Thanksgiving Traditions

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! That's nuts. I am trying to think of some fun things to do to celebrate with the kids. And I wanted to pick your brains again for ideas. Each year we celebrate at my sister's house. They came up with a really fun idea about 5 years ago to do a Turkey Shoot. All the dads dress up like Turkeys and all the kids shoot them with paintball guns. It is a really funny tradition, that we love. We've been doing that for a while now and I was wondering if there is something new we could try. Does anyone have some fun crafts, traditions, or ideas to share?

Christmas Advent

A few years ago my friend, Laura, shared a really cute Christmas advent idea with me and we've been doing it for the past few years as well. It is really fun and I wanted to share and ask some ideas. For every day, instead of a chocolate or a little gift, we do an advent of activities, so that we are doing something to celebrate Christmas each day.
Some ideas are:
Decorating the tree
Making a gingerbread house
Making Christmas decorations for the tree
Watching a favorite Christmas movie with hot cocoa
Delivering gifts to our neighbors
Getting pictures with Santa Claus
The Nativity (reading, acting out, setting up, etc.)
Ward Christmas party
Going to look at Christmas lights
Riding the pink pig

So I wanted to share the idea, as well as see what other ideas people have of fun activities to do. Any ideas?

DeKalb Police Trick-or-Treat

The DeKalb Police Department is sponsoring a Trick-or-Treat event at the DeKalb Police Headquarters which are located in Tucker.

Click here for a look at the flyer.

Bat Craft

My friend sent me this and I thought it was really cute and worth passing along...

Bat Craft

Halloween Activities...

Not surprisingly, it looks like there are a lot of fun Halloween activities the next two weekends. So, if the weather is wet maybe one of these will help keep everyone busy and happy!

Boo at the Zoo
Zoo Atlanta
Oct. 24, 25 and 31, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Explore the zoo's magical paths as you meet costume-clad characters and enjoy sweet treats. Make sure to wear your costumes!

Click here for more information.
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Bugs, Bats and Bones Day
Fernbank Museum of Natural History
Oct. 24, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Hands-on activities will teach kids the basics of bugs, bats and bones. Costumes are encouraged. Click here for more information.
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Halloween Fair
Bass Pro Shops
5900 Sugarloaf Parkway
Lawrenceville, GA 30043
Oct. 24-25, noon-4 p.m.
FREE

Kids can decorate foam pumpkins, roast marshmallows and sample Dutch-Oven baked apple cobbler, all for free at Bass Pro Shops this weekend.
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Kids Halloween Spooktacular
Borders, click here for locations
Oct. 24, 2 p.m.

Dress in costumes to attend this spooky spectacular. Enjoy games and create Halloween crafts at all Borders locations this weekend. Free. Children younger than 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

Slippery Slime

Ava made this fun slime in preschool today and is having a blast playing with it. The recipe looks super easy. The Halloween season especially lends itself to playing in some spooky green slime. Have fun!

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 C water
• 1 C white glue
• 1/2 tsp borax
• food coloring
• 2 glass bowls
• spoons

STEPS:

1. Mix 1/2 c of water with the glue in one bowl. Add a few drops of food coloring to the mixture.
2. In the second bow, stir the borax and 1/2 c of water until the borax is dissolved.
2. Slowly add the borax mixture to the glue mixture. Stir until it feels slimy. To make the mixture more slimy, add a bit more water.

Parent Tips: To keep the slime slimy, store it in an air-tight container when your kids are not playing with it.

Georgia A-Scarium

Join the Georgia A-SCARY-UM on Oct. 30 and 31, 2009 for Halloween and fa-BOO-lous
family fun, costumes and safe trick-or-treating for all ghouls and boys!

FREE ADMISSION! Kids 12 and under in costumes will receive free admission when accompanied by an adult. Offer valid for up to two children in costume per one paid adult or Annual Pass member on Oct. 30-31.

Not only will the Aquarium be decked out with Halloween-themed decorations, but there will be music, Trick-or-Treat candy stations
throughout the Aquarium, Halloween craft tables and costume contests for guests throughout the day!

