Knitting Zeal

Outdoor play date ideas

As a member of the Children's Claritin Mom Crew, I receive product samples and promotional items to share and use as I see fit.  No monetary compensation has taken place and any opinions expressed by me are honest and reflect my actual experience.

This summer we've spent lots of time outside playing.  In fact, most of our play dates and trips have been outdoors!  That means the kiddo stays on allergy meds to control his seasonal allergies, as per his pediatrician.  So far he has felt great and has had lots of fun!  As part of the Claritin Mom Crew I got the chance to get together with some moms and their kids to have a fun outdoor play date and to share some coupons, giveaways and ideas about our kids, and their allergies!

Summer has been busy! We have had multiple play dates with different kids and moms, all lots of fun and all outdoors.  Here are some of the fun activities we did on our most recent outdoor play date!

DIY Sponge Water Bombs!  

These were super simple to make and loads of fun.  We will be using these all summer long!  Supplies needed are very inexpensive: new kitchen sponges (I found them cheapest at Giant,) plastic zip ties, and scissors.  

I cut each sponge into four equal strips, then assembled several different colors (about 8 strips) into a stack, then wrapped a plastic zip tie arround the middle and cinched it to tighten.  Then I "fluffed" the strips a bit to make more symetrical pom poms.  I filled a baby pool with water, although a big bucket would work great too, and let the kids go at it with them.  Lots of fun!

DIY Backyard Roadway!

About two years ago my son and I built a backyard roadway out of regular red bricks.  I measured the area I was going to dedicate to this roadway and bought enough bricks to fill the space, plus a few extra.  I had larger flat pathway bricks already, which we used to create a parking lot.  We used yellow and white paint to make street lines.  (My son wanted to paint the lines, so they are not exactly as I imagined it, but it's his roadway!)  I filled in the space around the bricks with rubber mulch.  This play space continues to be a favorite place for the kids when they visit our yard.  It's located in a shady spot, so even on a hot day it's nice place to play.  They use all kinds of cars to race here and my son loves to park his cars in the lot!

These are just two of the many fun ideas we had for our play dates with friends!  We've also set out our teepee,  filled the kiddie pool, and used our noodle water blasters! The kids had lots of fun!  

Claritin sent me some goodies to give out to the moms.  Thanks Claritin for the inspiration for a fun Playmaker play date! 

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Bowling on Saturday

Over the weekend we had a day full of activities planned.  Starting with swimming and three birthday party invites, we thought the kiddo would have a packed day.  (We had planned to only attend two of the parties.)  In the end, the weather forecast was calling for MORE snow, so both parties were rescheduled.  I felt that we needed a physical activity, despite the forecast.  There is so much snow outside that it is actually dangerous to walk around.  Our street is too narrow now to risk walking it (we don't have sidewalks) and any where we like to go for outdoor fun is snow covered.  We came to the conclusion that going bowling would be the best bet.  We lucked out and only had to wait for 15 minutes to get a lane at our local bowling alley.  From 3-5pm, the lanes are lit by black lights for glow bowling.  By chance, my son had picked out a lime green shirt that day to wear, and it just happened to glow under the lights!  We played two games and had a lot of fun.  My son even won the first game!  Afterwards we went for a walk at the mall and to pick up a quick dinner, followed by family movie night.  We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs! 

Bowling was a great family activity and even though some of us are terrible bowlers, we all had fun.  I'll be sure to sign up for the kids bowl free event again this summer so we can work on improving our game!

Bouncing around with bloggers

This morning started off fairly craptacularly with a toddler not sleeping well and my insomnia finally halting only to have my sleep disrupted by my spawn darling child.  When we all finally awoke, grumpy, it was to a torrential downpour.  Apparently the precipitation in SE PA is all or nothing--tons of snow/rain or nada.  So, while the lawns and gardens desperately needed the drink, the earth just couldn't handle the deluge and half of the roads around our area were flooded.  (and our basement, but not too bad.)  We live fairly close to a portion of the Pennypack Creek and since we had an event to attend this morning, we got to see the creek transformed into rushing rapids.  

