Christmas Ideas

Christmas is coming!!

I've been searching Amazon for all kinds of fun gift ideas!!

Check out these Harry Potter Earrings perfect for the Harry Potter Fan in your life.


Look at this fun plush sushi!! Adorable and perfect for anyone who likes a bit of fun. Sure to brighten up anyone's present pile.

Paddington

In our house we love reading. I also love books that have movies associated with them. My youngest (C) recently turned 5. He was so excited to get a stuffed Paddington for his birthday. He is even more excited that we are reading Paddington again. 

Summer Bucket List

We've been doing a summer bucket list for as long as I can remember.
We found one on Pinterest a few years back and have modified it every year to include different summer fun activities. I thought I would share here for anyone else who might want to try!

List of Fun Summer Activities

Outings

1.picnic at the park

2. go to a summer matinee

3. go to the library

4.visit an IMAX theater

5.Pick Fruit

6.go to the skating rink

7.go to a local swimming beach

8.go a local farmer’s market

9.Pink Palace (local museum)

10.Botanic Garden

11.Children’s Museum

12. go to an outdoor concert

13.go get Jerry’s snow cones

14. play mini golf

15.Go to Shelby Farms

16.go to a water splash pad

17.go swimming

18.Incredible Pizza

19.go bowling

20.go to the zoo

21.go to a drive-in movie

22.go on a road trip-

23.go see a fireworks show

24. go to Discovery Park

25. Mud Island

26.Rock and Soul Museum

Fun stuff to do IN THE HOUSE

27. Make paint and paint a picture

28.write your own story

29.play Legos

30.build an indoor fort using blankets

31. learn how to play a new board game

32. mail a letter to someone special

33. play dress up

34. do a jigsaw puzzle

35. make a video

36. have a puppet show

37. make friendship bracelets

38.favorite movies marathon

39.Draw a picture

40.camping in the house

41.make hero capes

42.have a treasure hunt

43. LIVING ROOM 25 Race, do 25 laps in plasma cars around the couch!

44.Window Crayons

45.Paint by number

46. Make friendship Bracelets

Fun stuff in the backyard

47.have a water balloon fight

48. play in a kiddie pool

49. play catch

50. play hopscotch

51. make paper airplanes and race

52. make sail boats and race

53. set up or make a slip n slide

54.hunt for shapes in the clouds

55.learn to hula hoop

56. Ring toss, bean bag toss

57. run in the sprinklers

58.create sidewalk art using chalk

59.play Frisbee

60.catch bugs

61.backyard water games

62.catch fireflies

63.outdoor movie night

64.start a rock collection

65. Tadpoles

66. Bubble with Tarps

67. Grow Vegetables

68. Basketball

Stuff you need mom and Dad to help with

69.DNA kit

70.tie dye t-shirts

71.make homemade bubbles

72. do a fun science project

73. make a bird feeder

74. Picture scavenger hunt walk

75. marshmallow guns

76. make homemade instruments

77.make sun catchers

78.make recycled crayons

79.make 4th of July shirts

80.make homemade play dough

Cooking

81.homemade pizza party

82. make smores

83.make ice cream in a baggie

84.make homemade popsicles

85. bake cookies

86.make root beer floats

87.have an ice cream party with lots of toppings

88.make treats for neighbors

89.decorate cupcakes or cookies

90.make smoothies

Reviving Blog

I've discovered I'm not great at keeping up with a blog.
I also realized that I loved looking back at posts to see different things we've done and enjoyed as a family so I'm hopeful I can keep up a little better. It seems most of my posts are over the summer where things are just a little slower and we can take more time to relax.
Here's hoping I do better this go round!

Tennessee Aquarium

While in Chattanooga we took a trip to the Tennessee Aquarium.  For anyone who hasn't been it is a pretty large aquarium consisting of two separate buildings. One building houses all of the freshwater fish and a smaller building (but still large) houses the saltwater fish. They refer to these as the ocean experience (saltwater) and the River experience (freshwater). We decided to spend the morning at the larger building for the River experience, took a lunch break to eat downtown at a restaurant about five minutes from the aquarium walking distance and then spend the afternoon in the ocean experience. In addition to fish and other sea life they have otters and penguins. We were lucky enough to get there in time to see both the otter feeding and planned our lunch so that we got to hear the keeper chat with the penguins. We were slightly confused on where to start since we didn't have a map for the aquarium but this may have been an oversight on our part.  The kids loved watching the otters and there were also some amazing fish.The price is a little high but considering how much there is to see and do it is well worth it. There is also a stream outside of the aquarium between the two buildings to give kids a chance to wade in the water. There is also  a great mix of hands on experiences and  information and tons of chances to view all the awesome exhibits.

Piercy Priest Lake

We recently took a trip to Chattanooga for the Tennessee Music Teacher's State Competition.  Hopefully at some point I can post about all the amazing places we went while in Chattanooga. The kids loved it because it is largely walkable even with small children and there were a lot of fun family oriented things to do. On our way home we wanted to do something fun since the drive was only five and a half hours, but as anyone who has traveled with kids knows it can feel MUCH longer if they don't get a chance to get out and stretch. We were looking up fun places to go on our route and found Percy Priest lake near Nashville. It was about two hours from Chattanooga, and three and a half home so it seemed like a good stopping point for a picnic lunch and swimming on their beautiful sand beach. After reading some reviews of the lake we decided to try it out.  We went to the Anderson Road Day Use Area. It is $4 per car and I think the beach is open till 6:30pm but didn't see the opening time. We went on a Monday, it was sprinkling and overcast and surprisingly the beach wasn't empty.  We loved it!! There was a playground, bath house, and tons of picnic tables in slightly wooded area most with grills. The sand beach isn't huge, but big enough. There are some cool rock formations in the water and my children appreciated having their water shoes but almost everyone else was barefoot. A swimming area is marked off that is pretty large and only about 4 ft deep. The water was clear and warm enough for swimming despite the rain. We had an amazing time are planning our next trip back.

Summer 2015

I am horrible at keeping up with a blog, but love that it is here to go back to.
This "summer" has started out amazingly and we are still only in late spring.
It is our first "summer" vacation in our new house and we are really enjoying our huge garden and our much bigger backyard. The kids miss their playset from the old house, but Aaron built them a swing set as part of my christmas present. I love that he knows what I want most is to have them occupied safely and out of the house! He was also able to get a free basketball goal and playhouse (we love freecycle, curb alerts and Nextdoor!!) And we got a kiddie pool plus a slide (Kmart and the shop your way points are amazing) and the best thing we found was a larger pool for the big kids (shown in the picture). We now live around the corner from a Big Lots and were able to get a slightly larger pool than the one we had last summer without spending a fortune. We LOVED the pool we got from friends last summer but it was on it's last leg and between the kids and moving it needed replacement hoses for the filter, a new cover, and already had one patch.