Trick-or-treating isn't just for the kids! This year, we will have special candy just for the adults! Thanks to M&M Mars, adults will be able to stop by the trick-or-treat stations and pick up M&M's new M&M's Premium flavors.

So join the spider crabs, batfish and "ghost jellies" for a screaming good time! Click Here for more details.

Anna Ruby Falls

I'm trying to pick some places in Georgia we've visited to share with everyone. A couple of years ago, we drove through Helen on our way to a beautiful camp spot some miles north of Helen. It was in October and Oktoberfest was in full swing. Main Street was crawling and there were people everywhere. The town's architecture was quaint and inviting and looked like a fun place to walk around. So, if any of you are interested in Helen, GA, I thought I'd post some other things to do in the area as well.

Anna Ruby Falls is about 4 miles north of Helen. Anna Ruby Falls is a continuous, easy to moderate paved climb with bridged crossings of Smith Creek. Towards the end, there are well-placed observation decks which afford an excellent view of both waterfalls.

Click here or here for more details.

Jaemor Farms

The season for apples and corn mazes is quickly approaching and I know there are a many different farms that have corn mazes. We stopped at Jaemor Farm a couple of years ago on our way home from a camping trip. The apples were FANTASTIC and although we didn't pay for the corn maze, it looked like fun. We did wander around the farm and paid to let Kai ride a pony.

MAIZE QUEST CORNFIELD MAZE AT JAEMOR FARM MARKET

Find your way out of the maze while you expand your knowledge of the Wild West. Guests can bring picnics, try the apple slingshot or pick pumpkins.

Oct. and Nov. hours; Fri.-Sat., 10 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun., 1-6 p.m.

5340 Cornelia Hwy., Alto. 770-869-3999.

Adults, $8; children 4-7, $7; younger than 3, free.

Jumpin Jamboree

For those of you living near Tucker, this place is a fantastic place to play. It's hidden in the industrial area of Tucker and is rarely busy. The last time we played, we stayed for 5 hours! The staff is always pleasant and friendly and the facility is clean. There are picnic tables for snacks/lunch.

Before you go, check out there website and signup for the newsletter. They'll email you a coupon to use on your first visit which reduces the price to $5.

Jumpin Jamboree
2534 Royal Place, Suite E
Tucker, GA 30084
770-496-1200

Imaginations at Play

I recently read a review of this play place and found it very interesting. Here's some of the review:

"This place is a child’s dream! We were greeted by a vibrant, open set-up in a 4,000-square-foot facility with hands-on attractions for children ranging in age from 6 months to 10 years. With a number of play areas to accommodate every child’s interest, my kids had a field day! My boys immediately gravitated toward the sea of bubbles floating through the air in the “Rub-a-Dub Tub” area. The larger-than-life bathtub is filled with water and bath toys, along with a large pretend dog for the children to “bathe.” ...

I was pleased to learn that all of the toys in the facility are sanitized throughout the day to minimize the spread of germs.

Imaginations at Play also houses an art studio with plenty of easels and smocks. My children also made music in the “Musical Tree,” where they tickled the ivories of a mini piano and strummed a pint-sized guitar. Older kids seemed most attracted to the “Studio on the Backlot,” a stage with a green screen and TV monitors that allowed them to instantly become movie stars alongside their favorite characters. Not to be outdone, my 3-year-old jumped on stage and was starstruck every time he caught a glimpse of himself on TV with Big Bird."

– Felicia Barman

Imaginations at Play
33 Buford Village Way, Suite 329
Buford, GA 30518;
678-482-9156

Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center

Rich discovered this place through his involvement with scouting and I thought I'd pass it along to you. It's a great place to camp, but if you are not a camping lover there are plenty of other activities that you can participate in without having to 'rough it'. Plus, since it is only 50 miles away (I20 East) a day trip is feasible. Camping is free as are most of the activities. The website can provide you with all the details.

Here's a link to the website. Be sure to check out the calendar which gives you pages of activities. This weekend (September 26) is free fishing day and there are a few other activities planned for kids. We're planning on signing up for one of the upcoming night hikes which includes a kids craft, a guided night hike and a live owl show. I'll let you know what we think!

Boston Market Deal

Since there are Boston Market restaurant's in our area, I thought I'd post this great deal...

