Category — fun

Yesterday I loaded up the kiddos and headed over to Balboa Park to take advantage of the beautiful weather and the Free Tuesdays. I actually found parking quiet easily (talk about a surprise!) and we started across the grass toward the Air and Space Museum, which was our destination.

But surely a lil stop at this fun park, first, wouldn’t hurt!

Max tried this fun spinner…a lot!

Tristan mastered this, great, piece of equipment.

Lex couldn’t wait to try the fun spinner, like Max.

Tristan dug his way under the turtle.

Ok! Enough park fun! Let’s start walking toward the museum. We headed over a bridge and into…

The Butterfly Garden. Surely a few minutes of enjoying the flowers and the butterflies wouldn’t hurt! Look! Pretty! Ohhhhhhh!

Ok, ok, everyone was getting hungry, so we walked toward the Big Pond, found a shady spot and enjoyed our lunch, while watching kids from a day camp play games. Time to head toward the museum. We really only had about an hour and a half left before we needed to leave.

But on the way, we might as well walk through the Botanical Garden. Heck, it was RIGHT THERE!. We made our way through and I reminded them NOT TO TOUCH. Then it was out of the garden and, really, who can resist a stop at the Big Pond, to look for koi and turtles?

Not us! Lex enjoyed getting REALLY close to the edge of the pond and making me believe I was going to have to fish him out. Who can blame him?! Look how pretty it is!

The kiddos gathered together to watch this big one. See him?

Ok guys, seriously, if we’re gonna make it to the museum, we have to get going. So we kept walking across the park, past the Japanese Friendship Garden, past the Organ Pavilion and into the International cottages, where a few were open for looking through. Well, we might as well take a minute to see what the cottage from China has to offer.

Mmmm…tea and a fortune cookie!

Hey! Look! The cottage from Iran is open too. Wonder what’s in there.

Oh! And England too. Look, it’s pictures of Princess Diana. Yep, she really was a REAL princess.

Hey guys, we really, really better start moving along.

Wait, you know what? We better start making our way back to the car. There really isn’t time to even enjoy anything at the museum. But, didn’t we enjoy a ton of other things?! Come on, let’s go.

There was enough time to try climbing this bamboo, walk all the way back to the car and get to the school to pick the girls up on time.

What a great afternoon, museum or not!

We’ll have to try again. Maybe next Tuesday~

Yesterday marked the beginning of Arianna and Maddi’s High School careers and the first day of Mariah’s Senior year. I liked listening to them get ready and offer each other make-up, hair and uniform tips.

Everyone was dressed and loaded into the van to get them to school. It meant starting the day earlier than what the little kids have gotten used to over their summer break, but it’s good to get the schedule broken into. We have 2 more weeks of summer vacation for the 4 youngest kiddos and before I go back to work. So once we were back from the school, we got to decide what to do with our day.

We chose the beach!

So, onto Day 2 of the school routine. It’s 5:30 am, the lunches are packed, 2 of the 3 morning showers have been taken, the coffee is being enjoyed, bagels are waiting to be handed to the lil kiddos when they get into the van, and it’s time for M.O.M. to get put together for this day.

I think the lil kiddos and I will check out what’s happening at Balboa Park today. Do all you locals know about Free Tuesday’s at Balboa Park? Each Tuesday a different grouping of museums offers free admission. Maybe we’ll see you there.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Keep up with the Rhythm~

It’s Thursday of another summer’s week gone by. There are only a few weeks left and I have a mountain of housework/school prep/paperwork to get through. There are kid’s physicals, sports tryouts, school shopping and the last of the summer house guests to keep me Doing the Dance. But I wanna play! The beach is RIGHT THERE and it’s screaming to me and the kids. The pools are sending out invites and wondering why we’re not lying in the San Diego sunshine in lounge chairs by their clear, blue sides. The parks are whispering of shady trees and picnics. I’m so torn!

For today I’m working in the house for a little while longer and then packing up my bickering brood and heading for the pool, book in hand. But I know I’ll come home this afternoon, look around at all that’s waiting and wonder what magical thing is going to happen to make it possible for me to get it all done.

Why, oh why are there only 24 hours in each day? This M.O.M. needs more. More of everything! More time. More help. More solutions to my inner tugging between work and play!

Grab some time on these fleeting, summer days and try to enjoy it before it’s gone. The work, well, it’ll still be there. I promise

Doing the Dance of the Children and trying to keep my balance~

Yesterday afternoon we packed up and headed over to the New Children’s Museum. We decided to take advantage of the Target Free Second Sundays.  Every second Sunday is sponsored by Target and admission is free.  What a great place!  7 of the kids came along, ages 4 yrs.-16 yrs. and everyone had a great time.  There was truly something for everyone to enjoy!

Max had fun trying on silly appendages.

