Where the heck have I been?!

#Sorry

Okay- First let me start off by saying my last blog post was July 4th.. Uh-Oh!

Let me apologize for that, and please give me a moment to explain myself.

This month has been ridiculously busy for multiple reasons. I'd like to firstly announce that my baby boy turned 2 on July 17th! How crazy is that?! I feel like it was just yesterday that I had him. It's amazing how fast time flies when you have children. But, before that, I spent some time crafting (what else is new), shopping (also, what else is new), and Seth and I went to the drive-ins with my parents. 

I am so glad that the Milford drive-ins is still open! My husband and I have gone so many times this year. They always play amazing movies, and you get to see 2 movies for how much it would cost to see ONE in the theaters.. and you can bring a pizza, and it's totally cool. 
YES PLEASE!

This most recent time we saw Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and 22 Jump Street (which we had already seen, but it was SO hilarious that we had to see it again). Both movies, AMAZING. This is definitely a great summer for movies. It was gorgeous out. We sat outside for DotPotA, and moved into the car for 22. It got cold and buggy pretty darn quick! But we had an amazing view before the movie!

We are also going to the drive-ins this weekend to see Lucy and The Purge 2. So we will see how that goes! I'll keep you posted, I promise! :)

Now, to get to my baby's birthday.. 

We are taking him to Disney in December, and he is completely obsessed with EVERYTHING Disney, so that was what his birthday gifts were based around. We got him his own Lightning McQueen suitcase so he can pack all of his own stuff, some movies (with digital copies for the iPad) and some other misc. stuff- and Olaf -- of course.

Last year, for his first birthday, we took him to the beach. This year we decided to try something different, and take him places he has never been! We took him to Cowabunga's in Hooksett, NH. We also took my niece Paxtyn. She had been before, and she LOVES it! For those of you who don't know what it is, it is a play place with like, 10 different bounce houses (and yes, adults can go on them too!)  Brody was not a huge fan. He is very guarded, and unsure of new things and this was definitely one of those things. He was not a fan of ANY of them. So, that trip didn't last long. He spent most of his time running around in the empty areas, while Paxtyn was going down all of the slides and bouncing around. We only stayed for about an hour, and then decided to leave.

Brody's first fishing pole!

 After Cowabunga's, we decided to go to a new reptile park in Exeter, NH called Prehistorix! And let me tell you.. that place is AWESOME!!! Brody and Paxtyn LOVED it. Not only were there fish, lizards, alligators, snakes, turtles and more to see, but you could also feed the turtles and gators! The kids had a blast, and I cannot wait to take Brody again. Children under 3 were free, and adults were $5.00 (food for the reptiles was extra), and it was worth every penny! Brody was loving being able to see all of the "dragons" and being able to feed them. I had never heard of this place before, and Seth's Mom told us about it because the news did a story on it. The employees there were very friendly and helpful, and I was surprised at how busy it was! I recommend this place to anyone with kids, younger or older! Most of the animals are outside, so it can definitely get hot, but the alligators you feed are inside, so you can get some relief from the hot sun!

Seth and I decided that we were going to throw a big party for B's first birthday, and then we would take it easy on the parties while we could. We know once he's in school and has friends, birthday parties will become a large expense. This year we decided to get together with my family and just hang out and celebrate our little guy, and we had so.much.fun. It was stress-free, and I wasn't running around the whole day making sure everything was perfect. Seth's cousin, MacKenzie, made Brody the most AMAZING cake for his party, and she will never know just how much we appreciated it. It was a HUGE hit. She could seriously do this for a living.

 We also had a small get-together with Seth's grandparents because his grandfather's birthday was July 14th! So MacKenzie came over with her son, Lucas! We got a small cake and we all just hung out. I really think that's how birthdays should be! Relaxing, and peaceful! No stress or drama (which was another reason we didn't have a party)! 

and last, but CERTAINLY not least. For my birthday this year, Seth got me tickets to see Bruno Mars! and OH MY LORDY.. did he deliver! We saw him Friday, July 18th, at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, NH.

THE BEST CONCERT I HAVE EVER BEEN TO!