Wow! Boston Market has a pretty sweet promotion available thru October 31st! The new promotion is called, "Two Kids Eat FREE" dining program. Two children, ages 14 and younger, can receive a FREE kids’ meal all day, every day with only one adult purchase of just $6 or more! Wahoo! The best part--there is NO coupon needed to snag the FREE kids meal. This means that you'll also be able to use a Boston Market coupon to save even more on any Adult meals purchased! Sweeet! You can currently print a $2 off any $10 Boston Market purchase coupon here, valid thru October 21st. (courtesy of www.hip2save.com)

Savannah/Tybee Island

So our final stop was Savannah. We planned to spend a day at Tybee Island and then the final day in historic Savannah. Tybee was great! The beaches were nice and sandy and although it was pretty windy we stayed and played for most of the afternoon. It was more commercialized than St. Simons, but still enjoyable. There were lots of people on bikes which I think always makes it look like a safe family-friendly place.

We stayed our final night in Savannah and then toured the Historic area the next day. When I found out we were moving to GA 4 years ago I thought it would look like historic Savannah. You know, the Forest Gump landscapes. Anyway, we walked around along the Savannah River and then packed up for home.

It's sometimes hard to travel with kids and see the sights. Our kids didn't care for historic Savannah and although they didn't complain too much, they would have been much happier at the beach.

Brunswick/St. Simons Island

The next stop on our road trip was Brunswick, GA. Our plan was to see some alligators and then head to the beach. We drove across a beautiful bridge (can bridges be beautiful?), stopped for a quick break then upon a local's recommendation headed to St. Simons Island.

We drove to the town square where there happened to be a free concert on the lawn later that evening. We played at the park then ventured down to the beach. The tide was coming in so there wasn't as much beach as I envisioned (remember I'm used to the west coast beaches), but it didn't stop our boys from shedding their clothes and playing in the water.

I really liked St. Simons - it just had this fun small friendly feel to it. The shops and restaurants were local and everyone was very friendly. We were planning to stay the night in Brunswick (the lodging is much cheaper there) and then come back to the beach in the morning, but I unknowingly booked a room in Savannah that evening. It's a long story but it involved a Blackberry, not the best service and of course priceline.

Okefenokee Swamp Park

We just got back from a little road trip and I wanted to share with you the places we went. We had a great time and our boys are already asking when we are going on another trip. We left Friday afternoon and drove to Waycross, GA. We booked our very inexpensive but nice motel on priceline

The next morning we drove a few miles to the Okefenokee Swamp Park. We opted to go to the privately owned park versus the state park because it seemed they had more to offer (for a fee of course). All our boys cared about was seeing alligators and see them we did!! We even got to touch a baby alligator in a presentation we sat in on.

Here's a link to the state parks located within the swamp: Stephen C. Foster and Laura S. Walker. We drove through the LWalker Park and there was a nice lake that people were boating on. The SFoster Park is located deeper in the swamp land, so we didn't venture down that far.

It was a great place to visit and I highly recommend it to y'all.

Decatur Book Festival

I found this info on Decatur Mom:

Decatur Book Festival and Children’s Activities

It’s nearly time for the 2009 Decatur Book Festival! One of the best family and community events of the year, and the country’s largest independent book festival. The festivities kick off on Labor Day weekend, September 4th and go through September 6th. Most of the events take place on or around the Courthouse Square in downtown Decatur, GA.

The Decatur Book Festival is one of my family’s favorite events because there is so much for everyone to enjoy. With hundreds of authors, book signings, poetry readings, and children’s events we usually have to pace ourselves so as to not pass out in the middle of the square. Just a few of the MUST SEES for us this year include:

The Tractors at the Fidelity Bank Parking Lot

Saturday, 9am – 9:30am

Visit the tractors and then march in the Otis the Tracker parade with parade marshal and author Loren Long…more details

Skippyjon Jones at El Tesoro

Sunday, 10:30 – 12:00

You can have brunch with Skippyjon Jones with proceeds going to build libraries in Oaxaca, Mexico – sponsors Little Shop of Stories and Mingei World Arts…more details

Mariachi band and promenade from El Tesoro to the Target Children’s Stage, 12:00 – 12:30, following the Skippyjon Jones brunch

Pete The Cat: I Love My White Shoes

Sunday, 5:30 – 6:00

Reading and updates on Pete’s latest adventures…I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes…sorry, couldn’t resist.

