Quality Time Mom

Starting a new tradition: The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Inflation

2012-03-23T05:04:00.000-07:00

Most New Yorkers know that the best way to see the balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade up close and personal, without braving the parade route, is to go to the annual Balloon Inflation the day before Thanksgiving. On our second attempt to attend this in person – we figured out the formula for a winning experience.

My office closes early each year on the day before Thanksgiving, and I brought my eldest with me so we could go straight uptown to watch the balloons from work. We had a great Thai lunch, I tried to entice him to nap when we got back (without luck) and at 3, we took the B Train to the Museum of Natural History, where the line begins. Note – the Time Warner Center at the Columbus Circle stop is a great mid-point bathroom pit stop.

We tried to attend the Balloon Inflation a couple of years back as a post-dinner event with both my nephew and son in strollers. Biggest disaster ever! The crowds were ridiculous by 7:30pm and the strollers made it really difficult to navigate, even at our snail’s pace. This time, we went in the afternoon and the situation was much better. Some of the balloons were still not fully inflated, but we saw most of them and each has a sign with a photo of the balloon all blown up and in the sky with a note on the history of the balloon.

My big boy is 4½ and even though the day involved a good amount of walking, I debated about whether or not to bring the stroller, and opted for the convenience of not having to lug it up and down subway station stairs (and on this trip – the Time Warner Center) and possibly have difficulty getting around the potential crowd at the balloons. Leaving the stroller at home was definitely the right decision for us. There were times I had to lift Zach up to see the balloons over the line, and this would have been especially difficult with a stroller in tow. I brought a bag to help store my camera, snacks, water, our gear and other things I’d normally stash in the stroller.

We made it uptown by 3:45 and there were already a good amount of people, though nowhere near the crowds I remembered from our nighttime attempt. The city was well prepared for the event with barricades and police directing the flow of people. The line to tour the balloons actually begins a few blocks north of the balloon lineup, just below the Museum of Natural History. We immediately saw characters we recognized (Spiderman, Kermit the Frog) and we were able to go right up to the barricades that are inches away from the inflating balloons and take pictures. We wound around the blocks, and I realized for the first time how the parade is one big commercial! The majority of the balloon characters are mascots (like the giant Kook Aid pitcher and Energizer Bunny) or represent TV series or movies in the market. The fact that Santa officially closes the parade to kick off the holiday shopping season is just great subliminal marketing hilarity. Or maybe it’s not so subliminal and I’ve just been a little slow to pick this up.

We watched the parade the next day from home and Zach was really excited to see the characters flying down the parade route. He asked me to take a picture of the Sonic the Hedgehog balloon on the TV.

We had a great day, made a memory, and have a new tradition for the years Thanksgiving is NY-based.

How to include the kids in Thanksgiving festivities

2012-03-23T05:03:00.000-07:00

I hosted my second Thanksgiving in 2011. We had a great family experience, with representatives from 3 states. My kids were 4½ and 2½ at the time, and eager to pitch in and make the holiday a memorable event for the family.

We started by taking a nature walk and collecting fall leaves in the neighborhood. We took these home and pasted them with colorful feathers and paper from our craft box to make place mats. After running through a laminating machine, we now have place mats that we used at Thanksgiving and will continue to use for special occasions.

My husband and I did most of our prep throughout the week (crust-less sweet potato pie, chicken apple sausage stuffing, and haricot verts with almonds made the night before) and saved the mashed potatoes, apple bread and crescent rolls and salad for the day of with the kids. Mom handled the turkey which was delicious with a white wine basting base – no kids near the oven.

Already experienced chefs, the boys donned their aprons (gifts from Aunt Kim with football and baseball ornamentation and their names in the most perfect fabric ink ever) and pulled their chairs up the counter and we got to work!

Some good activities for kids in the kitchen:

· Using/assisting with the potato ricer: the boys really liked using the potato ricer (also one of my favorite kitchen gadgets) on the boiled potatoes and watching the “potato rain” come out the bottom.

· Measuring ingredients: when using a measuring cup, the boys tell me when I’ve poured ingredients to the height of the desired line, and they can use measuring spoons and cups with minimal assistance

· Pouring the measured items into the mixing bowl (sometimes we’ll use two so each boy can stir independently)

· Mixing with a spoon, fork or spatula

· Making bread in a bread maker: this one’s super easy – we just dump the ingredients and push the button

When the kids eventually lost interest, I brought out the arts and crafts kit (see post on the Alex Big Box of Crafts). We made paper chains in autumnal colors to decorate our windows and arch ways inside, and also traced our hands to make handprint-turkeys to decorate and post on the front door to give our guests a big welcome.

Traveling to Orlando (Disney World, Kennedy Space Center, and more) with two kids (4 and 2 1/2)

2012-02-23T20:56:00.040-08:00

We had an opportunity to take the family to Florida and Disney World – years before I ever thought we would. My Father–in-Law attended a convention in Orlando, and we turned it into a large family vacation. It was great! We met up with my in-laws and my sister-in-law and her family and stayed in a beautiful condo complex with units that were rented by the week.

We spent a day at the Kennedy Space Center, Disney World’s Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, and nights at Downtown Disney and the Boardwalk.

There was live music frequently at the Boardwalk and Downtown Disney -
and impromptu dance parties were DEFINITELY encouraged

Kennedy Space Center:

Kennedy Space Center was ~45 minutes away from our condo, which worked out perfectly for making sure the kids got their naps in during one of the legs of the drive. I was a huge space fan as a kid and was not disappointed by the great outdoor rocket garden, launch simulator, abundance of scientists to speak with and accessible exhibits about future lunar living.

Highlights:

The kids were in awe of the various rockets and vintage capsules. We saw – and were able to experience firsthand – how scrunched the astronauts were as they sat upside-down for the launch process.
There is a fantastic rocket themed playground where the kids could run and climb.
We were able to tour a giant shuttle, and see inside the cargo bay and minute living quarters. There was a giant ramp that my big boy enjoyed racing up, and a stroller friendly elevator as well.

The living quarters inside the space shuttle. Behind us, the cargo bay was enormous!

My 4 year old was tall enough to go in the launch simulator (not so his little brother) so he and his Dad went through the experience and came home with fantastic photos in space suits. Zach was actually convinced he went into space.
There was a lot of space for my 2 year old to run around and play while we waited for the other half of our family to make their way through the launch simulator. We returned to the rocket garden, visited the exhibits, and drove Elijah’s cars (never leave home without them!) around a tree whose seed had been to the Moon and back.
The gift shop had a lot of educational items, and we left with space teddy bears, that were a big hit at show and tell when we returned to New York.

