So as I am thinking about the upcoming holiday season I cant help but be a little excited. I love the holidays. There is always the hustle and bustle of the eager shoppers with Starbucks in hand. The views and decorations are just gorgeous, and everyone just seems to have that spark! The holidays are when you get to see those family members you don't get to see everyday. You get to slow down (mostly because of the turkey) and realize what you are thankful for. The holidays mean something different for everyone. Every family has different traditions and way of doing things. For some the holidays are about religion and are celebrated in a more spiritual way. For others its the more commercial way of doing things and for some there is a balance of both! Whatever way you celebrate is awesome!
But with the holidays comes the gifts. Not necessarily receiving, but giving. Everyone (well not everyone) loves shopping for other people. I don't know about you guys but I just love seeing faces light up when they open your gift! Shopping for anyone for anything is just so much fun! Aside from being fun it can also be hard. You always want to do something that person will love, but what is that one thing they have been looking for?? Even when you know what they are looking for sometimes it just may be out of budget. Especially with children, of course you always want to find a way to give your little ones everything that they have dreamed of but sometimes that's just not realistic! What do you do in cases like this? Especially in cases with children I think you can make a holiday really memorable without all the gifts. But if little Suzy wants a play kitchen but the one at your local toy store is over $200 what do you do? I say you make it! Re-purpose an old entertainments center you find at a thrift store or get some plywood and paint. Kids are very creative and open minded a lot more than we are as adults so keep that in mind :)
There are also so many special and sentimental handmade gifts you can give. People bake, build, create, etc. Who doesn't love the special things that are made with love? Sometimes doing something like that is more time consuming but a lot easier on your pocket book. I myself do these kinds of gifts for all the grandparents from B. Everyone loves getting something that his little hands made. It is always a hit! For some people there isn't budget issues, but even still what kinds of gifts do you prefer to get? Do you want the newest and latest electronic gadget or do you like the more unique one of a kind gifts? Its hard, I mean I love my iPhone for sure, but I do love home made anything especially if its something from my little one :)
I guess this post is really to gauge what you guys think. I am having a really hard time coming up with the "perfect" gift ideas for some people in our families. So ladies and gents what do you prefer?? Please feel free to post a comment and let me know your ideas and opinions and as always have a wonderful day!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Check Check Checking things off the bucket list!!
So I'm behind... But a couple weekends ago the weather was beautiful!! AND I had Monday off of work, Thank you Christopher Columbus!! Because of that we knew we had to do something fun with the Beez :) We ended up checking something off the fall bucket list we didn't know we were going to do... AND got to go to a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins!
We have a local park near us that is awesome. They have a petting zoo and stables. They do horseback riding lessons, have playgrounds of course and many other things. They have an annual event called Locktoberfest (Lockwood Park) and its super fun for the little ones. They have games, pony rides, wagon rides, face painting, food and many other fun activities for kids!
When we first got there we got tickets. Then B saw the ponies, man does that kid love pony rides!! So he got to ride Nutmeg! She was awesome and even let B pet her after the ride. Then we walked around for a bit until we got to the story time wagon ride.
B riding his pony Nutmeg and all of us on the Wagon ride to Pumpkin Paradise
The wagon leads you through the forest and you here a "spooky" Halloween story, there was some interactive things to look for along the trail that coordinated with the story, so that was fun. Ultimately you get on the wagon because it leads you to a camp area where you can play games, have some hot chocolate, and even make s'mores! (That was the accidental thing we checked off the list) He had such a ball with the s'mores they were messy and delicious, just like they should be! After we had our hot cocoa and s'mores we got to go to Pumpkin Paradise!!
The s'mores were a bit stickier than he expected them to be! So why not eat it off your hand??
In pumpkin Paradise you got to go look through a bunch of pumpkins and pick the ones that you wanted to take home! We let B pick his own. It was too cute, he got really excited!! We picked out two pumpkins to bring home and we called it a day! It was super fun and I think we will definitely be going back to Locktoberfest next year!!
We have a local park near us that is awesome. They have a petting zoo and stables. They do horseback riding lessons, have playgrounds of course and many other things. They have an annual event called Locktoberfest (Lockwood Park) and its super fun for the little ones. They have games, pony rides, wagon rides, face painting, food and many other fun activities for kids!