If you have teens, you will want to be sure to check out all of the events for teenagers this year, especially the Teen Literary Salon. Click here to find out more about events for teens.

To plan your activities for the Decatur Book Festival weekend you can click here for a full schedule of events. Or, you can visit the Decatur Book Festival web site.

See you there!

Redbull Soapbox Race

I just saw a commercial about this race and it looked interesting to say the least! The race begins at 1 PM on Saturday, August 29, but the 'pits' open at 11 AM. It looks like most of the festivities will take place at Piedmont Park with the race on 10th street.

Click here for all the details.

Oak Grove Consignment Sale

For all of you newbies who are looking for a great place to buy quality children's clothing consignment sales are a great way to go and Atlanta has lots of good ones this time of year.

This is one of my favorites! You can find just about everything at this sale.

Here are my 'rules' for shopping:

Do not bring children - they are usually banned from the sales;
Bring a large bag or laundry basket to put all your goods in;
If you see something you like, grab it and then go through your items later and make a decision;
I always ask myself if I really LOVE it or am I just loving the price; if I don't LOVE it I don't care how cheap it is put it back!

Here are the details:

September 25 & 26 (click here for specifics)
Oak Grove UMC Young Children School
1722 Oak Grove Road
Decatur, GA 30033
Need directions?

Maddio's Pizza Joint

Nate has been working on some ads for Maddio's and I just wanted to pass a few things along. If you go to their website: http://maddiospizzajoint.com/ You can sign up to receive their emails. They have coupons in their emails for buy one get one free, as well as other deals. This week's ad is :

Buy any 9" pizza and 2 drinks at regular price,get a second pizza of equal or lesser value free.*Plus, kids eat for $2.99 everyday!Expires Tuesday, August 18. *(Maximum value is $6.49. Bring in this coupon to redeem. Not valid with any other offer.)

Also, starting this Tuesday they are starting Kids Eat Free Every Tuesday Night.

The address is:

Maddio's Pizza Joint · 3027 North Druid Hills Road · Toco Hills Shopping Center ·

Kid's Meal Deals

Many of you may already have this link, but I wanted to pass it along just in case. I've used it before and found some good deals.

Kid's Meal Deals

Kids Eat Free - IKEA

This will make Kai sooo happy! For some reason he LOVES eating at IKEA. Meatballs and red soda are his favorite and when I tell him we get to go this week - the smile will stretch for miles!

Anyway, now through August 16, kids under 12 can choose 3 items from the kids menu for free. No adult purchase necessary. This is a deal people!

Tubing in Helen - UPDATE

Rich took the youth tubing on Saturday and came back with two thumbs up! Apparently it's pretty popular because he said it was bumper to bumper (okay tube to tube). They floated the entire stretch which took about 3 hours. He said you can also put in a little lower if you don't want to float that long.

They didn't go to the water park so I can't report on that, but the tubing company they used was the one with bright green tubes.

Mayfield Dairy Field Trip???

Anyone up for a fieldtrip to the Dairy farm? I thought it would be something fun for us to do before preschool starts. If anyone is interested, we'd love to have company!

Thrasher Park - Norcross, GA

The Nanny also told us about a fun park in Norcross that has recently been re-done and is now state of the art. It's Thrasher Park and is located in downtown Norcross. The City's website doesn't have anything written about it, but I've posted a link to wikimapia which will at least give you an address. We're going to check it out one day this week.

We went to the park today and had a GREAT time. It is on the outskirts of downtown Norcross which is very quaint and downtown Decatur like. The parking lot borders a train track and all play stops when the train blows its whistle. The entire park is brand new and the play equipment has stuff for all ages, including a spiderman web climb. It was only 10 miles from our house and worth the trip!

Thrasher Park

Center for Puppetry Arts

Anyone ever been to the Center or know anything about their shows? I'm considering splurging on some tickets for the boys, but would like your opinions before I do it.