Luke-Xavier tried riding the chariots (he had more success going backward than forward!)

Tristan making a clay creation

Mariah and Maddi didn’t hesitate to get into the paint.

After we’d spent awhile exploring the museum, we decided to go across the parking lot to the playground.

Gabi trying out the climber.

Mariah, Maddi and Gabi used team work to have fun on these pieces of equipment.

Even I got into the fun. Mariah and I had fun trying this one out. It’s not often M.O.M. gets to play too!

It was a beautiful San Diego, summer’s day and thanks to Target and their dedication to supporting the arts and to the New Children’s Museum and all the wonderful things they have to do and explore, we had a great afternoon! If you haven’t had the chance to explore the museum yet take a few hours and go have some creative fun! If you’re on the lookout for inexpensive or free family fun, head over there on the Second Sunday of the month!

Doing the Dance of the Children and trying to keep summertime affordable~

The last weeks of summer are upon us and I’m trying to keep everyone busy. We live in such a great area with so many fun things to do, but the really challenging part is to stay within a budget and not have the summer drive us into the poorhouse. With a little time and effort, I continue to find great things for us to do and explore that are either free or inexpensive.

A few days ago I had to drive one of my older girls out to Santee to visit a friend that had moved from our area. I’d never been out there before. We passed a large park area when we were driving and decided to check it out on the way home. We had accidentally found Santee Lakes, a great, outdoor area with fishing, water play, movies in the park, play areas and much more. We spent a couple hours at the water and playground and decided we’d make a plan, in the near future, to spend a day there.

Today, I was searching for directions to the New Children’s Museum for Kateri because a friend of hers is having her wedding reception there. I’d never looked into the Children’s Museum before. Once I was on their website I roamed around and found that they have Target Free Second Sundays. That’s tomorrow! Thanks to Target for making it possible for every family to get a chance to visit the museum without it being a financial issue. So tomorrow afternoon I’ll be packing up the kiddos and exploring the museum. If your in the San Diego area, join us!

I hope everyone is enjoying their last weeks of summer. We’ll all be knee-deep in school and homework before we know it!

Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Keep them Moving~

Congratulations to Dawn from California! She is the winner of the Jump Start-Get Moving™ Family Fitness Wii game!

Thanks for entering. I hope you and the kids enjoy the game!

If you’ve read my review, you know that this is a fun way to get the family moving when you can’t be outside. Now you have the chance to win a free copy for yourself!

Just repost this blog post to your facebook page and send an email with a link to the posting. Send email to Jen@MommyofMany.com. My 7 year old will pick a winner at random before bedtime tonight. Winner will be posted this evening (and don’t worry, I picked my 7 year old b/c he’s the MOST concerned with fairness in the whole house!).

Good luck!

And by-the-way…if we’re not already fb friends, be sure to send a friend request!

If you follow this blog, then you know that fitness has become something that’s important to me. So when Jump Start asked me to review their new Wii game-Get Moving™ Family Fitness, I thought the timing was perfect!

The game features Brooke Burke, who demonstrates each game before you get started. The visual is helpful for the children. There are 15 sports challenges that can be played in 11 exotic arenas.

Over the last weeks, the kids and some of their friends have played and explored the game and were asked to give their opinion. Here’s what they’ve thought-

The kiddos up through 9 years old all said that they really liked the game and that it was a lot of fun, with lots of things to chose ie; different sports and different scenes. They all enjoyed playing basketball the most, saying that it was “like you were really playing basketball”.

The 11 year old who played gave the game a mixed review, saying that basketball was her favorite part, but that some of the games were hard, such as the Step Aerobics. She also suggested that tennis and golf be added.

Tennis-That’d be fun!

Overall, it’s a great game to add to your Wii collection. Anything that gets everyone moving and interested in having some fun with sports is a great idea!

Good job Jump Start!

*Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of JumpStart® Get Moving™ Family Fitness at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Summer’s peeking around the corner and that means it’s time for the San Diego County Fair!

A couple weeks ago I was invited to pick a day, grab the clan and come check out the fair. Yesterday was the day! We hadn’t visited the fair in a few years and I honestly didn’t know what to expect. What we all found out is that the fair is WAY more than just rides and food! We stayed for nearly 6 hours, but there’s so many great things to do and see that we could go back for a couple more days and have plenty to keep us busy.

Of course, the first thing we did was tour the bathrooms. Seriously, in the first hour the kids requested 3, yes 3, bathroom stops! Luckily they were easy to find and were actually clean. After that trend was over, we rented a wagon, loaded up Gabi and Lex and headed to the fun.

The kids watched sheep getting sheared

We saw sheep that we had never seen before. Check out those dreads!

