel pool.
6/ Yes, this kid is mine. We headed out for round 1 of putt putt.  It was Landon’s first time and he actually did really well. He got a hole in one and shot 2’s for each of the last 5 holes!

7/ After that we headed to Broadway at the Beach and Landon and Dean went on a ton of rides. Mom was the official photographer.
8 & 9/ He even did the big ship. It was one of his first rides and he was terrified. That thing went up high for a little boy.

10/ Landon’s favorite things were the swings
11/ And the slide. I think he did the slide about 15 times.
12/ After pizza and mac n cheese dinner (his request) we went for ice cream cones.  Yes it was a crazy weekend! I guess all the rides and treats were too much because about 45 mins after this picture, our happy boy was getting sick.

No worries though because by morning he was ready to go again.  We hit another putt putt joint for Round 2 – again Landon got a hole in one – he gets that from his daddy!

We closed out the trip having such a great time and really enjoying our two on one time with our favorite 5 year old. We talked about our expectations for school and how proud we are of him. We talked about the changes that would be coming and how important it is for him to show extra love to his little brother as we adjust to the new schedule.

13/ #obligatoryselfie
14/ Picking out a gift for brother. Despite the many options – the mail truck won out.
15/ Trying on a new present from mom and dad – his kindergarten backpack!

We sure are proud of this boy and how well he’s already adjusted to his new routine at school. He’s loving it and we know he’ll continue to have a great first year!

He’s gonna party like it’s his birthday.

Here’s how we celebrated a little someone special’s 5th birthday on Sunday.

Step 1:
Daddy makes delicious homemade blueberry waffles.

Step 2:
Some of the cousins stopped by for a visit and to bring presents.  An impromptu cake eating was called for at 11am so we busted it out early!

Step 3:
Head to Discovery Place Kids for a fun afternoon with Mom, Dad and Brooks.

Step 4:
Pick a favorite movie and skip naptime!  (Madagascar 2 was the selection.)

Step 5:
Dinner out at someones favorite restaurant – Red Robin – to be serenaded by the wait staff and to be served a humongous ice cream sundae!

Step 6:
Open presents.

Step 7:
Gigi comes over which means another present.

Step 8:
Fall asleep exhausted after a jam-packed day to their new fish nightlight.

Yes, turning 5 was a great day for Mr. Landon Dean!

Here’s some of the proof:

Gingerbread Picassos

Yes, my boys are little Picassos. And their medium of choice – gingerbread. Mmmm… a tasty and sturdy option!

Another fun family activity completed!

BEFORE:

Dean helped me assemble the frames – this was not a toddler friendly activity – as much as their little hands wanted to help and touch everything.  After naptime (3 hours later) they’d dried hard and we were ready for the decorations!

I used the Wilton’s kit from Michael’s and it was perfect because it came with four houses so each kid got to decorate two. Mom handled the icing and then the boys went to work on prettying them up:

BROOKS’ MASTERPIECES:

LANDON’S MASTERPIECES:

I’d definitely do this craft again with the kids, especially because as they get older I think they’ll be able to take over the icing duties too!

Here horsey, horsey

I scooped up a Groupon a couple months ago for a petting zoo and pony ride experience.  September seemed like the perfect time to do it because it wasn’t 95° outside and it seemed like a fun family activity to put on the calendar.

(Candidly, usually when I buy Groupon’s, I feel stressed out until I use them. It’s like I know the countdown is on and I have to try to cram one more thing on the calendar by a deadline. I don’t know why I keep buying them when it makes me feel so frazzled!)

Anyways, so the petting zoo portion was ok. It wasn’t nearly as awesome as Lazy 5 Ranch (in north Charlotte) or going to the regular zoo. There were only about 15 different pens of animals so it was limited.  Of course we bought a bucket of food pellets and my kids were scared to feed them after the first handful because they didn’t like the licking on their hands, so Dean and I were stuck with a gallon bucket to handle on our own!  (I had to bribe with ice cream to get them to participate!)

But the best part came at the end. We bought the pony ride for the kids and while they were scared at first, they both loved it!  The pony was a cute little guy and he just walked up and down the path with each kid.

They wanted to go again and again, so definitely something I’d consider doing again if the opportunity arises at other fairs or zoo places.

Turning 4 is FUN

Most kids love their birthdays.  Mine are no exception.  So when Landon’s big day rolled around, we jam packed it with tons of fun things so we could max out on the celebration.