Trains, Trucks and Tractors

Trains, Trucks and Tractors. Southeastern Railway Museum. Explore visiting trucks and tractors, take a train ride, make crafts in the Kids’ Corner and more.

Aug. 1-2. Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m.
3595 Buford Hwy., Duluth. 770-476-2013.
Many activities free with admission: Adults, $8; children 2-12, $4; children under 2, free.

Southeastern Railway Museum

Decatur Book Festival

Decatur Book Festival. Decatur Square.

We've never been to this before, but from the info on their website, it looks like a great place for the entire family to spend the day. Browse books, meet and greet more than 150 authors, listen to live music, play in the interactive children’s area, watch parades and cooking demonstrations, and more.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND - Sept. 4-6.

Decatur Book Festival

Home Depot Workshops

The first Saturday of each month, Home Depot offers a free kids workshop where kids can come for some hand-on fun. The workshop is open from 9-Noon at all Home Depot stores. So, not only will you get to take home the completed project you'll also get an orange apron (well your child will anyway).

Home Depot Workshop

Tubing in Helen GA

The boys and I went to the park the other day and started visiting with a Nanny. She was full of information about fun places to visit (wouldn't it be nice to be rich enough to have a nanny)! Anyway, she said they had just gone tubing in Helen, GA and then played at the water park afterward. I looked it up and it is pretty cheap ($3) to tube and only $15 to tube and play at the water park. Rich is going with the youth from our ward this weekend, so I'll let you know what he thinks next week.

In the meantime, here's the link if you want to take a look.

http://www.helentubing.com/

Wild Animal Safari

I've seen a few advertisements for this place lately and thought it looked interesting enough to post. It is located in Pine Mountain, GA, approx 1.5 hours from Atlanta. The entry fee is a little steep, but according to most of the comments well worth it. The website claims they have twice as many animals as the Atlanta Zoo.

If any of you have been or know more, please post away.

Wild Animal Safari

Stone Mountain Park

I know most of you are VERY familiar with Stone Mountain Park, but for those of you who aren't I think it's worth a look! We have a pass to the park as well as all of the attractions and our boys love to spend the day at the park. If you don't have an attraction pass, there are still plenty of things to do (you'll have to pay a parking fee to get in the park which I think is $10).

You can hike up to the top of Stone Mountain, play at the playground, picnic on the lawn, watch the laser show, walk around the village, fish...

You can also buy single event passes or a daily pass at a reduced rate at Kroger.

Free Fishing Derby

Youth Fishing Derby.
Brookside Office Park Lake.

Test your fishing skills in this youth event. Bring fishing gear and bait.

Ages 4-12.

July 25. 8-11 a.m.
3625 Brookside Pkwy., Alpharetta. 678-297-6140.
Pre-register.

Free Bowling

Stephanie posted this when I first started the blog, but now that it is getting warmer outside I thought it might be more interesting.

The alley participating is in Decatur. All you pay for is the shoes. You can find all the details by clicking on this link.

Kids Bowl Free

Centennial Olympic Park

The Fourth Saturday of each month, the Park hosts an afternoon of free family activities. This Saturday's theme is It's About Sports. The festivities start at Noon and last until 4 PM. So, if you are brave enough to play in the heat this may interest you!

For more details as well as the 2009 schedule use this link:

http://www.centennialpark.com/events/fsffd.html

Mayfield Dairy Farm

Mayfield has a farm in Braselton, GA, which is about 45 minutes from Atlanta. They offer a behind the scenes tour of the dairy plant and of course ice cream from their old fashioned ice cream parlor.

Little Shop of Stories

We went to an event tonight at the Little Shop of Stories on the square in Decatur and it was really fun. I had never heard of the Pete the Cat book, but the author and illustrator were there. The author also creates children's music and teaches music lessons at the store. They sang songs about the book as the illustrator drew pictures that went along with the songs. It was fun and their website has a list of future events. You can see them here.