Cows…

After finding all those bathrooms and checking out the livestock, it was time to decide what to eat. I know that I see dollar signs when I think of feeding my kids at the fair, but for $50 we fed 8 people. And believe me, they ATE!

Max chose a turkey leg (yes, it was shared, but he did a pretty good job of tearing into it)

The corn couldn’t be resisted

Luke-Xavier couldn’t keep away from it! I think he ate more food than any of us.

Even when posing for pictures, he was still eating!

Of course, you can’t go to the fair and NOT try something fried! The girls chose a fried Klondike bar

But the REAL deal of the day was this;

I wouldn’t have guessed that you could find ANYTHING at the fair for $1! Shaved ice was enjoyed by all!

After filling up we checked our program and headed to some fun shows and events. The kids enjoyed a western-themed dog show

We headed to “The Farm” where tons of different fruits and veggies were being grown, a bee hive could be watched and the kids learned about composting.

They were seriously interested in watching all the bugs at work. I was surprised that they didn’t mind the smell!

Then it was onto “The World of Horses” where we met Cisco-a Clydesdale, Rose and Tulip-mini horses and Butterfly-an Appaloosa. The kids got to be hands-on and learned a lot about the horses. Tristan learned to clean hooves, Gabi got to brush Cisco, Max and Lex enjoyed the mini horses and Maddi and Mariah were invited into the pen with Butterfly and her trainer to try giving commands and reward behaviors. They all had a great time and we appreciated all the time that was spent explaining and teaching!

I think that Rose and Tulip were checking Max out more than he was checking them out!

After all that horsing around…we headed over to the children’s area of The Farm. There were TONS of fun and free things for the kids to enjoy

Gabi really liked trying to milk this cow

Lex couldn’t choose which pony to ride, so he grabbed them all and took them through a maze of hay

The kids pitched hay into wheelbarrows and learned about keeping an animal’s area clean

Even the big kids enjoyed the Children’s Area

Mariah tried her hand at roping

Maddi roped Lex

You can imagine how much Gabi and Max enjoyed “making music” with all of these old parts!

There’s a huge tent set up with lots of great activities. It’s a great place to sit for awhile, let the kids play and to get out of the sun

I walked around and enjoyed all the artwork from the local schools. My favorite was this patchwork USA project

It was time to gather everyone up and head home but we HAD to stop for a pic with the monster truck.

We had a GREAT time at the fair! Grab your sunscreen, comfortable shoes, some bottles of water and plan a day!

We’re glad we did!

Yesterday was full of lots of physically challenging birthday party fun!

Tristan and Max were invited to a party at a skate park. Neither one had ever been to a skate park before. I wasn’t sure how it would go, but they did great! Both ended up with war wounds to show off for the their morning of adventure. But even with the scrapes, cuts and crashes, I think they’d go back and try again.

Then it was onto a party at Solid Rock Gym, an indoor rock climbing gym. I brought Tristan thru Lex and REALLY wasn’t sure how it would go. The last thing I expected was for Lex to do ANY climbing or for Gabi to get all the way to the top of a climb. All the kids had a great time and became more adventurous and confident as the afternoon went on. Maybe next time I’ll give it a try. For yesterday I stuck to belaying for the kids.

Onto Sunday! I wonder what adventures it will bring.

I don’t often blog about work, but this week we came up with a craft that was fun, educational and can easily be done at home.

We have been talking about farms and ranches, the different animals on each and the duties of the people who live and work there. We came up with the idea to have the kids learn about sheep and wool. So we made each child their own wooly sheep to shear.

Then we explained about the process and that they would be shearing their sheep with their hands.

Then we had them collect their “wool” and explained that it gets sent to factories and is made into different things that we use at home. We gave them the choice of making a sweater or a blanket.

It was a fun and easy project that taught them about sheep, wool and some of our household items.

Have a great day~

There are simply too many topics to write about over the last 24 hours, to pick one and give it a title. So here is what’s in my head on this day in my life.

First off, I’m wishing that writing didn’t take time. Why can’t I just think the thoughts, look at the screen and have them appear…wait…that might be a dangerous invention! But you know what I meant.

As for JJ getting back to school, all is well. He will be going back to school on Saturday and no hoops had to be jumped through or begging done to make it happen. There might, possibly, be a chance that I need to clean out my email and that I could’ve been looking at last year’s itinerary. But that’s neither here nor there and I’m admitting nothing. He’ll be back at school when he’s supposed to be and that’s all that matters…right?

I was also able to get his passport taken care of yesterday. It was completely painless and devoid of any lengthy or time-consuming lines. 20 minutes in and out. Pictures done. Eyes on Spain!

