Botanical Gardens

Rainy day with high winds + An on-the-go toddler = A much needed trip to the botanical gardens

My in-laws gave us a great gift at Christmas this year, a family membership to our local botanical gardens. We gave it a try last month and had a blast! Mr. D enjoyed running around the paths, smelling the flowers, pointing out fish, and listening for birds.

I would recommend checking out your local gardens too. They are so toddler friendly and provide a much needed warm-up on chilly and rainy days.

We're looking forward to butterflies the next time we visit!

Old School

 One of the many great parts of being a parent is experiencing the new. . .or in this case, the old, with your child. A couple of weeks ago, my husband crawled into the attic of my parent's garage and pulled down some of the Little Tikes toys my brother and I played with when we were kids. It was so much fun seeing Mr. D and my brother with his son play with these toys.

Life is good!

Rate the Park App

I figured out how I can make my millions. . .create an App that rates parks.  

Parks would be rated on the following criteria:

1. Playground Equipment. The park we visited was for older kids.  It is a great park, but not suitable for youngsters. We did find a wonderful turtle that D could climb on and investigate!

 

 2. Canteen. Our local park has the perfect canteen filled with ice cream treats and snacks.  

3. Safety: We want to have fun--but we don't want any scary injuries either! This park had that soft, fake grass that is perfect for running (and falling).  Since the playground was right on the river, they also had safety fences in place to make it hard for little ones to escape! One big concern I noticed, though, was that there was a hill for little ones to climb up but there was a pretty big drop-off on the other side. I was a bit surprised by this, to be honest.

 4. Overall beauty: This park was right on a river.  It is the perfect place to relax, play tag, and eat a picnic lunch. They also host free concerts throughout the summer!

I'd also want to factor in the following:

5. Appropriate ages for use of the park

6. Ease of parking

7. Extra features (pool, splash pad, hiking/biking trails, etc.)

Isn't this a great idea? Here is the problem. . .I have no clue how one would go about doing this! 

Happy Summer!

Ambassador Drew

Most of us have heard of the March of Dimes.  I know that I knew of this organization for years but I never understood how vital a role they play in the lives of all babies.

The March of Dimes was created decades ago, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the original purpose of fighting polio.  When polio was eradicated from the US, the mission changed to support babies born prematurely and/or with birth defects.

Because of individual and corporate sponsors, the March of Dimes has raised millions of dollars to support research to help ALL babies have a successful start at life--moms know more about healthy lifestyles that can help them during pregnancy, NICU doctors have more resources on their hands, and all babies have a better chance of not only surviving, but thriving.

We were honored to serve as the March of Dimes ambassador family this year in our community!  

Saturday was the big day where we were able to meet with other individuals who share our common goal.  It could not have been a more perfect day for the event!  Our family was overwhelmed with the love and generosity of complete strangers.  

The event was so family friendly.  When we first arrived, there was a continental breakfast available for all participants.  Everybody was encouraged to get a lei which represented why you were walking (purple = prematurity, green = healthy birth, white = loss of an infant, yellow = birth defect). As a group, we then participated in a 2.5 mile walk through a gorgeous section of town.  We arrived back just in time to try out the swings at the park and say goodbye to our new friends.

Every one of us has a cause that is near and dear to us.  I would encourage you to look into the March of Dimes to see if this organization might be one that you would consider supporting now or in the future.  If you have any questions, feel free to check out their site at www.marchfordimes.org or let me know and I can try to help too.

Happy Walking!

Book Review: Touch and Feel Farm

 This is little man's favorite book of the moment.  It's the first book that he's actually interacted with time and again!  Touch and Feel Farm is the perfect book for sensory, repetition, and early vocabulary development.  I just read that it is important for young ones to associate animals with the sounds they make.  This helps them learn different sounds and the animals associated with those sounds.  This book is fun. . .and extremely appropriate for infants. 

 Happy Reading!

Perfect Day

This was the longest winter. . .EVER!  Not only was there so much ice and snow and below zero temps, but it never seemed to stop.  Here we are, May 20 and I am in shorts (or short pants, as JD calls them) for the very first time!  

When I saw that the temperature was to reach 80 today, I knew I had to make use of the beautiful weather.

Today's agenda included:

1. Hang laundry on the clothes line

2. Make (and enjoy) sun tea (with lemon, of course)

3. Read the newspaper while the Young Mr. slept

4. Be happy

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 

Little Free Library

I'm getting my own library!  And I am so excited!

Little Free Libraries is a not-for-profit that tries to put books into as many hands as possible.  I love reading and I love discussing books, so, these little libraries are PERFECT for me!

A good friend of mine is building me my very own library that we're going to stock with books.  We've already created a budget for books--$50 a year.  I'm also hoping to have books donated to the library.  Since I'm a teacher, I really want to have a wide mix of children's, young adult, and adult books. 

My little library has walls now!

My biggest "issue" with Little Free Libraries is that a lot of times the books seem to be outdated.  I am going to work very hard to make sure that the books are readable and that people in the neighborhood make my Little Free Library a regular destination.

If you are interested in learning more about Little Free Libraries, their site www.littlefreelibrary.org has great information (please you can see where Little Free Libraries are located in your area).  Of, if you want to help me stock the shelves of my Little Free Library, please let me know.

Happy Reading!