We had 12th row floor seats, and the woman who sat next to me looked so familiar, but I felt uncomfortable saying anything. Seth got up to go do something, and I decided to just ask her.. I turn to her, and before I even say anything, she says " I know you from somewhere".. She was my high school english teacher from 9 years ago! and it all came back to me! She was one of my favorite teachers, and I loved her class. We talked all night, and she introduced myself and Seth to her husband. They are such nice people, and I am so glad I got to see her. Such a small world!

BUT BACK TO BRUNO..

OH

MY

GOD.

AMAZING.

Those are really the only words I have.

I didn't take many pictures because I was too busy getting my groove on.. but Seth recorded almost the entire thing for Brody, because Bruno is his favorite! 

I relive that night in my head all the time and I appreciate Seth taking me so much!

By the end of the night, my face was as red as my hair!

I'm sorry I am not very good at the whole writing part of the blog. That's why I am good at Instagram, because it's all pictures! I swear, I won't go another 20 days without a blog. 

Ashley

The Adventures in Potty Training (an almost 2 year old)!!

Time to go with the flow!

So, recently we have decided to start potty training my son. He is on the earlier side (we started about a month before his 2nd birthday).. Which means, we have been working on this for a little over a week. I know there are parents that don't believe in bribery. If you are one of those, this post isn't for you.

I decided to make Brody a "potty board".  We went to Walmart one night and I got all my supplies to make it. 

-white board

-stencils

-a ruler

I also went through some of the parenting (and non-parenting) magazines that I had laying around the house.. I was shocking surprised how very little toilet pictures there were in magazines - LOL - . I suppose they aren't very attractive, but I would have at least thought there would have been some in the homey magazines. I was wrong.

Then, I went to work. It took me about 3 hours to complete-- and this was the finished result (Hung proudly in our bathroom)

I have received SO many compliments on this board (which makes me feel great) and Brody gets excited every time we get to add a sticker! He loves to just go into the bathroom and look at it!

The way the system works at our house-

For every pee, he gets a star sticker on the board, and a sticker of his choice for himself! (this is the ONLY time we allow him to have stickers, so he gets even more excited when he has the opportunity to get one). And for every poop, he gets a "poop prize" - as we like to call them.

Sticker Bank!

For prizes and stickers, we just went to the dollar store. It's amazing the awesome toys they have there for small kids. He actually took his first poop on the potty yesterday (July 3rd). He picked a bouncy ball (not pictured in the prizes). He was thrilled with himself. We were all so proud!

Poop Prizes!

This system has been working for us. He will let us know when he has to go potty (most of the time). He still goes in his diaper, but any progress is good progress! I am really in no rush for him to be completely potty trained (I mean, come on, he isn't even 2 yet).. But I definitely think the earlier the better (and easier)!!

To Date:

7 Pee stickers

1 Poop sticker

Good job Brody! Keep up the good work, Boogaloo!

Ashley

Car Travel with a Toddler: Part I

So little time, so much to do!

If we are friends in real life (if only there was a link for this!), Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest, you are well aware that I am in the process of planning our family vacation to Walt Disney World this December. Originally the plan was to fly to Orlando, but our plans recently have changed. When I was younger, my family always made a trip (or 2, or 3) to Florida a year, and we ALWAYS drove (my Mom doesn't like to fly). I decided we should give that a try. Not only would there be less risk of delays, but it would save us at least $500 in travel expenses! I felt as though we would be silly not to take advantage of the additional savings.

Obviously it did worry myself and my husband, driving 21 hours with a TWO YEAR OLD. But, we feel the reward would be worth the risk of a little fussing. 

I have been on planning this vacation NON-STOP since February, and once we decided to drive, this planning took a whole new twist. Before I was just planning what we would do once we were in Florida.. Now I am planning what our 2 year old is going to do for 20 hours BEFORE we get to Florida. Of course I jumped right on Pinterest and started searching for ideas for car games, toys, and my favorite things I have found so far, BUSY BAGS! 

I have always thought of myself to be a crafty person. Heck, I did spend thousands of dollars to go to art school. But arts and crafts for a toddler was never something I had worked on before. What seems silly to us, could literally keep a child entrained for HOURS. So, that's exactly what I did. I started making little activities that he will to play with in the car, and I am SO excited to share some of what I have already made with you today! 

