I recently outlined some of my tips for traveling with little ones.  One of my favorite products for eating well on the road are the Happy Tot Greek Yogurt Smoothie pouches.  They are a neat and easy way to include fruits, veggies and healthy dairy in our travels.

Happy Family Brands asked me to host a *GIVEAWAY* for a CASE of Happy Tot Greek Yogurt Smoothies AND a stack of freebie coupons.  Yippee!  Even if you don’t have young kids, these pouches are a nice treat.

To enter, leave a comment below letting me know your favorite road-trippin’ snack.

Contest ends Tuesday, May 28 at 11:59 PM CST.

Now that summer is presumably here to stay, Chris has been mixing up summery cocktails. While I am partial to his excellent mojitos, he really enjoys a homemade margarita.  Freshly squeezed limes paired with Mexican tequila remind so many people of warm breezes and carefree afternoons.

Unfortunately, I most definitely cannot drink margaritas.  Thanks to one awful night freshman year of college, tequila and I are no longer on speaking terms.  Even the smell of it makes me nauseous. Yack!

So, even though I’ve never had so much as a sip of Chris’ margarita, I am sharing it here because he promises me it is extra delicious.

Margarita de Chris

2 shots tequila

1 shot triple sec (our favorite brand of orange liqueur is Controy from Mexico, but it is very hard to find in the US – sniff, sniff)

2 shots freshly squeezed lime juice

Combine all ingredients with lots of ice in a cocktail shaker.  Shake very, very well.

Add ice to a tall glass and pour in the margarita. Enjoy!

I don’t want to jinx it, but it seems like summer has (finally) settled upon our fair city. Sun shining, farmers’ markets open, sidewalk seating at every cafe. If only it was like this year ’round…!

Even though we live in a big city, I still want my kids to feel a strong connection to nature. I feel so much gratitude for our beautiful world, and I hope my little family appreciates just how hard Mother Nature works to make our planet such a special place.

We recently spent an afternoon planting rows of flowers by our front door.  I let each kid pick a flower, and it was no surprise when Evie chose pink and Mack selected blue.  I actually think the two colors look nice together!

On the balcony off the kitchen, we planted flowers, herbs and a few tomato plants. The morning ritual of watering the plants has quickly become fun for the whole family.

Despite my best efforts, a pang of guilt occasionally strikes: By choosing to live in the city, am I depriving my kids of nature??  To calm my conscience and give the kids something to do, I set out a big bowl of dirt on our balcony.  Just good clean dirt and let them have at it.  Sure enough, its been the hit of the season!

Like bumble bees to flowers, their chubby little kid hands are drawn to the dirt.

They fill cups with it.  They put their feet in it. They make little dirt piles. They transfer the dirt from one end of the balcony to the other. Hours of fun!

Of course they are filthy after a session with the dirt bowl, but isn’t that the whole point?!

I recently read about a study that found nearly half of all moms suffer from Pinterest stress. Apparently, 42 percent of mothers worry that they are not crafty or creative enough for their growing families.  They worry about keeping up with what others are doing, and the self-induced pressure for perfection keeps many moms up at night. What a bummer.

Personally, I mostly enjoy Pinterest for the endless supply of new recipes.  But, I also don’t take it too seriously. I know that behind every Pin-worthy photo lies a frazzled mom who wants to make fun memories for her family (while possibly making others wonder just how she does it all).

I recently saw a pin demonstrating a simple art project that promised to educate and entertain.  A cherubic two year old sat obediently with a little paint brush in her little hand.  She ever-so-carefully traced over letters with paint.  I thought it could be the perfect activity to while away an hour on a chilly Friday.

Well, sort of.

To no surprise at all, Evie was thrilled with this project.  She carefully traced numbers with a q-tip dipped in paint.  She loved it.

On the other hand, Mack’s participation wasn’t quite Pin-worthy.  He just couldn’t get with the program.

He smeared paint on Evie’s paper, infuriating her and igniting her angry response.  His paint also ended up in between several window blinds, all over the table and on the wall, which he reminded me was “no big deal because its just an accident, Mom.”

It was a mess.  But, in the end, WHO CARES?!  Both kids loved painting.  Both kids were busy.  The paint was easily washable.  I strive to feel secure in my choices and my family; life’s too short to worry about what other people are doing!

And, to all the grouchy fellow passengers who scowl when they see a young family boarding a flight I say this: You were once a kid and you bothered people, too. No parents want their kids to be upset on a flight, but keeping little ones happy in a tight space while their ears are popping and they are surrounded by grumpy strangers is really, really hard. Long ago I gave up any hope of relaxing on a flight, and now I don’t even bother bringing a book or magazine for myself.  Trust me, I’m doing everything I can to ensure an enjoyable flight for my kids and the passengers around us.

For us, the objective with  air travel with kids is to keep them quiet and contained. Here’s how I try to maintain sanity:

1. iPad or Kindle: I’m sure this isn’t a big shocker, but kids love these things. Before we leave, we load up *new* movies and games so they keep busy.  The kids each have their own set of earphones, which makes the trip feel extra special.  For the a price of most plane tickets parents can buy some sort of tablet that will keep kids happy.

2. Snacks: Just because we’re traveling doesn’t mean we have to descend into a pit of junk food darkness.  Sure, I pack a bag of M&Ms because I can pass one out at a time and it takes a loooong time to do that, but I also bring a lot of healthy snacks.  Bananas and oranges travel well.  Organic treats from Happy Family like nutritious Greek yogurt pouches with a healthy and tasty mix of fruit and veggies are awesome.  Vivian, Mack and Evie love these (and so do I – haha!).

3. Get creative: Mack brings an ever-changing assortment of Matchbox cars with him everywhere we go, and airplanes are no exception.  On a recent flight, I drew a road and parking lot for him to drive his cars on.  It kept him busy for a good 20 minutes.

4. Walk around: Just because we’re on a plane doesn’t mean we have to be glued to our seats for hours on end.  Several times during a flight I get the kids up to use the bathroom and pace up and down the aisle a few times.  I allow Vivian to crawl around, too.  Might not be the most sanitary of activities, but it keeps her happy and I can always wash her hands when she’s done.  Plus, fellow passengers never seem to mind sharing a smile with a cheerful little one.

5. Pack fun bags for the kids: Each kid is “responsible” for his or her own goody bag containing coloring books, little toys, snacks, a KleanKanteen water bottle and wet wipes.  We pack everything into Terra Baby wet bags because they travel extremely well and I love having them for use around the pool or beach once we reach our final destination.  I don’t let the kids open their bags until we’re on the plane, which adds a fun bit of surprise and excitement to the trip.

6. Go with the flow: Travel with kids is full of surprises, and that can be part of the fun. It’s best to go into the trip with an open mind.  I will say that the absolute worst age for traveling is 10-24 months.  At this age, kids don’t care about iPads or coloring books or movies.  They just want to crawl and cry. Sorry, but I have no tips to making travel with this age group easy.  Quite frankly, it sucks!  But, the light at the end of the tunnel is VACATION!