Disney World/Animal Kingdom:

In a single sentence – I was blown away by Disney’s attention to detail and ease of use at the Animal Kingdom Park. The entire Park was unbelievably clean. It became a running joke with my sister in law that there was no garbage … anywhere. Perhaps there were secret sensors in the pavement to alert the cast members the instant litter hits the ground for instantaneous removal.

Some neat tips:

Kids under 3 are free! We had a bit of sticker shock as our extended family of 10 entered the park together. So nice that I had the free kid ; )
We also found a “Super Target” near our condo and stocked up on fresh deli sandwiches, water, crackers, and other snacks to last us through the day. Once we were inside the park, we barely spent any money – and didn’t have to wait on food lines when the kids got hungry.
The Super Target also had a great Disney apparel, stuffed animal, and other assorted gifts section. We didn’t buy any souvenirs within the park, and made all of our present purchases and remembrances for the kids at Target for far less.
We rented a double stroller inside the park. It spared us having to take our stroller on the crowded tram, and it was large enough for both kids to nap in (ha – should they have wanted to miss a moment of the Park) and came with a huge shelf and pocket area for storage. There was also a sun shade which came in handy.

We went on a Sunday in late October and found the park to be full, but not too crowded. We could move around with ease, and didn’t need to use the Fast Pass option on the Kilimanjaro Safari. This ride was fantastic. The kids loved getting so close to the animals, with various deer coming right up to the vehicle. We saw a family of giraffes, elephants (including a baby), zebra, lion, gazelle, Okapi, birds, alligators, and other animals the kids recognized.

There was a “campgrounds” section to the Park where the kids could meet many of the Disney characters (in Safari outfits) – Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Chip (or Dale) were all on-site in shaded huts, with additional characters walking around. We made it to Mickey and Minnie, with my little one fascinated and in love, until we got within 10 feet of Minnie and the fear set in. So, Mommy hugged Minnie instead. M big boy made a best friend for life.

We attended the Lion King and Finding Nemo musical shows. Both were fantastic, Cirque de Soleil meets Broadway caliber productions, and 30 minutes each (perfect for our kids’ attention spans). There were some very large (possibly even two stories tall) animatronic animals (Simba, Pumbah, a giant elephant, and a giraffe) and the visual acrobatic spectacle was too much for my 2 ½ year old at first. He was in a bit of a panic, but we learned that covering his eyes while he sat on my lap helped him ease into show. When he was ready, he removed my hands so he could watch as well, and at time would put them back over his eyes when it all became too much. My 4 year old was in absolute love! My husband and I were impressed with the whole thing.

The Nemo show was a fantastic musical utilizing a lot of puppetry techniques (everything from a very large to a very small scale). The theater is located in the Dinosaur area of the Park, with rides, games, and an excavation site. There were rides for small kids, big kids, and adults – and the flying Triceratops were a huge hit.

We took in a midday parade along the central walkway, enjoyed the monkeys and other animals at the Park Entrance, and capped the experience by watching –and then dancing – in the Disney Character’s Good-bye show at the Park Exit as the Park closed. Zach jumped right in and Conga-ed his way with the dancers, singers, and other kids. My boys were bone tired by the end and fell asleep in the car on the way back home. The day was a wonderful memory. I had never planned to take the boys to Disney until my youngest was at least 5 or 6, as I don’t think the kids will have “lifelong” memories at a younger age. They definitely won’t remember all of the details – but my husband and I definitely made some memories watching our kids have the time of their life.

Magic Kingdom:

We went to Animal Kingdom on a Sunday and found the crowd level to be very manageable. This gave me high hopes for visiting the Magic Kindgom on a Monday. Boy, was I wrong! I’ve worked in Rockefeller Center and on Broadway in New York City – and never in my life saw the like of the crowds we saw at the Magic Kingdom. Again, the Disney Customer Service team was doing a great jobs.

This time, getting to the park from our off-site lodging was much more involved. At Animal Kindgom, we were able to park and take a tram form the parking lot to the park entrance in a matter of minutes. Getting to the Magic Kingdom park entrance from our car took well over an hour. After the short tram ride from the parking lot to the Monorail station, we waited on line to get on a monorail, and then had a bit of a walk from the monorail to the park entrance. We rented strollers inside the park again, but the walk to and from the monorail was so long, I wished I had had a stroller with us to ease the load. (My kids are tall and a combined 80 lbs.).

I recommend doing the most popular rides early. We were able to practically walk on to Pirates of the Caribbean (perfect for all ages), except that the ride stopped and they turned everyone away, as we were about the enter the inner lines. Big Thunder Railroad was right nearby, but as we were with portions of the family, I didn’t have another roller coaster going adult with us to take all the interested kids.

Highlights:

The boys loved the hourly parade in the main square outside Cinderella’s castle (we sat through it twice over the course of the day) and also really enjoyed the performance with the famous characters on the steps of Cinderella’s Castle.

The kids danced as the brass band played (we caught them in Frontier Land) and a crowd gathered to cheer them on.

We went to the Monster’s Inc. Laugh fest. You can text in jokes from your kids and a few will be read during the show. Zach’s favorite joke made the cut and he couldn’t believe it when they announced the joke from Zachary in NY.
The whole family enjoyed the Buzz Light Year ride in Tomorrow Land as well, and the kids enjoyed turning our cars and taking target practice at the Evil Emperor Zurg’s minions.
Fantasy Land is home to It’s a Small World, a Carousel, the Dumbo and Peter Pan rides, and other little kids fare. Elijah stayed with his Dad and cousin while Zach and I and his uncle used our fast passes on Space Mountain.
Zach at 4 was tall enough to go on Space Mountain, and I took him on his first roller coaster ride while at Disney. I grew up in California and had been to Disney Land with my family. I had great memories of sitting next to my grandfather on Space Mountain and couldn’t wait to have a similar experience with my son.

One KEY difference between the Space Mountain rides at Disney Land vs. World. At Disney World, we sat single file, one in front of the other, and you don’t see the roller coaster cars until you are well inside the ride. Luckily, Zach (somehow) went for it and had a great time. I kept reaching behind me to hold his leg or knee in case he got scared, but he didn’t need the moral support. At the end of the ride, he told me he had a great time, and kept trying to tell me while we were on the ride, but I kept screaming too loud to hear him!

