simple and fun road trip activities for kids!

July 25, 2012 by mama lola

here are some of the funny and crafty activities i made or purchased for the boys for our upcoming road trip out east to the maritimes. the ideas are universal and not at all unique, but as usual i was inspired by pinterest. here’s a pretty extravagant activity board by one mama, which is beautiful, but way too elaborate for me. so i toned things down A LOT and made these two different activity boards.

felt peeps n’ animals on a felt board
i took a piece of cardboard and just started hot glue-gunning the felt on. i cut the green into a hilly landscape and the blues into skies. i tried to be meticulous when gluing so that the kids wouldn’t find a corner or loose felt to start picking at. i found some felt people from a thrift store, so i made them some summer clothes.

then i headed to micheal’s and found a ready-made felt board for only $4 (regularly $14-$20), so i bought one themed “under the sea”. cute, eh?

magnets & magnet board
i went to the dollar store and bought two small cookie sheets. then i bought a sheet magnet, fancy stickers and then headed home.

dear hubby and i spent a couple episodes of “mad about you” sticking the stickers onto the magnet sheet and then carefully cutting them out.

we also glued some wee dino’s onto the magnet sheets to make some 3D magnets as well. i think they turned out really well!!! RRrrroarrRR!

dollar $tore junk
i am not a huge supporter of dollar store junk, but i have to admit for this road trip that place was kind of a toy haven. i don’t want to pack precious sentimental toys, in case they get lost or destroyed on the trip, so i stocked up on funny, cheap crap instead. the kids are going to be so thrilled; anything new is always fun for a bit. i also bought some glow wands, which will be exciting at bedtime when it’s dark.

i did also purchase some more wholesome activity books to round out the junk. i chose two kumon books for bear and some simple colour/ stickering books for lion. they both love their activity books, and bear especially will be kept busy by them for long periods of time.

now, it’s time to go pack some more!

have you made any fun travel activities for your kids?

time won’t give you time.

July 25, 2012 by mama lola

i am feeling a time crunch.
from a lot of sources.

we leave for our much anticipated family vacation in a handful of days and there are still things that need to happen before hand. things like, booking a possiblecamp site on cape breton in nova scotia, getting the car lightly cleaned on the inside, deciding if we need camping chairs, cancelling our mail delivery for the time we are gone, cancelling the newspaper delivery, laundry and so on and so on. aaahhhh!!!

when we return from our trip, we have a handful of days to prepare for the much anticipated wedding of bubba and patty. i am co-MC and hopefully my partner and i can get some ideas going before our trip. i also have some sewing to do; i am making bowties for the boys, but i am waiting for the fabric which i was supposed to get at the beginning of july and still have not received it. yikes! luckily bowties don’t take long. i also have to make a pillow for the boys to carry down the aisle at the ceremony as they are the ring bearer’s.

i also have some blogging i would like to get done before we leave. bear has been attending a summer camp and well, the drop off’s have been really difficult.

*******
we had a fantastic cottage weekend with our dear friends. there were nine of us, and all the meal planning and event planning us mama’s did before hand worked out so well. everyone was happy and fed (for the most part) and we had an awesome time.

we visited a small amusement park called santa’s village where the kids were given silly elf hats upon entry.

we played hard, riding all sorts of fun rides, had lunch and then basically left. bear started to head down melt down road, so we decided to boot it back to the cottage for some relaxation, swimming and a beautiful, colourful dinner.

the kids, all the kids were really into the water this summer. well, not lion really as he had a bit of a teething fever and was a bit dopey. but the three oldest kids were really working on their swimming. wearing life jackets or hanging around dad’s neck really boosted the kids’ confidence.

the cottage is such a wonderful place and we love going there with friends. not sure when we will get up there again. hopefully in september.

*******
time to go make some games for the kids for the road trip. making some exciting magnet boards, felt boards and other fun stuff. i will post about those tomorrow!

…

July 20, 2012 by mama lola

~ this moment ~

as inspired by souleMama; one photo from our week, no words. only an image to sum up our time as a family, one that captures a moment in time and is a visual reminder of where we were at this moment.

baking (blueberry) peach ring things.

