Cheap summer fun with the kids: Coffee shop patio

This one's not completely free, but it doesn't break the bank, and it's one of my absolute favorite family activities. 

Jaaxx and I gather up the two kids and head to the bookstore or library, pick out something brand-new to read (or sometimes we're already reading on something) and hit the local coffee shop. We choose a nice spot on the patio, and the kids and I settle in with our reading materials while Jaaxx orders coffee for the grownups and hot chocolate for the kiddos.

Going to the coffee shop may not sound thrilling, but we always have such a good time. There's the change of scenery, people watching, and warm sunshine. There is the little rush that we all get from just having picked out a brand new book or magazine to dig into. There's the sharing and conversation between the whole family that always ends up happening. One of us will read something interesting and share, or one of the kids will have a question about something they read, or something interesting will happen around us.

A free variation on this would be to take a big thermos of beverage, some cups, and reading materials from the library to a public space like a park or court yard. In fact, our library itself has benches outside that would do the trick.

For more cheap summer fun, see my earlier post: Mom, I'm Bored: Free Summer Entertainment

Mom, I'm BORED: Free summer entertainment!

The kids are on summer break, and if I hear "I'm bored" one more time I might hang them by their toes. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some of the fun activities that we've enjoyed on the cheap.

Seriously, though, I do want them to have a fun summer. Of course, they want to go to Six Flags and Disney World, and though I am grateful for what we have, we do not have the disposable income for a Disney trip for four!

Fortunately, fun can be found close to home, at no cost to me!

Today's outing was to the Silver Comet Trail. It's a paved trail that goes from Georgia all the way to Alabama, used for walking, biking, roller blading, dog walking.. pretty much any non-motorized stuff. There is a parking lot and trail entrance just a few minutes from my house. It has one of those fun fountains for kids to play in, the kind where the water shoots up from brick pavement, and a small park area with benches and shade from a big oak tree.

With a high temperature of 96, it wasn't a good day for walking the trail. The fountain, on the other hand... how refreshing and cool! I sliced up a watermelon, put it in a big bowl, and took that, two hula hoops, Eli's contact juggling ball, and off we went.

After devouring the watermelon, we cooled off in the fountain.

The plan after that was for Sid and I to hula hoop, while Eli practiced his contact juggling, with all of us periodically running through the fountain to stay cool. As kids will do, they deviated from the plan, which was perfectly okay.
 

Sid had no interest in hula hooping, choosing instead to keep running through the fountain. E juggled for only a short time before he discovered the climbability of the big oak tree. I hula hooped, while E watched Sid and I from a bird's eye view.

Exercise, fresh air, and mom & kids time. I am pleased.

Horsin' Around

Here in Georgia, springtime has arrived in full force! HonkusGrogana and crew decided to spend a beautiful Sunday at the parents' house, outside in the sunny pasture, playing with the horses. I thought I'd share a few pictures with you.

My daddy is giving 5-year old Sarah (a family friend) a few words of instruction.

Sidney is in love with her new horse, Choopachee.

Hubby and I with Becky.

Eli is flying by on Kate

                Mom and the kiddos. We got Eli's hair cut when we left there!



All of this horse time inspired me to make a new piece of jewelry, a horse pendant sculpted from wire. I am going to make one to give to my beautiful model, Sid, below. She obviously has seen it and even tried it on, but she doesn't know that she is going to get one of her very own for her upcoming birthday!

Click to see horse pendant in my shop!

I'm so thrilled with the changing of the season, and looking forward to all of the inspiration that springtime brings. Can't wait to spend many more beautiful weekends enjoying the outdoors with my family and friends!

Hairstyles-- a different kind of art

I practiced a different kind of art today! I woke up bright & early, grabbed the brush and the hair do-ees, & informed my daughter, Sid, that she was getting an extra-special hairstyle today. And after that, a special hairdo for myself!

I came upon a really fun blog called Babes in Hairland,  all about cute and different styles for little girls' hair! Here I found the bobby pin secret, as well as inspiration to fix up Sid's hair. Lots of good, quick videos there to show you how to do it.
I ended up with an updo with no back combing, and I have to say it looked fantastic. I got compliments all day. A nice side benefit was that with this classy hairdo, I was compelled to spend some time putting on makeup and accessories. I looked my best, and consequently felt good about life in general.

Sid ended up with THIS look. She was excited to go to school with her new do, and she said she got lots of compliments, too! Two very cool side benefits here: a) It still looked nice when she got home from school, which, if you knew Sid, you'd know is nothing short of a miracle. b) We both really enjoyed the time spent together doing the styling in the morning. It was nice to be close and talk in the morning rather than rushing around to get out the door on time.

I get an F because I didn't take pictures of either one of us. Tomorrow, I will attempt to do it again, or maybe something different, and at least get a picture of Sid, if not me.

 

 This picture was taken the day after I posted this blog.. not exactly the same style as yesterday. I forgot to "pull through" the little ponytails and I pulled the one in the back through the wrong way. My brain doesn't function so well at 6am. I do still like how it turned out, though.

In case you were wondering: The bobby pin secret, complete with pictures and videos. I can vouch for it's greatness. My updo stayed firmly up all day!

My Son's Awesome Abe Lincoln Painting

Today I am featuring one of my favorite artists in the whole entire world, my 13-year old son, Eli. He has been telling me that the art teacher at his school really likes his monochromatic painting of Abe Lincoln, and I was excited when he told me that it would be on display at his school on the night of his jazz band performance. (He's a man of many talents!)

I knew he could draw, but holy cow! My jaw dropped and I let out a squeal when I saw his painting! I love it, love it, love it! So proud of my boy.