Soccer

This will be our first year in organized sports and I've heard wonderful things about TYSA. Online registration is open now or you can register in person the first few Saturdays in August. All the details are online and it looks like the games for the beginners are on Saturdays only.

http://www.tysa.com/

Tucker Rec Center

For those of you who live in DeKalb County (if you live outside the county, you have to pay a higher tuition), the Tucker Rec Center offers great cheap classes for kids. Kai took a tumbling class last year and really liked it. He went twice a week and I believe it cost around $50. I don't have a schedule to post (they don't have anything online), but here is the contact info:

Tucker Recreation Center
4898 LaVista Rd, Tucker 30084
Phone: 770-270-6226

Hours:

Mon - Fri 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sat 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Attention all you posters...

In an effort to keep this blog user friendly (and in anticipation of all of you posting marvelous discoveries) please use labels for your posts. Specifically, if it is date sensitive please use the date as one of the labels (ie. Summer 2009 or July 2009). I hope this will make it easier to navigate through all the posts.

I'm not too versed in blogging so if any of you know of a better way, please post away! Also, can any of you tell me how to make the link clickable? How do I make the web address I'm copying and pasting linkable? Does that make any sense?

Thanks!

Dora the Explorer at the Fox

Dora is coming to Atlanta August 21-23. The tickets are reasonably priced, and you can get a discount through Nordstroms. When you buy tickets online, enter the promo code TOYS in the Nordstroms box. We bought tickets for the Saturday 2 p.m. show if anyone wants to carpool with us.

http://www.foxtheatre.org/cgi-bin/calendar/calendar.cgi?d=22&m=08&y=2009

Need a Babysitter?

Call Bethany Weiler, L'Anita's little sister. She's getting ready to head out to BYU in August, and wants to fill out her hours at work.
home phone 770-717-7568
email weilerwailer@gmail.com
She can drive, but doesn't have her own car. She lives next to the Lilburn Building and Parkview HS.

Free Swimming?

So, my neighbor said that Piedmont Park's swimming pool had free swimming hours from 10-11:30am. I can't find any mention of it on their webpage, which is too bad because they just finished a lovely multi-million dollar renovation. While searching, I did find a link that said that the Grant Park Pool has free swimming hours each afternoon, and that certain area hotels will open their pools to the public on certain days, but I'm not finding a lot of details. Apparently my free sniffer is a little out of practice.
Can anyone help with the details? Anyone want to try it out? The Grant Park Pool is a hike, but the Piedmont Pool would be lovely.

Coupon Clippers

A few months ago, Stephanie sent me a link to a website devoted entirely to saving money. It's become one of my favorites and has helped cut our grocery bill down with minimal effort. If any of you are interested, here's the address. For those of you who are first timers to coupon clipping or a bit overwhelmed, don't worry she explains everything on the website.

www.southernsavers.com

Free Chocolate Anyone?

Apparently, some of the candy making companies are swapping ingredients in their chocolate recipes to help keep their costs down. Mars, however, plans to stick with the real thing. To prove their resolve, Mars started a Real Chocolate Relief Act promotion in May. What does that mean for you? The free chocolate giveaway will continue every Friday through September 25, 2009, Mars is giving away 250,000 certificates for free Mars chocolate products. The certificates become available on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m., and they’re available until they’re gone, so you’ll need to act fast. There’s a limit of one coupon per email address per Friday & four coupons per household during the offer period. Must be a resident of the U.S. & age 13 or older to get a certificate.

AMC Summer Movie Camp

The AMC Summer Movie Camp offers movies for $1 every Wednesday at 10 a.m. The shows will run until August 5, and all proceeds go to Variety: The Children’s Charity and the Will Rogers Institute. Snacks are discounted as well during the movie series. A KidsPack that is usually $5.75 is $3 during the Movie Camp.

This month’s schedule is below:

• July 1: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

• July 8: Tale of Despereaux

• July 15: Horton Hears a Who

• July 22: The Spiderwick Chronicles

• July 29: Nim’s Island

For theatre locations go to: http://www.amctheatres.com/smc/index.html

Zoo Atlanta

I know most of you have a zoo pass, but for those of you who don't this may be just the enticement you need to head to the zoo.