When we first got there we got tickets. Then B saw the ponies, man does that kid love pony rides!! So he got to ride Nutmeg! She was awesome and even let B pet her after the ride. Then we walked around for a bit until we got to the story time wagon ride.
The wagon leads you through the forest and you here a "spooky" Halloween story, there was some interactive things to look for along the trail that coordinated with the story, so that was fun. Ultimately you get on the wagon because it leads you to a camp area where you can play games, have some hot chocolate, and even make s'mores! (That was the accidental thing we checked off the list) He had such a ball with the s'mores they were messy and delicious, just like they should be! After we had our hot cocoa and s'mores we got to go to Pumpkin Paradise!!
B roasting the marshmallow and taking his first bite of his first s'more :)
In pumpkin Paradise you got to go look through a bunch of pumpkins and pick the ones that you wanted to take home! We let B pick his own. It was too cute, he got really excited!! We picked out two pumpkins to bring home and we called it a day! It was super fun and I think we will definitely be going back to Locktoberfest next year!!
B looking for the perfect pumpkin.
S looking over the patch and B trying to pick the chosen pumpkin :)
So now that the pumpkins are picked and its nearing Halloween, its seems its time to carve them! Tonight we are going to tackle that project along with roasting the seeds :) I hope you guys are having a fabulous fall and a fun time checking things off your bucket lists!! More pics coming soon!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Time to get artsy fartsy!
Well over this past week, we finally started feeling more settled in our new home. Therefore I figured what better than to get kind of messy again and get out the arts and crafts bucket for B?? He loves his art time. He likes to color, and create, glue and make things, touch things etc. I thought with it being October and all what better to do than Halloween crafts....
So after work one day while B was still napping I set up his "invitation." I like to set things up on the kitchen table to see if he will take interest in it and want to do whatever activity I chose for that day.
He took it! We put faces on pumpkins to make Jack-O-Lanterns and we even made a not so scary vampire bat from a toilet paper roll :) He just had a ball. He loves to do things like that and I think it is good to let them be creative and even get a little messy! But even better than letting them do messy fun things.. Take part in the fun as well. Be there and let them show you, bounce ideas off of you and just show off their finished work with pride.
So after work one day while B was still napping I set up his "invitation." I like to set things up on the kitchen table to see if he will take interest in it and want to do whatever activity I chose for that day.
B hard at work
The finished products!!
So as you can see we didn't do anything spectacular!! It doesn't take much to make a two year old happy :) He loved that we got to work with pumpkins and that he got to use markers and glitter glue. So on days when its a little to cold to run errands or play outside in the leaves consider doing fun inside projects! Oh and tip of the day... I have learned putting anything on a Popsicle stick instantly makes it cool to a small child ( not the Jack-O-Lanterns) Hope you have a wonderful day!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Our trip to the Apple Orchard
Well we officially checked our first thing off our fall bucket list this weekend. I don't know that we will always do things in number order but it just so happens that's how we started out! It's a family tradition since I can remember every year to go to the apple orchard. Since having a little one of my own we have definitely kept the tradition alive.
We got there and ate some lunch. We opted for the yummy baked potatoes our orchard does. We let B play, he loves the wooden train, so he played on that the majority of the time. We also took our yearly pictures in the ticket window and by the Edward's Orchard 2012 sign. We of course went through the store and picked up much anticipated apple cider donuts as well as cider!!
We didn't do everything in this trip knowing that we will go again in a few weeks when my brother in law comes to visit. He has requested to go to the orchard :) no complaints here!! Maybe we can get him to do the Pumpkin Patch as well. Hmmmmm. Anyways I just wanted to share our first thing checked off the bucket list!! Hope everyone is having fun with their own Fall Frolic!! Make it a great day!
We got there and ate some lunch. We opted for the yummy baked potatoes our orchard does. We let B play, he loves the wooden train, so he played on that the majority of the time. We also took our yearly pictures in the ticket window and by the Edward's Orchard 2012 sign. We of course went through the store and picked up much anticipated apple cider donuts as well as cider!!
We didn't do everything in this trip knowing that we will go again in a few weeks when my brother in law comes to visit. He has requested to go to the orchard :) no complaints here!! Maybe we can get him to do the Pumpkin Patch as well. Hmmmmm. Anyways I just wanted to share our first thing checked off the bucket list!! Hope everyone is having fun with their own Fall Frolic!! Make it a great day!
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