Nothing but the Girls!

I have been out of the blogging world for the last week or so because my 4 year old daughter and I took our first girls trip. We flew out to San Francisco to see a friend’s new baby. I also must tell you that I left my 2 year old son with my husband for a week of male bonding.



This was a trip I was not only was excited about but I also needed for a mental health break from the home front. Overall the trip was wonderful! The baby is super sweet and my daughter had a blast.

Here are a few things I have learned about taking a girls trip with a 4 year old and leaving your son and husband on their own for the week.
- Take a lot of little snacks for the plane ride. I say little because it keeps things interesting if they can have many different snacks instead of just a big bag of chips or something.
- Apologize to the person that is sitting in front and on the side of your child at the beginning of the flight. No matter how much I told my daughter not to kick the seat or yell, she still did it. Now I must say she was pretty good, but there were still some moments.
- Buy some new little toys or games for the plane. Since these were all things she had never seen or played with just getting them out of the package and open was an adventure. (and took up time)
- When leaving your husband and your 2 yr old son to fend for themselves make sure there is a lot of easily prepared foods that are nutritious… or they will just live off of Hardees.
- Do not expect to come home to a clean house. Just be happy that everyone is safe. However I must tell you.. when we walked in the house I immediately smelled gas. I ran to the kitchen to find the knob on the stove top turned. My husband then comments …’Oh that is where that smell is coming from, I thought I smelled gas when I woke up’ OMG!!! I am so thankful that my house did not blow up or that the dogs didn't take a nap and never wake up!

Wellp, we are back and look forward to getting back to the normal daily routine!

My Web Site – http://www.kidsinstl.com/

Added a bunch of activities to the calendar. Trying to get it pumped up with activities for spring and summer. Go to the site http://www.kidsinstl.com/ and check it out!!

Here is a preview of what is on our Recommended Toys Page:

RECOMMENDED TOYS FOR THE YOUNG CHILD - 24-36 MONTHS
SPORTS:
Little Tikes TotSports T-Ball Set
Mini Gertie Ball
TENTS/TUNNELS:

Thomas the Tank Engine

Find Me Multicolor Play Tunnel
ALPHABET:

LeapFrog Fridge Farm Magnetic Animal Set
SENSORY:

Little Tikes Bubble Bellies Bubble Saurus

Wordless Wed - Birthdays are Never your Own, Once you have kids

Dance Party With Dr Seuss

Yesterday my kids school celebrated Dr Seuss’s 102nd Birthday. What a guy that Dr Seuss and what a wonderful author. Everyone has a favorite Dr Seuss book, mine has to be ‘A Fly Went By’. My son’s favorite is ‘Go Dog Go’ and my daughter likes ‘Inside your Outside’.

It is sort of funny if you really look at the books each of us likes, ‘A Fly Went By’ has a part about the little boy getting a switch and whipping the fox chasing the pig and that always makes me chuckle because now a days a children’s author would never write something so non-PC in a book.

My Son likes the ‘Go Dog Go’ book simply because he digs doggies. The thing I find funny is he always inquires why the dogs are blue and green, not why are the dogs driving cars. Just shows what is important in his little mind.

Now my daughter just turned 4 so she is a little sponge for knowledge, which is why ‘Inside your Outside’ is her favorite. She just loves to ask questions about red and while blood cells and other body stuff the book talks about. I often have to go to the internet to find the answers to her questions.

The school went all out with crafts, story time, dancing and specials guests like – Clifford, The Cat in The Hat and Mother Goose. It was a great day and we had a blast. What a wonderful way to pay tribute to a guy we forget played such a big role in many of our young lives.

Here is a little clip of my daughter dancing at the party. This clip is a little over 2 mins long, but I promise you will be smiling by the end.

My Web Site – http://www.kidsinstl.com/

Added a bunch of activities to the calendar. Trying to get it pumped up with activities for spring and summer. Here is a list of some of the activities going on around St Louis the next couple of days. Go to the site http://www.kidsinstl.com/ for more detail.