We made a second attempt (this time it worked) at Pirates of the Carribean and spent the time on line teaching my 2 year old pirate phrases. The result was utter hilarity. He growled “Arrrg,” “Shiver me Timbers,” “Ahoy Matey,” “Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum” and “walk the plank” to our amusement for the entire duration of the line.
The kids didn’t nap that day and managed to make it all the way through the day. We took in The Electrical Parade, which was the exact same parade I remembered seeing when I was a little girl. We got front row “seats” because we saw the parade line on the ground in Frontier Land as we were exiting Adventure Land. We grabbed a space, they Dads went to get a pic nic dinner for everyone, and the boys made friends with some nearby kids as we waited for the parade to start. The boys were in utter awe and my heart melted and smiled at the same time as I watched the thousands of colorful light bulbs and wonder reflected on their faces.

We got a tip from a park employee and watched the fireworks from Fantasy Land in the courtyard of Cinderella’s castle and again, the boys were astounded. Actually, so was I – the fireworks were that good.

There was no line whatsoever for It’s a Small World after the fireworks show and we walked right onto a boat. The ride definitely stood the test of time, and it was really refreshing to see that the kids could be awestruck by 1960s technology.

We really missed having a stroller once we returned the rented one between the park exit and the monorail – now our 80 lbs. of kids were sleeping on our shoulders. But not even sore muscles could dampen our spirits. Will our boys remember this amazing adventure – I hope so. But my husband and I will (and the kids will have the hundreds of photos we took as a reminder).

Carving Jack-O-Lanterns

2011-10-30T07:51:00.000-07:00

Prep time: Minimal

Activity time: 30 minutes

I carved my first Jack-O-Lantern in nearly 30 years this month. After our trip to the pumpkin patch (see previous blog post “Our Long Island pumpkin patch adventure”) we bought a couple of carving tools in the farm’s store for under $3 each. The boys decided they wanted to make a silly face (Zach) and a scary face (Elijah).

I drew the designs on a piece of paper first, asking the boys for a lot of direction (What shape should the eyes be? Do we want to add a nose? How can we make the eyebrows scary!?) Meanwhile, my husband was working on scooping out all the pumpkin guts to save for making toasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin soup.

When we had a good idea of how we wanted our jack-o-lanterns to look, I handled the cutting. We had safety “knives” but the kids weren’t able to push hard enough to cut through the thick pumpkins. Instead, once I had a feature fully cut, they helped me to push the item out of the pumpkin. We had a lot more success pushing from the inside-out. Another tip: I learned the hard way NOT to use a sharpie to draw the outline of the various face elements. Translating the flat drawing to the spherical pumpkin surface proved a little tricky. I ended up with the mouth way lower than I intended. This may have been my severe lack of practice in pumpkin carving, but as a relatively well coordinated woman, well-versed in drawing simple faces, I was surprised at the utter mess I made with Take 1 with the sharpie. However, we just turned the pumpkin around and tried again on the “new” front side.

For Take 2, I carved the pumpkin’s features free hand. This time, starting with the mouth to make sure I had it properly in position. Next I did the eyes and eyebrows and worked my way toward the center of the face. We scraped off the bits of shredded pumpkin falling into the path of our cut-outs inside the pumpkin, lit a candle inside the hollowed out pumpkin, and were amazed with our results!

Boo!

As for my husband’s side cooking project – the pumpkin soup turned out amazingly well! Mike separated out the seeds for toasting with a little salt and put the pumpkin guts into a large pot. He added milk, Splenda, salt, pepper, cinnamon and assorted spices and cooked until the pumpkin had softened. We used an emulsion blender to make it all smooth texture (though you could scoop the liquid into a regular blender) and saved what we didn’t eat that day in plastic containers to freeze for Thanksgiving.

Our Long Island pumpkin patch adventure

2011-10-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

We took the boys to the pumpkin patch yesterday. It was probably the first trip they’ll remember. Last year, we skipped the annual trek because our honorary-nephew’s birthday is early November and his parents arranged a pumpkin patch – trip to the farm party. (Note, if anyone is ever looking for a great birthday party idea – that was fantastic! We went to an adorable farm, where there were tables set up for a breakfast of muffins, bagels and coffee/juice and took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch farther into the farmlands. Each kid came home with a pumpkin and we parents had an amazing photo op.)

Photos from the 2010 party

This year, we can’t make the party, so we took matters into our own hands.

There are many pumpkin patches in Long Island, which used to be mostly farmland until recent history. As the life of a farmer is not an easy one, many of the farms have Halloween Extravaganzas on their properties. I can dial back in time to to my MBA education and understand that once one farm realized the way to make extra revenue by adding charging admission to certain “events” like pony rides, hay rides, play grounds, potato cannons, petting zoos, etc. and then charging an overall admission to the farm (!) for the experience to later purchase a pumpkin as well as attraction tickets, any farm that didn’t follow suit just ceded this competitive advantage. But, frankly, my husband I were hoping for more of a serene farm experience with little more than dirt, pumpkins, and assorted corn and squash.

Nevertheless, we paid our $1 admission each to enter, and still managed to get some great farm shots.

The boys enjoyed looking through the greatly picked over pumpkin assortment, and we picked out a few to bring home. We made some pretty incredible jack-o-lanterns and my husband made pumpkin soup and toasted pumpkin seeds with the insides (detailed under a separate post).

This is the third such pumpkin patch experience we’ve had in Long Island, and I hope that as we keep researching patches for our annual trek, we are able to find a “vintage” farm to support. Or that our nephew keeps having pumpkin patch parties!

Kids Birthday party at California Pizza Kitchen

2011-10-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

We had the best time at my nephew Ari’s 4^th birthday party at the California Pizza Kitchen. His Mom also thought the price was right, and it was just the right amount of time. The best part – the kids made a mess and then we all left!

The total party run time was about 90 minutes. We arrived at California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) before its standard business hours and were greeted by a very friendly and accommodating staff and a long table filled with paper chef hats (with a disposable plastic glove and spreading spoon inside). The kids all picked their seats and each received a little to-go pizza box with crayons and the kids menu with coloring pages.

The kids decorated their hats while the parents helped, and also mingled, nibbling on the apps our hostess ordered. Once the chef hats were decorated and ready, the kids received already-rolled-out pizza dough and 2 little containers of sauce and cheese.

The cheese was available to drizzle over the pizza, or eat directly

The kids made their own pizzas and one of our waiters added their names so each kid would receive his or her own pizza once it was ready. While the pizzas cooked, the kids and parents got a tour of the restaurant. The kids loved the pizza ovens, soda machine, bread slicer, freezer, kitchen and prep areas. By the time our tour ended and everyone had one last round of drinks, the pizzas were ready!

