MOPS of New Hope is partnering with Nichole Marie Photography (owned by MOPS mama Nichole Oedy) to present MOMents for the Spring fundraiser. Each $30 ticket purchased will give you a private mini photo session with Nichole featuring your precious little one(s) and an 8×10 print of your choice. Proceeds from this event go to support MOPS of New Hope and all MOPS and New Hope families are invited to participate.

Photos taken during this session will be available for online viewing so you can select your included 8×10 and any other prints you may want. Prints can be ready before Mother’s Day. This is the perfect time to capture some of those precious MOMents! Sessions will be scheduled on March 23 & 24, 2012 with times between 9am and 6:45pm. Picture sessions are for kiddos only (no parents or other family members) due to the time constraints of the sessions. Sessions will be held at a private home near New Hope. Directions will be provided when your appointment is confirmed.

MOMents Appointment Request

Please use this form to request your appointment. One of our MOPS leaders will contact you to let you know when your appointment will be, as well as specifics about the fundraiser event. Don’t delay in signing up–there are a limited number of spots available, and when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Collier Seminole Museum – free

Seminole Village

1910 steam engine

Recreated Seminole War Fort

Dioramas

Exhibits – Spanish explorers, Seminole Indians

WWII Sherman tank

Naples Depot Museum – Free

Seminole dugout canoes

Mule wagon

Antique swamp buggy

Train cars to climb in

Model railroad

Free Fishing Clinic – April or May

(The link above will provide the next date when it is scheduled, there are also lots of other family friendly activity links for Naples)

Free stations to learn how to fish

Free fishing lessons

Free fishing pools

Free bait

Several hours of fishing on the Naples Pier with expert help

*There is also usually a similar event in Cape Coral around the same time at the Pier at the Yacht Club.  There is a list on this website of other family events as well.

Cambier Park

Free monthly movies during the winter

Giant screen with popular movies

Royal Scoop

Free summer tours

See how they make ice cream

Take a walk in a freezer

Manatee Park

During the winter you can see dozens of manatees

Underwater audio spot where you can hear them too

Bat Bridge

Every night at dusk 8,000 bats head out to eat

Matheson Street – Bonita Springs

Shell Factory

Free for the exhibits of shells, taxidermy animals – all huge life sized

Huge Christmas room

Nature Park and mining has admission prices ($8-$12)

Interesting Playgrounds

Estero Park has giant spider web about two stories tall

Lehigh Acres has rock climbing walls

Cambier Park – all wooden like a castle

Lakes Park – train and unique climbing structures

Sugden Park

A lake to swim in

Look for free sailing lessons given sporatically

Libraries: Lee County or Collier County 

Free programs almost every week

Read to dogs

Programs with animals

Programs with crafts

Naples Museum

Holds free days twice during the winter season when entire museum is free for the day. Walk under a ceiling of glass, see exhibits and take part in a children’s treasure hunt.

Estuary Wading Trip

Seining for fish and other sea life

Learn about things in the pass and mud flats

Lovers Key (463-4588) and Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve (463-3240) each do this trip for free about once a month during season

Reservations are required

DAY TRIPS

Solomon’s Castle – Ona Florida

$10 adults, $4 children

Shiny Castle with a moat

Exhibits inside made from recycled items such as car parts, old hangers, chains etc.

Stump Pass Beach State Park

Shark teeth – better than Venice – Charlotte County

Closer and more teeth

Free – but small parking fee

ButterflyWorld

Thousands of Butterfly exhibits and bird exhibits

$18-$24

Coral Castle

Miami

Castle and all furniture made of coral

$9.50, $4

G-Wiz

Sarasota

Giant science museum with lots of hands-on stuff

About $10

Hug a Gator

Tin City in Naples

For $5 you can hug a 4-foot long alligator named Baby Bobby or a 3-foot gator named Tiny Turbo.

Shark Valley

Everglades – just over the Collier line in Dade County

Tram ride

Hike up tower

Last time saw 167 alligators

On the way back stop and see the smallest post office and the skunk ape museum

INTERESTING/UNIQUE LOCAL THINGS 

Fancy Nancy Parties (Bummer This Store has Closed!) 

Learning Express holds this monthly $7

Children get to dress up, have tea, do a craft and a fashion show

Conservancy

To open next month with an all new children’s discovery center

Pirate Cruise

Pieces of Eight Pirate Cruise in Fort Myers

Kids get to pretend to be on a pirate ship

$29.95,   $24.95

Fort Myers Beach Pool & Golden Gate Pool

Little slides

Squirters

Zero entry pool

Squirting fountains

$2-$4 – much cheaper than the bigger water parks and perfect for little kids.

Planetarium (Calusa Nature Center)

Daily shows in rounded room

Admission also includes nature center

$10, $5

State Parks

Lover’s Key – beach, tram ride, bicycles, bridges over wetlands

Delnor Wiggins – tons of shade, barbecue pits

Koreshan State Historic Site – historic homes, Estero River, playground (Parking fee is $6, $8)

Ice Skating

Great on hot days

Look for coupons

Sunday is family night – admission and rental for a low price

C’mon (Children’s Museum of Naples) 

Opening in Feb $10 (look for coupons at local libraries)

Amazing place

Two story banyon tree

Ice cave

Tree that blows leaves

Hill to roll down

Shell to climb in

Weather Station

Farm to table

Everglades

Beach

Trolley

Building area

Art area

Sprinklers

Thank you Andrea Stetson from SWFL Parent and Child Magazine for providing this fantastic list to our MOPS group and presenting at our meeting!!!

This is just too good not to pass on to all. Here is something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It’s nice.  The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn’t even touch college tuition.

But $160,140.00 isn’t so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
* A mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is; don’t have children if you want to be ‘rich.’ Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?

* Naming rights . First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs..
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother’s Day, and cards with backward letters for Father’s Day .

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool ,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:
* First step,
* First word,
* First bra,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you’re lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match..

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!

It’s the best investment you’ll ever make!

The EXPO will be set up as part of our MOPS meeting on November 1. Many of the participants are featured on the flyer above and include everything from darling hair bows to personalized hand bags and even musical instruments.

If you’re still interested in being a vendor, there is still time, just contact Nichole Oedy. See you there and don’t forget your checkbooks.

MomSense: Bold • Loving • Sensible – equips moms to embrace their mothering instincts and develop their own parenting style while navigating through the myriad of daily mom decisions.

Most women wonder:

• How do I decide what to do when I really don’t know what to do?
• Should I trust my intuition?
• With so much available information, how do I discern what’s best?
• What are the most important family values?

Developing a mothering strategy is somewhat like playing a game — and this year’s theme is appropriately game related. Have fun being a mom! Playing games involves being bold and taking risks, loving those in the game with us and being sensible while figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Just as in real-life, sometimes in games, unexpected, “chance” events occur, abruptly changing our paths. We must regroup and determine our next steps. Sometimes we follow the instructions of “experts.” Sometimes we follow the advice of trusted friends. Sometimes we decide our “house rules” work best for our family. Teaming together with other moms is a great strategy. Relying on a spouse or mentor can help us play more effectively. And, most of all, developing a strong God-Sense is essential for mothering. Growing as a mom through the analogy of game playing assures every mom gains confidence in her abilities as a mom.