Living Lovely ~ Vacations

This week's living lovely with family theme is about vacations. Our family really looks forward to our annual trip to the beach ~ the day after we return, at least one the kids usually asks "when are we going back to the beach house?"

Before becoming parents, my husband and I enjoyed a mini-vacation at a bed-and-breakfast overlooking the sound in Nags Head, NC - and we fell in love with the slower pace of this beach town (compared to some others we had visited).

Two years later we returned to Nags Head (Duck, to be exact) for our first family vacation with our then 18-month old toddler and some family friends. We chose to visit in October (house rental rates really drop after September), and we had a wonderful time.

Caleb does NOT like the feeling of sand between his toes!

Since then, we have returned many, many times. We've vacationed there in June (much busier, but also better "beach" weather),

we've also visited in February ~ snow flurries on the beach, anyone?

Hunting for seashells on a winter beach

But I do believe that we enjoy our October visits most of all. I guess some people may say that vacationing at the beach during the off-season is a bit "out of the box", but we have found that we actually prefer this time of the year...

there are lighthouses to climb

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

a fabulous kid-friendly aquarium to explore

NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island

fun, historical sights to visit

The Wright Brothers' National Memorial

and the sun rise over the ocean is always beautiful, no matter the time of year :)

As a one-income family on a budget, we have found ways to make our beach vacations affordable for our family:

• rent during the off-season, we prefer vacationing in October
• invite another family to share the rental, we love sharing our beach house with the grandparents
• since we rent a house, we take full advantage of the kitchen and eat-in A LOT

fishing with Papa

Other ideas for future vacations on a budget:

• Plan daytrips to visit all the nearby attactions that other people actually visit our area in order to see ~ Washington DC, nearby battlefields (Gettysburg, Antietam), Harpers Ferry
• Take a bike trip on the C&O Canal Towpath
• Spend a day swimming and playing at Greenbriar State Park

I picked up a great little book at a homeschool convention titled Kids Love Maryland. The subtitle for this book describes it as "a family travel guide to Exploring "Kid-Tested Places in Maryland...Year Round" - and it is crammed with information about all kinds of things you can do for fun in Maryland. I know this guide will come in handy when I run out of ideas for kid-friendly daytrips.

Read-Aloud Time

In addition to the many books that we read aloud during schooltime, I also have a read-aloud time with my 7-year old son at bedtime ~ sometimes my 5-year old daughter joins in, sometimes she decides to listen to daddy and the 2-year old's storybook. We just finished reading Little House on the Prairie in our quest to read through the "Little House" series - so it's on to Farmer Boy. (We may be a bit out of order, I've seen some places list Farmer Boy as being the 2nd book in the series - oh, well :)) Anyway, I do believe that my 7-year old son is going to LOVE Farmer Boy so I'm looking forward to beginning our new book.

Just in case you're interested, here's a list of the read-alouds we've finished so far this (school)year:

Socks ~ This was a fun read and both kids enjoyed this book, especially my daughter (she loves cats).

Mr. Popper's Penguins ~ Hilarious book - both kids LOVED it, "mom, can we read another chapter, PLEASE!"

The Courage of Sarah Noble ~ I read this one with just my son - I think we finished it in one night (it was short, but also hard to put down!) Excellent book, no wonder it's included in all of my favorite curriculum catalogs.

Little House in the Big Woods ~ Everyone already knows that this one is a classic must-read, right? My almost 5-year old didn't quite have the attention span to sit through one chapter a night, but my almost 7-year old continually asked for me to read more!

Betsy Tacy ~ I started this one in the middle of reading Little House in the Big Woods. I was planning on just reading it with my just turned 5-year old daughter; she was sick and I thought she would enjoy this sweet story about two little 5-year old girls and their budding friendship. However, my 7-year old son began listening in, and so we took a short break from Little House to finish this one up. We can't wait to read the next book in the series (of course, that will be after we finish up the "Little House" series)

Little House on the Prairie ~ I have to say, my 7-year old son is loving this series. And I am thoroughly enjoying sharing one of my childhood favorites with him.

And here's what we look forward to reading in the future:

finishing up the "Little House" series:

• On the Banks of Plum Creek
• By the Shores of Silver Lake
• The Long Winter
• Little Town on the Prairie
• These Happy Golden Years
• The First Four Years

continuing on in the Betsy Tacy series:

• Betsy - Tacy and Tib
• Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill
• Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown

Hearts and Trees Spring Kit

This is why I try to keep a balance in my Paypal account. We love these amazing kits!

Menu Plan ~ Apr 5 - 11

Ah, we had a wonderful taste of spring today ~ but alas, I was checking out the weather forecast and they're calling for rain, rain, and more rain - and cooler temperatures.

