Friday, August 12, 2011 at 2:58PM 
I've been looking for nursery inspiration online for the baby boy to come. Here are 2 of my favorites so far. The one on the left came from the Coochicoos blog, I found them to be a great resource for inspiration. The other one I found through Pinterest and came from the Design Indulgence blog. I love the combination of modern and vintage in the space.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at 3:33PM 
I seriously spend the whole week craving the pancakes and waffles my husband makes on the weekends. And I'm thankful my 3 year old is right there with me so I don't have to beg alone. I have tried to find a place out there that can make good pancakes and waffles so we can give the guy a little break, but always end up disappointed by their lack of yumminess. So, as of now, if you want to eat the best waffles and pancakes in Orlando I recommend you come to our house. However, if anybody does know of a place, please do write it in the comments. I would love to try it out.
The pictures show a "Pancake of the Sun" and a "Pancake of the Planet" made with molds from Williams - Sonoma (the chef doesn't seem to appreciate them, but that's irrelevant) The waffle is cooked in a Villaware Uno belgian waffle iron.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 3:56PM 
"I like that coffee place mama. That coffee place has a lot of toys. Do you like it to?" I do! And here's why: Nice ambiance, super friendly staff, delicious hot chocolate and coffee, and yes, most importantly, TOYS that keep the toddler entertained while I can take a second to relax and have a conversation with another adult.
And, as an added bonus, they give 100% of their profits away to serve the world. You can read more about it on their website.
Axum is in Downtown Winter Garden, just a few steps from the Splash Park
146 W. Plant St., Ste. 110
Winter Garden, FL 34787
Monday-Friday 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM
Saturday 7:30 AM – 10:00 PM
Sunday 7:30 AM – 6:00 PM
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 2:25PM 
If you haven't taken your kids to the Orlando Science Center yet, I highly recommend you do. I have yet to hear of any child not liking this place. It opens at 10 a.m. and, with our determination to always avoid crowds, that's usually when we get there. Here are some of O's favorites:
1. Kid's Town (Level 1): Playing with boats, kitchen area, and picking oranges.
2. Science Park (Level 2): The favorite activity here is the race car ramp. (Even though he can't reach yet and I have to pick him up to participate)
3. All Aboard (Level 2): He loves this whole area!
4. DinoDigs (Level 4): Not into the giant dinosaurs so much, but he does enjoy digging for bones in the sand boxes.
They also have fish, turtles, alligators, and the likes on Level 1. And, if hunger strikes there's a Subway also on Level 1 for a quick fix.
The temporary exhibits are worth checking out too. The last one we saw was Curious George and it was really great.
Tip: Parking is $5, and admission isn't cheap. However, if you become a member after you spend a day there, what you paid for parking and admission will be taken off of the membership price.
Orlando, Science Center, Toddler activity, activiities, kids | in Indoor, When it's too hot Tweet 
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 2:06PM 
Aha! So that's what's been hiding in my tummy, eating all my cookies! We found out today we're having another boy. What am I going to do now with 3 boys in the house?!!
Friday, July 29, 2011 at 2:28PM 
It is way too hot to do anything outside that doesn't involve water. We LOVE the Splash Park in Downtown Winter Garden!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 3:15PM 
My 3 year old boy and I play cars almost every single day on his Ikea Rug. One day there was a horrible traffic jam and the cars were all lined up on the roundabout. "Mama, looks like the letter O" And so it started... we built lots of letters out of cars. I love when we can play and learn something at the same time.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 2:21PM 
Swimming lessons didn't really go as planned. I took my 3 year old to his first lesson at the Roper Y. After the instructor let him go and told him to reach for the wall, he went under water and came out terrified. For the next two lessons I sat and watched the other kids learn while mine refused to go anywhere near the pool (Even thought I was bribing him with a surprise). So, this really frustrated mom decided to see if something could be done. I was referred to Chad, their Aquatics and Family Director. He proposed I bring him to him the next time and he would try one on one. Without a lot of hope, I did. And it worked! Chad had the right approach. My kid was still hesitant but got in the water and gave things a chance. Second lesson with Chad was all smiles. He's loosing his fear, which I think is huge when you're trying to learn a new skill. Now, I know not all kids need this kind of approach. But I also know enough that do, and finding the right instructor just makes the biggest difference. Besides Chad, I have heard Brandon, also at the Roper Y, is great in this kind of situation.
The Bribe: I bought a $15 box of Legos. I used the same bag they came in, cut it and divided the Legos into the amount of lessons he'd be having. My brilliant bribe didn't get him in the pool but it did make him very happy after Chad's successful efforts. I needed an excuse to buy legos anyways...
This schedule might be handy if you're planning on doing some lessons this summer.
Friday, July 15, 2011 at 9:38PM 
Here are the fun, not scary things our toddler enjoys when we go to Epcot:
1. Spaceship Earth: Inside the Epcot ball. Best done in the morning when there's usually no line. There's a fun little game you get to do while you ride. We let Owen make the selections and the results are always fun and different that way. You might need to prop up your todd when they take the picture (towards the beginning of the ride)
2. Innovations (west): He loves the firetruck in there and makes us visit it every time.
3. The Seas with Nemo and Friends: You come out of this ride into the aquarium. Owen likes the ride but I think he enjoys exploring all the fish in the aquarium even more.