The guests all loved eating their own culinary creations. Out came delicious ice cream sundaes with whipped cream, M&Ms, and a cherry - and then to make sure our kids were as sugared up as possible, we sang happy birthday, had cake. Any leftover pizza was wrapped up and ta da!, the party was over. The mess was left at CPK. We had a bunch of happy and well fed kids. Oh, and we all left with a coupon for a free kids' meal.

The birthday boy and my friend were really happy with the event, and the price was right, at about $10 per kid (including the free lunch). I would definitely consider a birthday party at CPK for my kids in the future.

A trip to the California Academy of Sciences

2011-10-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

The boys and I recently spent a week in California with my parents. Near the end of our vacation, we went to the recently renovated California Academy of Sciences. Wednesday is free admission day! This is actually a very substantial savings as adult tickets are normally $29.95 and kids are $19.95. This would have cost well over $100 for the 5 of us to go (for the brief duration of 2 and 4-year-old attention spans).

The “new” museum is gorgeous and one of the most environmentally friendly museum buildings in the world. I remember reading about its renovation in a number of national magazines, with heavy attention spent on its “living roof” which recycles water and collects solar energy. When we walked in, we were greeted by a towering T-Rex skeleton, which was an immediate hit. We walked on a bridge over various deep tanks filled with rays, sharks, and other fish and were able to watch them under our feet. There is also a coral reef filled with colorful tropical fish. My parents had introduced the kids to The Little Mermaid just the previous day and the kids enjoyed seeing Ariel’s world. There were many exhibits, which we skipped due to my kids inability to wait patiently in line, but we did enjoy the dino coloring pages and crayons in their waiting areas.

Showing off a T-Rex coloring page, with Grandma hard at work in back

I knew the group would last about 90 minutes on good behavior, so we were only able to hit the highlights – which were fantastic. The kids were up close and personal with various tortoises and lizards, and were able to watch them play, move around their environment, and eat vegetables.

This Turtle and Lizard "tank" is right at 2-year-old eye level

We enjoyed the hall of African animals, which includes a fantastic penguin exhibit that is half below-water so the crowd could watch the penguins dive and frolic in the water and above on the rocks. There were full size lions, gorillas, and other African animals along the hall as well. We moved on to the Swamp and an amazing aquarium on the lower level with many tanks including reefs, jellyfish, a touch/tide pool area, and other aquatic attractions.

All of the animals really held the kids attention and they asked a lot of great questions.

We broke for lunch at the right time – just as our first meltdown hit – and ate at the garden café. There is indoor and outdoor seating, and we had a great time in the very kid-friendly outdoor patio and yard. There were benches, seal statues to climb on and a large lawn for running. The San Franciscans and tourists seemed to not mind a little noise, and one lovely lady was watching the kids play and offered to take a family photo for us.

A great post-lunch play on the lawn behind the CA Academy of Sciences

The adventure continued even after we returned home. The California Academy of Sciences website offers a live penguin web cam. My kids like the underwater view the best, where we can see the penguins’ feet, flippers and bellies as they swim around, and the whole penguin comes into view when they dive. http://www.calacademy.org/webcams/penguins/.

Beach in a jar (for summer all year long)

2011-09-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

Prep time: Overnight

Activity time: 30 mins

We went to the beach a number of times this summer. On our last trip, we collected shells, driftwood, rocks, pine cones and sand for our final beach art project.

We disinfected each item with bleach to kill any micro-organisms (and those that are not so micro). Following the directions on the bleach container, I submerged our treasures in pails with the appropriate mixture of bleach and water and soaked everything overnight. I also soaked the sand in such a mixture.

Disinfecting the sand (in jars), shells, rocks and driftwood

The next day, we washed off the shells and rinsed the sand. We then lay everything out in the sun to dry, spreading the sand out on plastic shopping bags to expose as much as possible to the air. Once everything was dry (an hour or two for the shells and sticks, a bit longer for the sand) we put some sand in each jar and then layered in our sea shore items.

The finished product

I have one beach jar on our living room shelves for the family to enjoy and the boys have a jar in their room by the window. These will remind us of the great times we had as a family at the beach this summer and help us remember that next summer isn’t too far away.

The Alex My Giant Busy Box - The best craft box ever!

2011-09-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

Elijah received the Alex “My Giant Busy Box” for his third birthday. I knew this was “activity gold” and I quickly hid it in a closet so it would be "new" for our beach vacation. The kids were extremely excited when I pulled this out – and I was excited to finally get to use it (4 months later)!

More on the goods: the thing I loved most about the Busy Box is that it was all-inclusive, and I didn't need to buy anything additional to do any of the 16+ crafts. The kit also includes a big chunky glue stick with glue that goes on purple and dries clear. This was not only very helpful to make sure everything sticks, but also for catching glue in unexpected places before it dries.

The kids' favorite activity was making paper bag puppets (popping out the animal body parts out of the perforated paper, gluing them down, and adding stickers to the finished product), There were 4, so each boy made 2. The puppets were colorful and the kids put on many impromptu puppet shows. There were also a number of surprise wild animal sightings - it was like being on a safari!

We made the lion together and it was love at first sight!

There is also:

Sticker art (a park background with veggie, flower and animal stickers and a pizza with toppings) + frames
Tissue paper art with 8 colors of small tissue paper squares
Clay with cardboard animal limbs and eye to add in to create 3D animals
Chicken, sheep and piggy shaped pre-cut card stock with an assortment of goodies like pipe cleaners, feathers, paper accessories, flowers, buttons, and streamers to glue on.

We got through 1/3 to half of the activities in the “My Giant Busy Box” and are now bringing it home for our next rainy day.

“Tinker toys” on the cheap lead to hours of fun

2011-09-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

The preparation for our beach vacation included a trip to the dollar store. We picked up 2 sets of “sticks and blocks” for $0.99 each (one set for each boy of course), filled with colorful mini-dowels and cubes with a hole drilled on each side. Very Tinker Toys-esque - and at a great price.

I set up towels for the boys on the deck (so the sticks wouldn't fall through the holes in between the slats of wood) and the boys created structures and obstacle courses for their toys for over an hour. Mom helped make a tower with a tunnel and the boys took it from there!

A tradition inspired by the toughest of times

2011-08-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

My grandmother passed away last week and the entire family travelled home to Northern California to say goodbye. It was truly wonderful to see everyone, but it is unfortunate that it took such a tragedy to get the Solomon diaspora together. I don’t believe we’ve had all 6 cousins together in one place before – and it was nice to hang out just us “kids” for the first time. We had a family reunion in Santa Monica while I was in college, but as the cousins have 18 year age spread, I don’t believe my youngest cousin Russell was born when we all gathered. We spent our days in the Bay Area together reminiscing about my grandmother and the 62 years of marriage she and my grandfather shared, and I realized that it was a shame to save such an outpouring of love and story-telling for after a loved one died.