Monday Mar 17th
9 AM - 10 AMInfant Play Cooper Ella
9 AM - 1 PMEASTER BUNNY HUTCH
10 AM - 11:30 AM'It's Easy Finding Green' Hike
10:30 AM - 11:30 AMRocking Chair Story Time

Tuesday Mar 18th
9:15 AM - 10:15 AMCreation Station Museum of Transportation
10 AM - 10:30 AMStory Time at Pottery Barn
2:15 PM - 3:15 PMShoemaker And The Elves - Kramer's Marionette Theater
4 PM - 5 PMClub Read: Xbox 360 - Got Game?

Hey for all of you that are not in St Louis, I want to share one of the many other parts of my site that can be used by anyone regardless of where they live. Here is a partial list of some of the books we recommend for children. From the home page click on the Recommended Books button– To see the whole list check out our site. http://www.kidsinstl.com/
BOOKS RECOMMENDED FOR THE YOUNG CHILD (24-36 MONTHS)
COUNTING: Baby Buddies: Can You Count (Baby Buddies)
INTRODUCTION TO SPANISH: My First Spanish Word Book / Mi Primer Libro De Palabras En Español
INTERACTIVE/PROPS: Hide-And-Seek With Leo: A Hand-Puppet Book
RHYMING/SONG: Baby Beluga (Raffi Songs to Read)
ANIMAL CHARACTERISTICS: My Jungle Pop-up Book
SELF-ESTEEM: The Mixed-Up Chameleon

FACT or FICTION ...........Make it stop!

With my crazy kid schedule and the closing in holiday I have not had much time to get on the computer. However, many things have happened in the last few days to give me plenty of data for this little blog I will call Fact or Fiction.

1) When you sit on a ball of Silly Putty and smash it all over your living room chair and pants – both are ruined forever. FICTION
~ Actually Silly Putty rubs off pretty easily, you just have to take your time. However, I was still pretty mad and threw the Putty away.

2) Markers that claim to be ‘washable’ will not stain the white fur of a dog when the kids decide to color him. FICTION
~ Boy my poor doggie … the kids colored his legs and part of his back. Now this may be a Fact if I would have gave him an intense scrub down, but it is winter here so I was only able to wipe him with wash rags and soap. He is still a bit pink and green.

3) With a determination a 2 year old can actually put on his own diaper. FACT
~ I refused to put a diaper on my little guy until he at least tried to pee pee on the potty. He walked into his room, shut the door…then walked out with a diaper that was put on totally correct. Wellp, I guess we will try potty training again in a couple months.

4) If you eat a handful of sand it will come out the looking almost the same as it went in. FACT
~ A little nice weather makes the kids go crazy. After a long winter, I let the kids go out in the yard on a day it warmed up. I stepped inside to get some drinks and in that short time my little guy ate at least one huge handful of sand. Ick.. that can’t taste good. (Side note – I did call poison control and the only real hazard with sand is chocking.) Well the next morning I changed a diaper full of poopy sand. Yuck!

5) Finger Nail Polish remover will eat the polish on a wood table almost immediately. FACT
~ My little girl wanted her nail painted for her 4 yr pics. So we had to take of the old stuff. I walked to the counter to get a napkin (4 seconds) came back to see my daughter squeezing the cotton ball with the remover in it on the table. Well I quickly wiped it off, but there is still 3 circle marks on my table…bummer.

6) The Easter Bunny will know where to bring your basket, even if you are not at home on Easter Morning. FACT
~ My little girl verified this with the Easter Bunny today when she sat on his lap today. We are doing a girl’s trip to San Francisco…. Can’t wait!

Check out my web site - www.kidsinstl.com
It is a wonderful resource for anyone with kids! It is jam packed with fun things to do with the kids while on spring break.