 This was pretty simple to make. It is just magnets super glued to the back of colored popsicle sticks. The paper clips are to help with color matching. 

  

Another awesome use for the popsicle sticks-- Add some velcro! 2 pieces on each side, and they can make shapes for HOURS!

This is my FAVORITE activity I have made so far! I call it the "Disney Pal's Match-Up". I took photos of 2 friends from a Disney movie, and it will be Brody's task to match up the characters from each movie! My buddy is AWESOME with character recognition, so I have a feeling he will want to play this all the time. 

 The above photos are clothes pins and paint color samples (from Lowes) This will help with color recognition by having multiple shades of colors on each palette. From other posts I have seen, they have actually painted the clothes pin, but I found it easier to get 2 sets of each paint sample and paste a block of color onto the pin. It was a lot faster, and the color matches perfectly, so there is no confusion!

I will continue to post blogs when I make additional activities. Please feel free to share your car activities with me! Who would have thought, 2 weeks in Florida would take so long to plan!

I LOVE IT!

Ashley

FAMILY FUN DAY! Story Land - Glen, NH

Once Upon a Time

First, let me start this post off by saying, this trip to Story Land was not just my husband, son and myself.. Oh no no. This trip was shared with the following people...

(from left to right)
Lisa, Ed, Brody, Seth, Ashley, Steve, MJ, Kelly, Jozlyn, Angie, Paxtyn, Bobby & Megan.

Yes.. There was a lot of us, and yes, we all had purple shirts (most decorated). These shirts were actually a HUGE hit, and really helped us while we were in the park to see people from far away.

This day trip was AWESOME. We all had a blast. We got there when they opened at 9:30am, and stayed until almost close (we left at 4:30pm, they closed at 5pm). This park is aimed at children for sure (obviously). My son will be 2 in July, and my niece will be 2 in September. There were some rides they couldn't do (roller coasters, flumes, etc). This park is ideal for children between the ages of 2-10. My cousin, Jozlyn (age 10) had a blast doing the bigger kid rides, like the new Dinosaur coaster (all wooden) and the flume. My son and niece were too short (and too young) to do those rides. They have nursery rhyme characters, animals, and fun rides for all ages!

Mother Goose with Brody! (she loved our purple shirts)

The old woman who lived in a shoe!

A talking tree.

Animals!

Animals!

A bell in the school house that kids can ring.

Whale fountains.

This piano could have kept them busy for hours!

Plenty of these things around the park for photos!

                                                 

Ready for the swan boats!

Angie, Lisa & Jozlyn on the swan boats.

Bobby, Paxtyn & Megan on the swan boats.

Seth, Brody & Ed on the swan boats.

Jozlyn & Kelly on the Carousel!

Brody on the Carousel!

a HUGE room filled with vacuums for balls (extremely dangerous in my opinion)

Splash Pad!

Antique Cars!

Antique Cars!

MORE Antique Cars!

I would definitely recommend Story Land for families looking for a overnight, or even a day trip! We drove from Epping, NH and it took about 2 hours. It was definitely a long day. Some areas in the park provided a good amount of shade, while in others, there was very little relief from the sun and heat. Pack plenty of sunscreen. We originally were planning on bringing a wagon for the kids, but we decided to go with the strollers (THANK GOD). My son, who NEVER sleeps ANYWHERE but his crib, slept for about an hour (see photo below). The cover provided enough shade for him that he wasn't miserable the entire time. I believe you can rent a stroller there, but from what I saw, they provide very little storage. You can also bring your own food and drinks into the park which is a HUGE plus, because you can save tons of money on food. Souvenirs in the park are also pretty cheap! Shirts ranging from $9.00-$12.00, and water bottles at about $14.99.. I think the most expensive souvenir I looked at was $21.99 (I am sure there are some things that are more expensive, this is just a general fact).

We did pay $10.00 to have a license made for Brody, which seemed pretty expensive, but I am so glad we did. It's adorable, and it's something he can't grow out of. 

A lot of people suggest going to Santa's Village. I have to be honest and say that I haven't been to Santa's Village in like 6-7 years, but I do remember not being a huge fan. Story Land was definitely fun for the ENTIRE family. 

Until we meet again! :)

Ashley