My family tries to have a weekly “special” dinner. We often do this on Shabbat, and gather our family (and very often friends as well) for a sit-down, traditional dinner. Our kids are young, and we created this tradition with the intent to make sure that we sit down as a family for at least one uninterrupted meal together as our lives grow even more hectic. I want to add to this tradition, and also include the story-telling, complimenting, and story-telling that was shared at my grandmother’s funeral and Shiva. While it is a lovely thing for a family to gather to offer comfort and celebrate a life that has passed, I want to instill in my family a tradition of celebrating one another in all stages of living.

Beach photo session

2011-08-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

The family spent the weekend at the beach last week. As frequent Quality Time Mom readers already know, our boys wake up between 6 and 6:30. We actually look forward to our kids’ internal clocks announcing dawn when we want to have a beach photo session. The morning light is absolutely amazing. We took advantage of a recent Children’s Place clothing sale to outfit our boys in complementary white and blue shirts (so the photos would look “intentional” without being too matchy-matchy). We often buy white shirts for our frequent beach photo shoots, and this time Elijah was the recipient of the mostly white polo shirt. The early light reflects beautifully off white apparel and gives the wearer a clean glow.

We packed Zach, Elijah and their cousin Madelyn up in the wagon and walked the ¼ mile to the beach. Mom brought a beach pail to collect treasures for a future art project, her coffee and the kids’ water bottle and we were set!

Mike got some amazing shots with the kids walking up and down stairs. He took these shots running backwards in front of the kids as they stormed the beach. Somehow, our little one took the lead and these shots turned out best, because when Elijah tailed the big kids, he got lost in the pictures.

Here they come! Mike is running backwards in front of the kids for this shot.

The little one looks even smaller in the back. But I like the composition of this shot Mike took.

Rather than pay $100+ for a professional shoot, we took advantage of our early rising to start off our day in the most amazing way. These pictures are going to go on display in our apartment so we can have a little bit of summer all year ‘round.

Some of my other favorite shots from our beach shoot

Mom was there prepping for a future craft project (collecting treasures), with a back-up camera, and with her coffee (hey - we got up and out at 6 am!)

Swimming with a 4-year-old in the Bay

2011-08-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve written a number of blog posts about my family’s time at the beach. This weekend, I took Zach out for his first solo Bay Swim. The playground is amazing. There is a kiddie pool that is under 2 feet deep, staffed with a life guard and complete with bath toys swirling around in the water. Zach and I headed for the Bay – and again, the playground does this in style. There are wide steps with handrails leading down into the water. There are 2 life guards, life vests in a variety of sizes, and assorted swimming “noodle” floats. The life guarded area is blocked off and culminates in a float about 10 yards away with 2 ladders for easy access.

We found a life vest for Zach, armed him with a swimming noodle, and he was off! The dual floatation support gave Zach the confidence to go back and forth from the stairs to the float a number of times. He loved bouncing in the small waves that came our way in the wake of the speedboats. We lay on the float and bounced on the water as the boats would go by. Zach learned to close his mouth when the waves came (the hard way, after getting a face-full of splash!) and didn’t let the surprise scare him.

We’re going back next week and will definitely head to the bay again for some one on one time.

Becoming PowerPoint authors (with a special thanks to Google)

2011-07-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

Prep time: 0 mins

Activity time: 30 mins

Today Zach and Elijah became authors. My kids are big fans of Cars and Cars 2, and all things race cars. As usual, our Saturday morning started at 6:30, and the kids were clamoring to watch TV (Little Einsteins and the recreated Electric Company from Netflix were the two most frequent requests). Rather than indulge my little TV-philes, I wanted to tickle their storytelling abilities and compose a story of our own together.

PowerPoint actually lends itself quite nicely for instant publishing. It’s very easy to add text and insert pictures and we can print out our book when we’re done. I asked the kids to first pick a topic for our book. They chose race cars (big shocker). We went online and did an image search on “race cars” for inspiration. The boys took turns choosing cars to look at and use. We decided the story would be about this super cool Ferrari race car we found. Then I asked Zach and Elijah questions to help get some basic character names and plot. Zach got a little fixated on the letter F and our story was about Fifi the Ferrari, who on a freezing Friday in February lost his fuel injector.

Some sample pages from our book

The boys crafted the story (Zach did most of the heavy lifting and Elijah contributed where he could) and I typed. Our book is still a work in progress (we hit a 30-minute attention span limit), and we’re really happy with what we have so far!

Finding quality time in the oddest of places: 2 days at Long Island Jewish's Cohen Medical Center

2011-07-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

My 2 year old Elijah and I just returned from a 2 day stay at Long Island Jewish Hospital’s Cohen Children’s Medical Center (LIJ, formerly Schneider’s Children’s Hospital). And while this is obviously not the ideal way to have some one-on-one time… and these were two very trying days for both of us… I did enjoy cuddling up with my “baby” in his hospital bed and comforting him as best I could.

Elijah’s official diagnosis is Reactive Airway Disease (which hopefully won’t turn into asthma). We’ve gone their ER a number of times already, and this was the second time we’ve been admitted. All of which might explain Elijah’s fear of stethoscopes and why basic weighing and measuring at our pediatrician’s office results in panicked crying and hysteria. As we’ve spent time in the pediatric ER before, I knew to grab a few key items as we ran out the door: sweatshirts, snacks, his sippy cup, and toys to play with. Our visits to the ER usually lasted 6-8 hours and the ER is freezing!

We checked in quickly, and Elijah was immediately wary of the place. The staff there was very kind and patient with him. They specialize in kids and had a seemingly endless supply of bubbles on hand – there were some in every room we passed through. The TV was also pre-tuned to the Disney Channel (and while I thought I was an expert on all things Disney Jr. before, I am now even better versed in all things related to the brand).

I think I can accurately say that Elijah and I were joined at the hip the entire time we were at Cohen’s. We often joke that Elijah is the least cuddly baby ever. He likes to initiate contact and do the cuddle thing on his terms. The strange surroundings and frequent blood pressure/oxygen level/ temperature vitals analytics really threw him. And, as he had unfortunately thrown up that morning, the doctors didn’t want him to eat and he was hungry all day. Elijah wouldn’t sit in his bed unless we were entwined, and he even wanted to accompany me on trips to the bathroom. All of that entwining was very special and I enjoyed holding his hand while he watched TV.