Arrive at Zoo Atlanta before 11 a.m. any day of the week and receive $5 off admission, through July 26, with the “Beat the Heat” deal.

www.zooatlanta.org

Cabbage Patch Hospital

When I was 8, my grandparents were living in Atlanta and we came to visit. They took us to the Cabbage Patch Hospital and I can still remember watching the babies being born from a cabbage. My sister was here visiting recently and we debated about visiting it again. For those of you with girls, it may be a fun place to go. It's free and only 1.5 hours from Atlanta.

http://www.cabbagepatchkids.com/

Day Out with Thomas

Take a 25-minute ride with a full-sized Thomas the Tank Engine, meet Sir Topham Hatt, enjoy storytelling, listen to live music and more.
Ages 2 and up.

July 24-28; July 30-Aug. 2.

Visit www.gsmr.com for a schedule of departures.

Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, Bryson City Depot.
Bryson City, N.C. 800-872-4681. Advance purchase is recommended. $18/person.

Recess Monkey - CD release show

Recess Monkey’s “Field Trip” CD Release Show.

Decatur Public Library
215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-3070

July 16. 7 p.m.

Listen to hip new songs and fun oldies from the award-winning trio of Seattle schoolteachers, Recess Monkey. Be sure to arrive early for a spot, as seating is limited.

Tanglewood Farm

Celebrate our nation with patriotic pony rides, bluegrass music and a hayride through the Wild West Town. Pet and feed more than 100 miniature animals and participate in Little Britches Rodeo contests.

Tanglewood Farm, 171 Tanglewood Dr., Canton. 770-667-6464.

July 1-31. Wed.-Fri., 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $10/person.

Children's Museum

Target Free Second Tuesdays. Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. Admission is free for all visitors who come during special event hours. Tickets are issued on a first come, first serve basis. Ages 8 and under. July 14. 1-7 p.m. 275 Centennial Park Dr., Atlanta. 404-659-5437. Free.

http://www.childrensmuseumatlanta.org/

Park Days

It looks like our weekly park days are back! The new summer schedule is:

Tuesday Mornings: Avondale Park

Thursday Mornings: Lucky Shoals Park

Kennesaw Mountain

We took the boys on a hike to the top of Kennesaw Mountain a few months ago and really enjoyed it! This weekend is the 145th Battle of Kennesaw Anniversary and there are family-friendly activities planned all weekend. If this weekend doesn't work, its worth the drive another time. The hike up to the top is steep, but do-able. There are old cannons at the top that are interesting as well a museum full of history. The only drawback is the parking (the lot is very small.)

http://www.nps.gov/kemo

Lakeshore Craft Workshops

Here is the free craft for the 4th at the Lakeshore store. Ages 3 and up.

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/general_content/store_locations/storeCrafts.jsp?f=m

Fourth of July Celebrations...

Here are a few locations for fireworks on the 4th:

• Fantastic Fourth Celebration at Stone Mountain Park. On July 4, fireworks choreographed to music are shot from the base and top of Stone Mountain. July 3-5. 9:30 p.m. Hwy. 78, Stone Mountain. 770-498-5690. Laser show and fireworks, free; parking, $10.

• Dunwoody Fourth of July Parade in Dunwoody Village. July 4. 9:30 a.m. 1500 Dunwoody Village Pkwy., Dunwoody. Free.

• Pied Piper Parade, Concert and Fireworks in Downtown Decatur. Fireworks at dark. July 4. Parade, 6 p.m.; concert, 7 p.m. Parade starts at First Baptist Church of Decatur and ends at Community Bandstand. 404-371-9583. Free.

• Fabulous Fourth Festival at Georgia International Horse Park. Fireworks display at dark. July 4. 5 p.m. 1996 Centennial Olympic Pkwy., Conyers. 770-602-2606. Free admission.

• Fourth of July at Lenox Square. The largest fireworks display in the Southeast. July 4. 6-10 p.m. 3393 Peachtree Rd., Atlanta. 404-233-6767. Free.

• Marietta's Fourth in the Park at Glover Park. A fireworks display ends the night at 9:30 p.m. July 4. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. 50 Park Sq., Marietta. 770-794-5601. Free.

• Fourth of July Celebration at Centennial Olympic Park. Fireworks display at dusk. July 4. Noon-dark. 265 Centennial Olympic Park Dr., Atlanta. 404-222-7275. Free admission.