July 20, 2012 by mama lola

it’s that time of year again when fresh ontario peaches are in the markets. yum! today with the cooler temperatures i was inspired to get my baking groove on. so, we got busy and a little messy with baking THESE today, kinda. i got the idea from tiffanie over at cornerblog. i was too lazy to find the actual recipe as suggested from the joy of cooking, so i used a finnish crepe/ lettu dough instead, one that i have winged countless times from memory as i’ve been making lettuja for so long, recipe for them found HERE.

i bought my donut pans at a local bulk store a while back and have been getting my ice makin’ groove on during these intense heat waves. lotsa lemons and blueberries! yum!

back to the baking…

lettu/ finnish crepe recipe

5 dl (2-3 cups) of milk
2 eggs (we used the boxed egg substitute)
2 dl (approx. 1 cup)flour
2 tbls (a dollop) butter or veg oil
2 tbls spoon sugar
1 sprinkling of salt

1-2 peaches (depending how big your slices are and how much you sample!)
and/ or as many blueberries as you think look yummy!

i filled each ring with the dough. then, i cut the peaches into fairly thing slices and placed 2-3 pieces into each ring. i had to do some pretty serious peach sampling, as they were screaming to be eaten. oh boy! i preheated the oven to 350F and once ready baked the ring things for about 20-30minutes. a slightly hotter oven would have been better, but this way they cooked pretty evenly. i will keep perfecting this recipe : it’s a keeper!

well, they are a humongous hit!
both of the the boys, yes lion included, have been sneaking up onto the counter to try and get more peach rings!
silly boys!

it’s finally raining. i hope it rains all night. we have not had a decent rain fall in a very long time, not only is everyone’s grass yellow, but i wonder how all of the wild animals are faring.

summer fun!

July 19, 2012 by mama lola

this summer has been pretty busy for us. i have tried to fill our days with a mixture of friends and playdates with extreme outdoor adventures with lazy days at home. so far, i think things have balanced out pretty well.

my kids are not the go+go+go types. they can go one day, but will need a day or so to recuperate, especially during these few super hot summer days we’ve been experiencing lately. it must be genetic as, dear hubby and i are the same!

yesterday we drove into the big city and went to harbourfront with my mum. the kids basically ran the entire time, even though the sun was hot, but they just loved the freedom and the space. we enjoyed the time by the lake admiring tall ships, various motor boats, but also by checking out some interesting contemporary art at the power plant. bear later said, that looking at the art was his favourite part of the day!

one of my favourite parts about mothering is exposing my kids to new experiences. the boys have been to a few different galleries and art shows in their time. talking to them about what they see or feel when they looking at art is always such fun. art is always powerful.

i hope when my kids are grown they look back at their childhoods as a time of fun and excitement. i hope they recognize the efforts we are making now to create family experiences that are well rounded and full. dear hubby and i are trying to be the best we can with what we know and what we have. sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s enough, other times it feels like plenty.

today is a down home day.
the boys are now into their playdoh and later we will head to the library. then we will hopefully watch the long over due rain.

camping. camping. camping.

July 16, 2012 by mama lola

we went on an overnight mini camping extravaganza vacation with friends this past weekend. it was one night of laughs, booze, camp food and lotsa fun!

because our area of canada is experiencing an unusually dry and hot summer, there was a fire ban at the grounds. there have been lots of forest fires, so i completely understand the ban, but i will admit i was slightly saddened. what’s camping without a fire?
It’s ultimately my own fault as I should of done more research into the camp ground. Lesson learnt. In future, I’ll definitely be reading up on how to find the perfect campground for your RV. No longer am I taking our RV and just randomly choosing a camp site in the hope it has everything we need.

we had meal planned our dinner to be cooked with the fire, but luckily a couple of weeks before we decided to purchase a stove top. After reading lots of camping products reviews, we have spent quite a bit of money upgrading our camping gear! So… we did it all stove top instead and it all worked out fine. our to be fire roasted potatoes, became stove top taters instead and were yummy as heck! We recently bought a new RV Battery which meant we could cook all this wonderful food. It saved the day!

[ new potatoes, garlic cloves cut in half, generous chunks of butter, cut yellow onion and a generous sprinkle of sea salt. i had wrapped them all in lots of foil as we had hoped to cook them in the fire. this is how we do taters at the cottage on the BBQ! ]

there were six kids and six adults so it all balanced out. the kids played in the woods where we set up dear hubby’s beloved brazillian hammock and as dusk settled in the kids explored everything with their flashlights. it was so funny and cute and hilarious to listen to their excitement. the little ones had a harder time getting to sleep. dear hubby walked around the campground with lion on his back, which worked out well. however, we got off to sleep absolutely fine in our RV as we have comfy beds and even an amazing skylight to which we can see all the stars glistening from. last year when we went camping our skylight was damaged a little from being so old, but luckily we had a dome skylight replacement to fix it on the spot so we didn’t have to panic about not having a view of the stars!

once the kids were finally asleep the real party started, and the booze came out in generous pours and were slurped in generous gulps. it was a perfect summer night for sitting around our pretend fire, where the chatter and drinks flowed and then as the night progressed the laughs became slightly louder and longer.
good times.

morning dawn brought with it a few rain drops that luckily didn’t amount to anything. it brought with it super hungry kids who had to have some fast granola and fruit to rid them of the morning grumps! just look the differences in the two pics of the kids… before granola and then after!

and then after some team work we all ate fantastic breakfast burrito’s and sipped on the best coffee ever! food tastes to great at camping, even if it car camping!
so yummy!

lots of summer love to our friends. we had a blast and can’t wait for next summer’s camping trip!
*******
today is monday and incredibly hot. tomorrow they are predicting +36c, which midas well be the boiling point. we will hunker down inside with craft projects and friends and ice cream!

what’s the weather like where you are?

kid’s are worth it!