The fun started with a big BIRTHDAY DOOR that Landon got to crash through. Then we celebrated with special birthday donuts. Of course he picked his favorite BALLINA CREAM (VANILLA).  We then hit the road to head up to the Huntersville Kids Discovery Place and it was awesome. It was our first time there and they had the place jam packed with all sorts of activities and stations to play at (tractor, gymnastics, water table, train station, car repair, airport, etc).  It was just perfect for two energetic kids!

Then we went out to eat and Landon picked out two of his favorites for lunch – mac n cheese and corndogs.

Prior to his birthday, I asked Landon if he wanted a store bought cake/cupcakes or a homemade cake.  (When I was little I always wanted a storebought cake and my mom would always make one from scratch).  Since L is my little sous chef, he of course wanted to make one at home and he picked out butter pecan cake and a pink frosting for on top.  It was delicious and we did multiple renditions of happy birthday!

Then we opened some presents with Gigi and Papa and facetimed his BFF cousin Har so that she could sing to him – with Lawson’s help, of course!

We closed the evening with a glow stick party and reading books by flashlight. It was a perfect family filled day for our 4 year old!

I love my four year old!

Making time for dates

In 2014 our family has a goal of making more time for dates. Parent/child dates and mom/dad dates. Sometimes we get so wrapped up on our to-do’s that we forget to schedule time to get out of the house for some quality one on one time.

So this weekend we did our first ‘planned’ parent/child dates.

Landon picked a date with Mommy and Brooksie got to spend some quality time with Daddy.

Landon is at the age where is got super excited about our date. He picked out the shirt he wanted me to wear. He dressed up. It was just adorable. And several times leading up to our date, he asked “how much longer until we go to our ice cream date?”

Brooks still doesn’t quite ‘get it’, but he just loves the special time together.

Landon and I had a great time getting ice cream with lots of delicious toppings and then going together to cheer on Gigi and Papa’s volleyball team. We jammed out to our favorite songs and just had a fun time being together.

Daddy and Brooks also had a (top secret) date.  The only evidence I was given was this quick shot that daddy sent me of Baby Boy devouring his sweet donut treat.

(I’m not sure why they were still sporting the Christmas boxes – hopefully the donuts were fresh!)

I love that we are making a concerted effort this year for meaningful dates. Not just errands or busyness, but sit down one-on-one and ask about life time with our little ones.

And mom and dad are going to work on more dates on the calendar this year too! 🙂

Meeting Curious George

My sister and I both recently got a flyer in the mail for a “book reading event” at a local preschool.  Since both our hubbies sprained their ankles the day before, we thought it would be a great way to hang with the kids and keep them occupied on a Saturday morning which would require little assistance from the “gimpy” hubbies.

They really put on a great little kids event.

We went into the reading – of course our four kids were the ones in the back of the room doing their own “readings” for each other. Yes, Harleigh and Landon both grabbed books in the back of the classroom and were doing their own “reading to the group” while the lady in the front was doing the main reading of Curious George.

Then there was a surprise visitor – Curious George – was hanging in the hallway so the kids got to say hi and give him a high five.

Next they had the kid work on their own Curious George hats – which was great because Harleigh and Landon had crazy hat day at school the next week and their George hats were perfect for that!

At the end, they gave out snacks and you could take a picture with George – of course by the end, the kids (i.e. Brooks) were just ready to run around outside and then do naps, so we didn’t try more than one quick pic. Yes, all happy campers! 🙂

The school definitely did a great job with the event and I would do it again – especially for the older ones, the Littles might need a little more time before they are ready to sit through a long book reading with so many other things to occupy their attention! 🙂

 

Music Class

Landon and Brooks just took their first music classes – and loved it!

We signed Landon up for classes through Musikgarten several months ago, but we couldn’t get an evening class until this summer.  By the time we started going, we found out that there were several of Brooksie-aged kids in the class, so we added him and they both got to enjoy the class together.

They had a great time where we sang songs, danced around the room, played with jingle bells, drums, music sticks, xylophones, scarves and more.  We learned new songs each week and they just loved the time there.  Class was on Monday’s and every single Tues, Wed and Thursday Landon would ask – “do I have my music class tonight?!”

It has ended but we’re looking into other options for the fall when our schedule isn’t as hectic.