4. Journey Into Imagination With Figment: Kids love it. Warning: Silly song might get stuck in your head.
5. Living with the Land: He loves riding on the boat. I love showing him the humongous fruits and veggies.
6. Drums: African drums close to the China Pavilion are a mandatory stop. Soft serve ice cream right next door for extra smiles...
7. China Pavilion: Just fun to run around and 'gently' play with the puppets.
8. Germany Pavilion: CHOO CHOO TRAIN!
9. England: Running through the mini maze. Live band is fun too, when they're around.
10. Mexico Pavilion: Boat ride, and if you're lucky the mariachis might be around which is always fun.
They also have activity stations in the shops throughout the countries with coloring, stamping, etc. to create your own souvenir.
Sunday, July 10, 2011 at 3:27PM 
My husband's an artist, so a couple of years ago I decided to put together a little book with pictures of his artwork. Our three year old saw it a few months ago and said "Where's mine?" Hmmm... that's right you're a little artist too. Throughout the year he had been bringing home lots of projects from school. They would hang on the fridge until the next pieces would come in. The older pieces would move to a pile in the cabinet. He's only 3, and he was bringing at least one piece a day. We have years of this ahead of us. I can't possibly keep every piece of paper he touches so I decided to take his advise and do a book for him. I scanned some pieces and took pictures of others. I kept the format simple, white background in all pages, showing one piece per page. The beginning of the book shows a picture of him at school and some of his classmates with their names. At the end I have his graduation picture with his teachers and a scan of the ribbon given to him that day.
The book was printed by Blurb, a service anyone can use. It turned out great and came pretty quick. I decided on the square format with the image wrap hardcover. It took a few hours to do all that scanning and photographs but now I have a neat archive of his artwork for the year. (I'm thinking I'll still hang on to a few originals though :))
Zig & Zag
Here are some additional pages of the book for those of you that wanted to see more. The page with the green background is the one where I left blank space. I cut out some original handprints, and glued them in there.
There are a few call outs in the book like "Valentine's Day," etc. I kept them simple, since it's all about his work, not mine.
I love to see the interest in the book. If you have a comment or question please go ahead and leave it here. Thanks!
Pre-school, blurb book, organization, school projects | in At Home, Books + Other Goods, Projects Tweet
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at 12:57PM 
We had such a fun 4th this year! Very last minute my husband surprised us with a cabin reservation at Disney's Fort Wilderness. We went there on Sunday the 3rd, checked into our cabin, got on our bikes, and with a very excited 3 year old, started our adventure. There's just so much to do at the Fort. The main pool has a little splash area with a couple of slides for the little ones. There's also several playgrounds throughout the resort. You can rent a boat at the beach, or rent some canoes at the back bay. There's also a petting zoo, some horses and some pony's kid's can ride on. My favorite activity at the Fort thought is the campfire at the end of the day. Chip n' Dale make a special appearance at the campfire. Supposedly they don't show up until 7:30pm, however, they don't announce this, but they could show up at 7:00. The good thing about knowing this, is there's no more than a handful of kids there at that time, allowing for one on one play with the characters, which I think is priceless. At 8 pm they start the fire and it's time for S'MORES! They put on a little show and some music while everyone enjoys their "delicious hot schmoes". At 8:40 they play a Disney movie on the outdoor screen. If you want to see the 9:00 Magic Kingdom fireworks, you hop on your bike, electric car, or walk over to the beach and watch the show from there. Anyway, I think spending a night at Disney's Fort Wilderness was totally worth it. We all loved it, and I'm thinking it might become a once a year family tradition.
Tip: Bring your bikes! If you don't bring your s'more supplies you can purchase a kit at the campfire. The cabins have a grill and an outside area with a table for a nice cookout, or there's a few places to eat around the resort of course... There's a little shop that sells certain food items also, like milk, cereal, etc.
Warning: Some of these campers take things very seriously and decorate every inch of their area, wheater that's a tent, RV, or sometimes even the cabins, oh and their vehicles too. A bit crazy, but fun to watch while you ride through in your bike.
Friday, April 22, 2011 at 2:44PM 
We've been to the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival twice this year. Had great weather both times. We arrived there early, before the crowds started to come in. The topiaries are amazing and my 3 year old Owen really enjoys looking at them. However, there are a few other things he enjoys that you can only see during the festival.
1. Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden: Really neat playground for children 2-5.
2. Main Playground: If you're standing in front of the Lightning Mcqueen topiary make a right. You'll see this unusual structure on your right. This playground is a bit larger than the previous one and has lots to climb on and some fun music playing in the background, which Owen seemed to really enjoy.
3. Bambi's Butterfly House: In here you can of course see... butterflies! However, I thought the best part was seeing the caterpillars. Everyone's read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and seen how he becomes a butterfly at the end of the story. I think being able to explain to your child the process while standing right in front of real caterpillars and surrounded by butterflies is priceless.
After doing all these, we go on to do some of Owen's other favorite things at Epcot.
April, Epcot, Flower and Garden Festival, March, May, family activity | in Holidays + Events, Theme Parks Tweet