Once we got admitted, there were seasoned doctors, chief residents, residents, medical students, nurses, and various techs from two different day-shifts who all met Elijah and needed to listen to his chest. His stethoscope phobia surfaced each time and he’d put up a fight. But, his medications finally started to take effect on day two and he was back to being Mr. Personality. He charmed the head of reception, who brought him a bear that he has slept with ever since. While he often told the staff to “stop hurting me” or “Aargh”ed at them like a pirate, and sometimes “Roarrrr”ed, he also said “thank you” and “bye-bye” at the end of each invasive visit to the room.

LIJ did an amazing job of making both me and Elijah feel at home. While in the ER, we had some people come in with coloring pages and crayons. This was the first time Elijah perked up in our time there. He colored, we drew pictures together, and he even drew train tracks and sang the Thomas theme song.

Elijah receives his Thomas and Cars coloring pages and is suddenly happy

Once we were admitted, there was a team of turquoise-shirted family life staff who maintained an amazing playroom – which Elijah himself named the “Fun Room” – and the staff stopped by frequently to ask if we wanted anything and also manned a rolling snack cart with chips, cookies, ice cream, juice and other delights. I was also fairly impressed with the hospital food. It won’t make Zagat, but they had a food cart and there were an assortment of hot and cold dishes, fruit, dessert and beverages. The families were encouraged to take as much as they wanted and the food was for everyone (not just the patient).

Back to the playroom! Elijah loved it in there. He brought his race cars with him each time we went and rolled them around the surfaces. He took his cars into the dollhouse, adopted a baby doll they had there, played blocks, made train sets, pretended to cook in their mini kitchen. There was an easel with paint (too messy, I steered him away as much as possible), paper, markers, crayons, and arts and crafts center, and cabinets filled with games and puzzles. There were video games and books for all age groups. Parents were encouraged to take the items back to the rooms for the kids to use at their leisure and throughout the night. They even thought of lap desks, as there are just the single tables by the beds back in the rooms. Our medical student explained that they aren’t supposed to do any tests or exams in the play room so it can be a “Safe Zone” for the kids. We enjoyed playing together and he kept trying to run down the hall to get there. There is currently a lot of construction going on around the hospital, and Elijah was mesmerized watching the cranes and bulldozers from the picture windows of the playroom. He learned the word “hard hat.”

Elijah definitely became more of a cuddle bug during our 2 day stay, and has been since we’ve been home. He’s much more free with unprompted “I lu-you”s and comes over and gives a triple kiss (I wonder if I was giving lots of triple kisses in the hospital, or if he just made that up on his own). We are so happy to be home and Elijah and Zachary had a giggle and hug filled reunion.

Miniature golfing for mini men

2011-07-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Activity time: 30 mins

Somehow, Zachary has developed an interest in golf. Neither Mike nor I golf, but I know where this came from. On days when we were having a tough time getting him down for his nap, I’d let him nap in our bed and would put something quasi-boring on the TV to keep him engaged enough to stay put in the bed, but not too engaged to the point where he’d fight sleep. The options tended to be golf or a cooking show. Zach would talk about golf, ask to go golfing, has plastic toy golf clubs… and one day when our previously scheduled plans fell through, we decided to go miniature golfing.

We didn’t know what to expect. Zach at 4 totally got it. Elijah at 2, not so much. But he enjoyed getting a colorful ball and a club. He spent most of his time running after the ball each time someone putt, and retrieving it and handing it back to its owner. He also enjoyed the water features at the course. Even with our delays, we covered the 18 holes in under 30 minutes, and had a great time in the sun.

Bonus: our mini golf course also had a kid-friendly (i.e. slow) batting cage with ball machine. This was a great way to extend our outing. Mike and Zach each had their first batting cage experience and had a blast, and Elijah really enjoyed watching them hit.

The evolution of the weekly “Crepe Breakfast”

2011-07-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

Prep time: Minimal

Activity time: 10 mins

I’m starting to hit my groove with the weekly family breakfast. My secret weapon: pancake mix (I’ve been very happy with the Target/Market Pantry brand of pancake and waffle mixes). Now we measure out 1 cup of mix and 2/3 cup water (which gives both Zach and Elijah to add something to the mixing bowl), stir for 15 seconds, and have pancakes 5-10 minutes later. While this may be far less romantic than the crepes-from-scratch breakfast of yore, we’re all eating within minutes, and I’ve been able to broaden my pancake repertoire from circles, to circle-based-cartoon-characters.

Another fun twist that we’ve added in recent weeks: chocolate syrup painting

and tasting!

Bon appetite!

Rainy Day Pirates (and how to make a pirate ship in your living room)

2011-07-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Prep time: 2 mins

Activity time: 60 - 90 mins

The forecast was for thunderstorms all day. As usual, the boys were up by 6:30. And my husband is out of commission with pneumonia. We had a bunch of cardboard boxes from some deliveries the night before, which were the perfect building blocks for making a pirate ship.

Zach and I went online and researched pictures of pirate ships and found one we wanted to use as our inspiration. The boys got some chalk and we drew our design onto the biggest box. I used a combination of scissors and a serrated knife to cut out the base of the boat and billowing sails. I actually found the knife easier for getting through the thick cardboard and creating curves. Just watch those fingers!

We used some of the foam packing material for the mast, plus a generous amount to tape to adhere the 2 mast pieces to each other, as well as the base of the boat. We looked online again for pictures of a Jolly Roger that I could actually draw and then used chalk to make the design. Once we were happy with it, I went over it with a black sharpie, and used a damp paper towel to “erase” the chalk. Using the same “generous amounts of tape” technique, we connected the sail to the mast. Then we covered the foam mast with cardboard cut from the corner of one of the boxes. We used a spider web style design for the ladders up to the crow's nest to complete our beautiful ship!

Our pirate ship, constructed from a computer box

We practiced some choice pirate phrases (including “ahoy me mateys,” “shiver me timbers” and Elijah truly mastered “Arrrrrg!”) and the boys spent all morning in the boat. They were really proud to show their daddy when he came out for some chicken soup.

Just add pirates

The Upside of Business Travel: “Me Time” on the road

2011-06-11T18:57:00.001-07:00

I’m at 35,000 feet, coming home from a business trip. It’s hard to leave the kids – there was a tearful call from Zach last night in which he replied to my “hello?” with “I don’t want you to go away any more.” That call also happened to come in during my first unhurried trip to the mall in over 4 years. And yes, I had to be out of state to do it.