The event we were attending was at Bounce U in Horsham, PA.  There was a mommy/daddy blogger event sponsored by the facility and Chrissy at Mama's Little Helper. It was a way to meet other parenting bloggers in the Philadelphia metro area and entertain the kiddos at the same time.  It was nice chatting with the other bloggers and socializing in the "real" world as opposed to the internet!  My little bouncer was fascinated about going, and we brought his buddy along for fun.  Andrew is still a bit small for most of the bounce equipment, but we did find a few things for him to bounce in and stay secure.  He really loved the giant slide there, but would only go with me.  I don't recall ever going on anything like that before and we had a blast.  I lost count of how many times we slid down, but all the way home he kept talking about it.  Andrew is a cautious kid, the way I was (am) so I wasn't surprised that he wouldn't slide alone.   He was a bit freaked out at one point when the one bouncy area he was in began to be evacuated because it was collapsing, but I managed to pull him out of it just in time and the staff person in the bounce thingy was really on top of things and was able to prevent Andrew from being trapped.  (Apparently someone shut off the power on the inflater/blower--oopps!)

 

Bounce U is an indoor inflatable playground filled with slides, mazes, and bouncing arenas.  Kids really get a nice workout jumping around safely, sliding down big and giant slides and playing giant basketball.  Recommended ages for play is 3 years and up.  There were two huge rooms filled with bounce equipment and there were staff members (mostly teens) everywhere.  Some of the bounce areas were operational only with a staff member present, such as the ball pit area.  The staff member was able to monitor the game and make sure there wasn't too much rough housing going on.  Everyone who is playing must wear socks, which they sell if you forget to bring a pair.  The kids all seemed to love bouncing and running around so it was a perfect stormy summer day destination.  Parties are a specialty of Bounce U.  Because we were attending an event, we got to experience what a party might be like there.  There were at least two party rooms filled with tables/benches and a snack/food counter with sink.  We got to enjoy some beverages and snacks after spending an hour bouncing.  There were lots of balloons decorating the place and a party planner making balloon animals for the kids.  There was someone face painting too.  I was impressed with how clean the facility was, especially on a rainy day.  (And it was teeming rain, so everyone entered the place dripping wet!)  By the front door were two huge rolling carts/containers to hold wet coats and umbrellas.  Inside the bounce arenas were some benches and cubbyholes for shoes.  I was able to leave my baby bag under a bench and not worry about lugging it around.  The bathrooms were immaculate and even had a lower sink for smaller kids.  When we left, all of the kids got to take home a giant blow up Bounce U hammer.  I'm not sure why a hammer, but Andrew loves it.

 

I have to say, we had a better time than we expected and I think we will be going to Bounce U again soon!  As Andrew grows older and bigger I think he will enjoy the bouncers even more and maybe go by himself!  

Unfortunately in the craziness of the morning I forgot my camera, so I only had my phone to take pictures, which isn't the best clarity.  I probably would not have gotten many shots since I was the one playing too, but next time I'll have to remember it.

Happy Turkey Day

This poem was posted by someone from the RAOK list.  I really like what it says and wish anyone reading this the happiest of Thanksgivings. 

BE THANKFUL
By Author Unknown
Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
because it means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.

Chris and I celebrated the day with his family at his sister's house. She had 18 cousins, aunts, and kids together.  It was the first time we ever celebrated with so many relatives! It was a lot of fun and the food was plentiful.  My contribution was a Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie.

1 pastry crust for a deep-dish pie 9-inch (homemade or store-bought)
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples (I use Granny Smith and Fiji apples)

1 recipe crumb topping (see below)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup caramel topping

Ingredients for Crumb Topping:


1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2cup all-purpose flour
1/2cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup butter

Directions for Crumb Topping:

1. Stir together brown sugar,flour, rolled oats.

2. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until topping is like course crumbs. Set aside.

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.

2. Add apple slices and gently toss until coated.

3. Transfer apple mixture to the pie shell.

4. Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture.

5. Place pie on a cookie sheet so the drippings don't drop into your oven.

6. Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil.

7. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and put back in for another 25 to 30 minutes without foil.

8. Remove from oven. Sprinkle pie with chopped pecans then drizzle with caramel on top.

9. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy warm or at room temperature.

(Recipe courtesy of Marsha Brooks, Apple Pie Contest 2001 on abc's Good Morning America show)

On Saturday, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving II with my family at my parents house.  Traditionally I have hosted turkey day, often not enjoying it because of all the work involved with cooking and entertaining. This year it was so nice to not have to cook and clean and clean up and prep and...etc.  Chris' only complaint is that we don't have any leftovers.  Oh well!