July 14, 2012 by mama lola

i’m reading this amazing parenting book right now, by barbara coloroso called kids are worth it. i may have talked about this book before, but i’m reading it and have been having some pretty serious (as oprah would say) A-HA moments.

the kids and i have been on a pretty smooth groove recently (knock on wood), but i think this is the perfect time to be learning about how to be a more consistent parent. coloroso’s ideas and suggestions realistically are nothing new, but she really emphasizes parenting in a way that does not attack or minimize a child’s dignity, but instead supports mutual respect. as followers of the attachment parenting philosophy, coloroso’s suggestions go right along with those values.

she is strongly opposed to rewards and bribery, which i know is way of parenting we’ve all fallen back on. i know we have. but, when she delves into why it’s not an effective way to parent, it has made me tweak my methods at home.

for example, lion is potty training and has pooped and peed in the potty without any incentives other than a few kind praises from us and cheer or two. he has not received any candy or stickers or treats of any kind. he’s learning to use the potty without bribery or rewards; so different from how bear learned. it’s been an easier process, one with less power struggles and fighting, he’s doing it, because he realizes it’s time to learn. we have walked by the potty only to discover it has pee in it, which means lion (who turned two on sunday) has been going independently!

i am also trying to teach bear that some things he has to do, for the only reason that it just has to be done. things like tidying up toys or other messes, doing things to help out when asked; there are no rewards, no treats, no gushing mama showering him with empty compliments. and it too is working. it’s kind of amazing!

i would recommend this book to all parents. doesn’t matter if you follow attachment parenting or not. we all sometimes need to be inspired on this rocky road of parenting!

*****
saw this lovely sun dial at the university’s arboretum.

we’re going camping today. looking forward to it and counting down to take off!
what are you up to this weekend?

…

July 13, 2012 by mama lola

~ this moment ~

camping grub!

July 12, 2012 by mama lola

we’re going on a simple car-camping trip this weekend with friends. yesterday the weather said 90% chance of rain all day saturday, today it’s dropped to 20%, so we’ll see what mother nature actually serves up for us! i’ve been thinking about food for this trip as we have three families of four, ranging from 1years to 39:ish, so ti satiate twelve people can be tricky! here’s what my research unveiled on pinterest…

we’re going to roast some potatoes with onions, garlic and butter topped with a sprinkling of sea salt and pepper.

and hot dogs of course! we’re going to load ’em up with all sorts of goodies, not just ketchup!

look at this fabulous idea; smores in cones baked in the fire! cannot wait to sink my teeth in one of these! teh kids are going to get a pretty serious sugar high, but hopefully they will just crash afterwards!

we’re making yummy breakfast burrito’s for breakfast on sunday. the meat eaters will include eggs and bacon in theirs, while us veggies will include tofu and veg as our insides. there will of course be salsa and sour cream for dipping!

what are you up to this weekend?

burlesque dancing!

July 12, 2012 by mama lola

our lovely patty and bubba will be tying the knot this coming august and to celebrate a bunch of us ladies went out dancing. and not just any ol’ dancing, but burlesque dancing! Now before you get any ideas, no we’re not going to become like Alexandra performing on Babestaton on here, but I want to share the story anyway. it was a hot and sticky friday afternoon when i drove to the big city in rush hour. i had my defences up and held my own against the cabbies and other aggressive big city drivers as i made my way to pick up the sassy divas from the hotel!

it was so, so hot in the studio, but it was so fun. there was no A/C, but instead a dinky little fan sat in one corner of the studio! our instructors were dressed in fabulous, glittery, lacy barely-there kinda corsets and brassiers and things; it was perfect!

we were all gifted little boas to dance with and lent satin, lacy fancy gloves. it was all very sexy! i bet some of us felt like we could have wandered on to a hdpornvideo.xxx film set we were looking and feeling that sexy!

here is a slide show of the dancing to tom jones’ “sex bomb”. just a warning in case you’re at work taking a quick sneak peak at the blog!

** people may not able to view the video on mobile phones, due to some rule youtube has.

lots of love to all the talented, amazing women who strutted their stuff! Like the ladies who work the escort düsseldorf circuit, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to throw yourself into this sexy a lifestyle. it was such a fun afternoon dancing and then wining and dining in the evening. i am so excited about this wedding and actually just bought my dress tonight!

xo