The Upside of Business Travel:

* Staying relevant to my company: As any working parent who needs a little (ok, a LOT) of flexibility from the company, I am always appreciative for the opportunity to demonstrate the value of my salary to the C-suite.

The good news: I visited accounts that will generate 1/3 of my company’s revenue for the year and helped secure additional purchase orders and possibly even a pallet of product for Black Friday.

* Mike (my husband) and the boys had a great mommy-free time to bond. I think it’s also good for the hubbies to see what we mommies do behind the scenes and in the wee hours of the morning. The fact that Elijah’s babysitter called in sick and Mike got to experience the horrific experience of taking both boys to the doctor for Zach’s 4-year check up (which unfortunately included 3 shots and blood work) will lead to more appreciation for the next time I routinely do this.

* I got a little well-deserved “me time.” Yes, it took place between 6 hour flights, account meetings, excessive emailing to keep up with the office from the road and while I was missing the kids. I’m also able to laugh at the fact that I now classify some basic functions (such as a decent night’s sleep and being able to make 2 calls to my lovely family – who live out of state and I miss terribly) under “me time.”

I stayed in the very serene Westin Bellevue outside of Seattle and slept a full 9 hours in my “heavenly bed.” I read 2 books on my 2 cross country flights, went out for Chinese food with my colleague, had a fun time making girl talk at my first PF Chang’s experience, very nearly got to see a movie (!), considered a hotel spa procedure, and went to a mall to buy the summer work appropriate clothes I’ve been meaning to pick up for a month.

The moral of this story is to try to find a little “me time” where we can, whether the on our terms or imposed on us by our work situations. My memorable mall experience culminated in a trip to the Disney Store where I left with a Lightning McQueen gift for each boy.

Zach's 3rd Birthday at the Alley Pond Environmental Center

2011-06-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

Ah, it’s birthday party planning time again. We just booked Zach’s 4^th “movie” birthday party which will not only be fun for the birthday boy, but be a real crowd pleaser. We loved Zach’s 3^rd birthday party at the Alley Pond Environmental Center.

Alley Pond is an environmental conservation center in Queens, NY, and is a huge nature preserve in the middle of the city. I loved this place! The kids enter through a long hallway on the way to the back party room. There are terrariums built into the walls filled with fish, turtles, and other animals all at 3-year old eye-level. The back party room has a sitting area and tables set up for the art project (the birthday boy had a choice of 3-4 activities). Before the party starts, the kids can look at the adjoining animal room filled with turtles, birds, lizards, rabbits, snakes, and other animals in low pens and tanks. Zach got to choose 3 animals to be presented at his party. The party leader – a nature and animal expert – did a great, brief lesson about each animal and showed the kids the right way to pet the animals so as not to scare them.

Zach chose a bearded dragon lizard, bunny, and snake – and the naturalist walked each animal around to the circle of kids so they could pet and discover the interesting features of each. The “lesson” was geared to 3-year-olds. For example, our hostess explained that the bearded dragon looks really scary so other animals won’t bother it. But, that its spiky beard is really not so scary, and soft to the touch. She likened the spikes to a Halloween costume to scare off animals who might bother the lizard.

We did a fish art project that the kids were able to take home with their goody bags (which were filled with animal themed loot ordered from Oriental Trading).

We needed to bring our own party supplies, which was a little tough, as we needed to remember every last detail from a cake knife, to plates, table cloths, napkins, forks, cups, etc. But, we had a definitive start and end time, and were able to leave the party behind us once we were done.

I really liked that the kids got to do something off the beaten track and learned something. I learned something! I recommend looking to educational nature centers or museums for your kids parties for a wholly enriching experience.

Instant Birthday Party Planning - and a Cars 2 movie theater party at the Elwood Quad

2011-06-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to have my husband fully research options for my son’s fourth birthday party. He found some really cool venues in our neighborhood. Here are some of the ideas he found, and I was pleasantly surprised by some. If you’re outside of the Queens NY area, and one of the interesting ideas below inspires you, try doing an online search for your neighborhood.

* THE WINNER: A morning movie showing! We’ll be seeing Cars 2 in a real movie theater the day after it opens – a much anticipated event for the pre-K crowd. Our party includes free popcorn and soda for the kids and adults. We learned that most movie theaters offer a pre-show option at 10 am before the first scheduled weekend showing. Zach’s party will be at the Elwood Cinemas where the part fee includes 30 kids (no limit on the adults). We’ll bring in some coffee and bagels from a local shop, grab a cake from BJs, and will be set for far less than any of the other venues we priced out. This is quite a machine – we went to a friend’s party (where the birthday boy played his favorite DVD in lieu of watching a currently playing movie) and every theater in the entire cinema hosted a birthday party.

The price per kid was really reasonable (note, we’re jaded by the exorbitant cost of kids party places, so bear in mind that “reasonable” is relative)

* Pottery Painting: these parties are great, and the kids paint their own party favors.

* Bowling: most alleys offer bumpers for the kids and arcade tokens.

* Chuck E Cheese

* Cookies by Design: many of the Cookie by Design outlets offer tours and cookie decorating for the kids

* Museum party rooms (our local Hall of Science has a great Preschool Place as well)

* Zoo party

* Parties in the Park: you’re on your own for bringing everything, but you can often reserve a gazebo or picnic area. Note, you often need to apply for a permit.

* Inflatables party – giant bounce-house esque mayhem with inflatable slides, American Gladiator arenas, basket ball courts and more. Some chains are Bounce U, Pump It Up

*Horseback riding. In Forest Park on the Forest Hills border, we have stables with pony rides and tours. There are a number of places in Long Island with horses and horsemanship parties.

* California Pizza Kitchen: Zach’s Aunt Tali discovered this party option. Many CPKs offer a tour and pizza cooking class for the kids where they make the pizza they’ll eat for lunch.

Fire Island family getaway

2011-06-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Fire Island. This is one of the beach communities on the East Coast that is a great place for a family getaway. Even in just a single day, we’ve been able to squeeze in many memorable moments with the kids. And somehow, the days seem longer here (in a good way) so in just a couple of days, we are able to soak up a week’s worth of relaxation.

The island is a quarter of a mile wide, so the ocean is never far away. There are no cars on Fire Island, and we’ve been making our way around via a little red wagon that my 2 year old, Elijah, has fallen in love with. We also have a large green wagon which we deck out with pillows and blankets for nap time on the go.