This transition to spring is always a bit tricky for me - the kids' closets are loaded with both cool weather and warm weather clothes, and I guess my meals plans need to be flexible too :).

Not that you can't eat chili in the summer (I love it anytime of the year), but it does make a cool, rainy day much cozier.

I have also added some special things this week's meal plan, as we are preparing to celebrate Easter. My husband is planning our first ever Passover Seder meal ~ to be eaten on Thursday night. And I am hoping to begin a new tradition of making hot cross buns for breakfast on Good Friday - I've never made these before, hopefully the recipe that I chose is a good one :)


Breakfasts ~ toast & jelly, baked oatmeal, french toast, breakfast cookies, hot cross buns, cinnamon rolls

Lunches ~ cheese quesadillas, pb&j sandwiches, cream cheese on crackers, egg salad, pizza bread

Dinners ~ baked ziti (from the freezer), beefy enchiladas, spinach rice casserole, Passover Seder meal, homemade pizza, chili

Snacks ~ banana bread, breakfast cookies

For lots more menu plans, head on over to OrgJunkie!

Baking Nights

One night a week, while Daddy and my oldest son head to AWANAs, the two youngest and I have a baking night.

After getting the dinner dishes washed up, I pre-measure our ingredients into kid-friendly containers. On this particular night we are making breakfast cookies.

My daughter takes her turn adding ingredients to the mixing bowl. She also loves to try her hand at mixing the batter.

And I can't forget to give my two-year old a turn, he wants to do it all by himself :)

Once the batter is ready for the oven, I give the kids a small taste of their favorite ingredient, chocolate chips - they usually have a bit of fun before actually eating them.

While they're enjoying their little treat, I pop the cookies into the oven.

When the first batch is finished, my taste-testers enjoy the fruits of their labors (actually, on this night they also got to finish up some left-over birthday cake along with taste-testing our fresh-baked breakfast cookies).


And of course, we always leave some samples on the the counter for Daddy and big bro to snack on when they return.

A fun, productive evening with my kiddos. A yummy breakfast treat for the morning (and some for the freezer). A cute little guy in a too-big apron. Definitely a finer thing.

There's lots more finer things over at Amy's blog.

Making Family Memories - Yearly Traditions

One of my new favorite blogs is Heart(h) Management (thanks to the UBP 2009). Today, she posted about a meme sponsored by another new-to-me blog, Mt Hope Chronicles - Living Lovely With Family ~ Yearly Traditions. The creation of fun, simple traditions is near and dear to my heart, so I knew I had to join in.

Over the years we have developed a number of annual family traditions.

This first tradition is actually brand new one - but one that I hope we continue. Being the parents of three small children, it has been a number of years since we have gone to a New Year's Eve party - we prefer to bring in the New Year from the comfort of our own home.

However, this past year our oldest was on the verge of turning 7 and he was pretty excited about "ringing in" the New Year. So we decided to make our own little party, kid-style. We celebrated the New Year by having a "make-your-own-pizza and game night".

For the past few years, we have also made it a point to spend at least one day in the summer at a kid-friendly amusement park. Our favorite park so far is Idlewild, which is located in the mountains of Pennsylvania - it's very affordable, there are a ton of kiddie rides (and also rides for the big kids), and it even has an area just outside the park with lots of covered pavilions and picnic tables.

When fall arrives, our entire family looks forward to our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Our favorite pumpkin farm offers a free tractor ride out the the pumpkin patch. Once we get there we each take our time choosing the perfect pumpkin (or gourd). After picking out our pumpkins, we head back to the main farm area where there is a small "petting zoo" area where we can check out a number of farm animals - close-up - always a hit with our kiddos.

Our most long-standing tradition is our Christmas Cookie Decorating Day ~ this year was our 9th year. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my mom joins us for a day of cookie baking and decorating. I've loved seeing how this day has changed as my kids have gotten older.

Our final tradition is one that was not planned, it just sort of happened. We are blessed to live near a Boyd's Bear Museum - and they happen to go "all out" when it comes to Christmas decorations; the kids are always awed by the two-story Christmas tree (and Mom & Dad, too). In past years, we've even been able to take a ride through the parking lot on a horse-drawn carriage (for free). Besides being a wonderful place to explore, it is also provides many perfect back-drops for those annual Christmas pictures :)

So how about you, what yearly traditions do you enjoy with your family?

Guess Who!

We love to play "dress up" around here. I repurposed a plastic toybox into a treasure trove of costumes...and the kids have a blast transforming themselves into, well...take a look!

Let's see, we have a pirate...

A ballerina butterfly

Batman and Robin

A pint-sized Superman

A cool jungle explorer

Star Wars anyone? Here's Obi-Wan

and little Obi-Wan

oh, and here's a storm trooper

And my favorite - a jungle exploring cowgirl in a tutu :)