When I got home from the post office, I checked my email and found an email from the casting director of a new game show, asking me if I could come up to LA for an audition this afternoon. Initially I was SUPER excited. Super Excited! I thought, “how fun!” and “whoa!!!! I already took tomorrow off and Kateri is here to do the kids’ routine and dinner etc. Yippee! Perfect!”. Then I shared my excitement for a day trip up to LA with a couple of friends and received an email from one of them, who had Google-searched the show, that put an end to my excitement. One word, that’s all it took. Underwear. Underwear?! Underwear! Apparently the title of the first attempt of this game show is/was Fashion Strip and involved participants stripping down to their underwear, putting together outfits from items on stage and walking a “runway”. Uh….!!!!! I promptly emailed the casting director and asked if THIS was what I was being invited to audition for. And I let her know that the world was certainly NOT going to see me in my underwear, no matter how fashionable…ever! She was prompt in her response and said that the show had changed it’s platform and that no “nakedness” would be involved. Hmmm…the bubble had burst. Yes, I had already taken today off for other reasons and yes, Kateri is here to pick up the pieces and keep everything running at maximum smoothness, but I think there are better ways for me to spend this day than driving to LA to audition for something that I don’t have all the facts for.

So…it’s Kateri’s last day in the US before she heads back to Germany to retrieve her personal items and then head to Austria for a semester of school. We’ve both been so busy during her visit, that we haven’t gotten any down time together. So, kiddos are at school, JJ is working on some reading and helping a neighbor with her yard work, so Kateri and I will be spending a little time together before tomorrow is here and she is gone again.

So, that’s this day in my life…so far.

Have a great day~

Now that Black Friday is over and we are in full, “it’s time to think of gifts for the kids” mode I wanted to share a great gift idea for those looking for a fun and educational idea for their younger kiddos.

Jump Start Pet Rescue for wii! My 3 youngest have been having a blast with it. And I’m truly surprised at the fact that it’s not only fun but educational. It’s recommended for ages 3-6 but my 7yr old and our 8 yr old friend have been enjoying it too.

The kids have been enjoying JumpStart.com for awhile now and getting Pet Rescue was another way for them to have fun and learn with all that the Jump Start family of products has to offer.

Good luck with all the holiday shopping! I hope all your gift choices can be as easy as this one!

Have a great day~

Yesterday the kiddos had their Halloween carnival at school. The school always does a nice job of putting on a little carnival for the kids. They get more excited about dressing up for that than they do for actually trick-or-treating. Honestly, I wish we could get them all done-up for the carnival, enjoy the day and then call it quits. But today, after soccer, after volleyball, after grocery shopping, after carving pumpkins and after getting dinner into the oven, we will put everyone’s costumes back on them and send them out into the neighborhood to trick-or-treat for candy that I will ultimately confiscate and have disappear. Then, tomorrow, we will throw away the pumpkins we spent time on today and start getting ready for Thanksgiving. I think I’m letting my true Halloween feelings show…oops!

But yesterday was lots of fun and I do love to see the kiddos all dressed up and having fun. After the carnival, we had a birthday party to go to, which made for really tired kiddos. But there was something in the air yesterday, because even though I was super busy and pretty darn tired, I felt really good. Sometimes the San Diego air has a magical quality to it that makes me feel so good. Yesterday was one of those days.

My older girls went to a friend’s Halloween party last night and I had all the little ones in bed, so the house was quiet. But I kept hearing a funny thumping noise. After a few times, I went to investigate. I REALLY wish I had taken a picture because what I found was Pumpkin Head dog. My dog had put her head into one of the trick-or-treating jack-o-lanterns to check out the contents and the handle latched over her ears. She was thumping into the wall, unable to see. My immediate reaction was to get it off her head and THEN I thought about the camera. Poor thing! But it sure was funny! So tonight I will be sure to put all the jack-o-lanterns out of dog’s reach!

Happy Halloween! I hope it’s a great day~

I wanted to share this wonderful service that was offered to me.

A couple of months ago, I met a photographer, named Hollie and she told me that she belonged to an organization called Operation Love ReUnited which is a group of photographers who offer photo shoots to the families of deployed or deploying soldiers and sailors at no cost. They then put together an album from the shoot and send it to the deployed service member. The family may purchase photos from the shoot at a reduced cost.

When we met, it was only 2 days before Clay was to deploy, so there wouldn’t be time to put together a predeployment shoot, but over time, we found a date when all my kids would be home and were able to schedule a shoot for during deployment. We are also able to request a shoot of homecoming and if the photographer is available, they will come to the homecoming.

The kids and I had a lot of fun getting ready for it and Hollie was a trooper while working with so many people in such a large age group!

The results are fantastic and I can’t wait for Clay to receive his album! Our shoot was close enough to his birthday, that I was able to combine the whole event and give him a surprise birthday gift.

Here are my favorites from the day

Thanks Hollie for a fun experience and for the great work!

I encourage any of you who are gearing up for deployment to take advantage of this service!

Have a great day~