Today, the kids slept in (to 7 am!) and after a pancake breakfast (my weekly pancake breakfast tradition–in-the-making isn’t affected by the fact that we had to take a ferry to get here) we made our way to the playground. The kiddie pool isn’t yet open, and we had the entire playground to ourselves. The kids sloshed around in the sand, played on the swings, tire swing, and various jungle gyms, before a water break brought us back to the wagon. We then made our way to the ball field one block away (passing the always fascinating tennis courts) where the weekly 6 – 12 year old kids baseball game was already underway. The boys climbed in, around, and through the bleachers and then Elijah pulled his big brother Zach in the wagon to the beach. The beach is wide and flat and we let the ocean tickle our toes for a while, before heading back home for breakfast (breakfast part 2 for the boys), curious to see if the rest of the family (Dad and the boys’ grandparents were up).

At the house, the boys spent half an hour filling the wading pool with water, and helping in the garden.

The afternoon brought another wagon ride for a visit into the cute, small town in Ocean Beach, where we had ice cream, ran around for fantastic people watching, hit the basket ball courts (where there are always free balls hanging out waiting to be played with), watched the boats, played nok hockey in the kids center, and took a million pictures of our long shadows stretching out ahead of us on the walk back home for a BBQ dinner. We lazily crammed (if one can even accomplish this concept) a few days’ worth of activities into normal waking hours. The extra beautiful thing is that the boys are so tuckered out from all the running around, and nap time and bed time is a breeze.

Beach inspired arts and crafts

2011-06-11T14:46:00.000-07:00

Prep time: 20 minutes

Activity time: 30-90 mins.

I just got back from Fire Island, NY and was totally inspired by the shells and rocks my kids collected on our short beach vacation.

Painted shells are a cottage kids industry in Fire Island, (ranked with lemonade stand wagons) and I saw some shells that made me look twice. Some enterprising young ladies added giant googly eyes to their shells to an amazing effect. My kids will love this! We can also transfer their love of drawing and sketching on paper at home to painting and decorating rocks and shells during our next beach visit. Pick an artistic color palette for a canvas of assorted shells, rocks and twigs, and your budding artist will be ready to go.

Be sure to add drift wood to your collection. You may find beautiful found art worth adding to your walls as-is. Even if you're less interested in adding rustic art to your home, chunky driftwood will provide a nice base for gluing the rocks, twigs, and shells (decorated or au naturale).

You can make great gifts and home decor with this project as well. Here are some initial ideas:

* Put your treasures into:

Hurricane candle stands

Small or interesting fish tanks

Glass tumblers

Vases

* Paste around an inexpensive plain, wooden picture frame (or many picture frames to create a vignette on the wall)

* Driftwood!

Note that it may help to visit a craft store for googly eyes, glitter paints, and other ad ons (in addition to the glue and markers I assume you already have at home), as well as giftable items to put them on such as photo frames, cardboard or small wood memory boxes, glass hurricane lamps, etc.

Rainbow Eggs art project

2011-06-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

Prep time: 2-10 mins
Activity time: 30 mins
Follow up activity: 30 mins to hours of fun

Tonight we are making Rainbow Eggs.

I'm also going to turn this into a cooking project and either hard boil the eggs or hollow out the eggs and scramble the insides. Either way, this efficient Mama is making dinner at the same time!

Hard boil or hollow the eggs. To hollow the eggs, use a sharp cooking took like a skewer, base of a meat thermometer, or sharp knife (very carefully please!) and poke a small hole at either end of the egg. Then empty the yolk and white into a bowl by blowing into one of the holes so the force of your breath pushes the egg through the bottom hole and into the container.

I recommend going with the hollowed out eggs because you can turn this into a craft project for later in the day or the following day. Besides, it is oddly satisfying to blow the eggy insides out :)

I purchased an Easter egg dyeing kit on sale the day after Easter and it's been in my craft closet ever since. We'll use this kit and follow the directions. Our kit includes a wax pencil so we can create negative space where the dye won't adhere, stickers and more fun add-ons. If you are using food coloring or a smaller kit, your own glitter, puffy paint, or stickers will also do the trick nicely.

Once you dye and dry your eggs, you can create additional projects. Here are some ideas for the next day:
*turn your egg carton upside down and insert 1/4 the length of the toothpick into each inverted bump. Now, stand your hollow egg on the remainder of the toothpick as a stand. This can be a pretty Spring centerpiece.
* create a crowd scene by following the above stand instructions and add googly eyes; felt or paper clothes, yarn for hair, etc. to make your eggs into people (or animals or aliens).
* purchase foam balls and tooth picks to create an egg tree. Glue the foam together in odd ways, securing the base to your egg carton, balance in a mini flower pot, etc. Then stick the toothpicks 1/2 of the length in and attach your eggs through one of their holes. You an also try stacking eggs on top of each other using toothpicks to connect them to one another (with 1/2 of the toothpick inside each adjoining egg).
*create egg snowmen using the above connection device (one toothpick inserted 1/2 way inside each egg) and then decorate your man.
*break up your eggshells into a little colorful people and make a mosaic design. You can even glue them to pictures in a coloring book for alternative ways to color.
This works with either hollowed eggs or hardboiled. Just save your shells after you eat your eggs.

The list goes on and on - let your kids' creativity loose! Have an egg-selent adventure!

Weekly Crepe or Pancake Breakfast cooking project

2011-06-11T14:39:00.000-07:00

Prep time: Minimal

Activity time: 30 mins

I wanted to institute a tradition... And decided on a weekly Sunday pancake breakfast. Only we did crepes because I like them better and it's fun to roll stuff up in them. My 3 year old was always up early with me (I say that as if he weren't the reason I was up early to begin with ;) and would help me cook.

Crepes are easy – there are very few ingredients and you don't need a mixer. We'd practice counting as we measured out flour, vanilla, baking soda, sugar and salt. It is also a good opportunity to see the different amounts (1/4 teaspoons, tablespoons, cups) we needed for different ingredients. Crepes have the added fun of using the sifter – which is epic for a 3 year old.

We'd make the crepes (pronounced crueps - to help Zach differentiate them from another favorite food ... Grapes) and then use a butter knife to cut up berries and bananas to go inside. Drizzle with yogurt and powdered sugar, and you have an instant gourmet breakfast.

The “weekly” aspect of my tradition lasted about a month, but we still make crepes every now and again

A fun related craft project is to decorate aprons for the kids. You can order these online (oriental trading has a nice selection and good prices) and then decorate with anything permanent, from sharpies to puffy paints, to sew on letters and graphics. The true domestic goddesses may even embroider.

Apron craft time: 10 mins +