Pirate Ship Workshop - Lowe's

This Saturday Lowe's is hosting one of their Build and Grow Clinics. The project this week is a pirate ship which looks really fun. The clinic is free. Here's the link for the sign-up directions. I've signed both Kai and Austin up for Saturday at the Chamblee store (Peachtree Industrial). Austin's probably too young, but he'll enjoy hammering nails regardless of how the finished product looks.

https://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com/default.asp

Swimming

What with moving and all, I'm not sure how many times I will do this this summer, but on Friday, June 26, at 9:30 am., I will be hosting a swim.

It will be mostly the same as last year. (1) I will let people for about 10 minutes (dial R Davis from the gate) and then join you all. If you come late, you will need to ask the office to buzz you in. (2) Bring your own snacks. (3) The water is a little cool. (4) There is not much of a super-shallow end (no zero-entry).

There are a few changes for this year. (1) I have no guarantees that the bathroom in the office will be available. Management has changed. My apartment is a little further away, but you are more than welcome to rush there. I'll make sure it's clean. (2) Fritz usually lasts about an hour, so we probably won't go 2 (or 3) hours.

Thomas and Friends - Fox Theatre

Thomas and Friends Live! On Stage: A Circus Comes to Town.
The Fox Theatre.

Sing along during this musical adventure, as the engines on the Island of Sodor work together to prepare for an event under the Big Top.
June 26-28. Fri., 7 p.m.; Sat., 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m.
660 Peachtree St., Atlanta. 800-745-3000.
$15, $25, $40.

Free Craft Workshops

I don't know if any of you are familiar with the Lakeshore store or not, but it is a fantastic educational store. They are offering free crafts for kids 3 and up this month. Here's the schedule for the two remaining Saturdays in June.

June 27: “It’s a Party!” Hat.
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
2757 Cobb Pkwy., Atlanta.
770-951-1700.
Free.

Summer Schedule

This is something my sister does every summer with her kids. She and another family combine activities and the moms take turns hosting and teaching. I have attached their schedule and what all the color blocks mean. My sister has older kids, and this is more suited for them, but I thought the idea was great and merited passing along. It could be easily tailored to suit the needs of any family.

Here are the categories, as she explained them to me:

Exercise everyday: self explanatory
Cooking with mom: teaching kids kitchen skills
Gospel Study: twice a week they choose a gospel topic and discuss choices and consequences. The two moms take turns teaching/hosting this, so it is more than just a FHE lesson, but you are learning with another family too.
Craft: self explanatory
Learn Something New: This is where they learn a new skill, and invite others to participate (for example, Nate taught this today...he showed the kids how to do stop motion animation and create a movie).
Organize me: learning how to set goals, get organized and keep up with everyone's activities, etc.
Mirror mom: this is when the kids learn how to run the washer, pay bills, etc.
In the Service of Others: A weekly service project, combined with another family.
Lighten Dad's Load: this is where they learn to do things to help their dad. (for example, my sister's kids have been learning how to post items for sale on craig's list, and doing yard work)

Anyhow, I just thought it would be fun to pass along!

UPDATE

Thanks for all your comments. I think I'm going to use this blog as a place to post upcoming events (thanks Allison and Steph) as well as a place to organize the summer activities. I'll try to post more details about the activity schedule later this evening.

Bowling

I signed our kids up for this "free" bowling. It's free in that your kids can bowl two games free (everyday if you wanted) and you just pay for the shoe rental (which I called the place and it's $3 per child). If others wanted to sign up, I think this would be a fun group activity and something good to do indoors during the summer heat. The bowling center in our area that participates is Suburban Lanes on N. Decatur. We could have a kids bowling league!

http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

Decatur Beach Party

Here is another link for the Decatur Beach Party on June 19th.

Places to Play on a Hot Summer Day

I found this on Decatur Mom and thought it might be fun to pass along.

Summer Activities for the Kiddies

So, I've been trying to organize something like this for a while and keep procrastinating getting it started. Now that summer is here it's time to hit the ground running.

What I'm attempting to do is an extension of preschool perhaps. I've envisioned an organized activity each week of the summer. You will select the week you want to host and then take care of the details. The activity can be as elaborate or simple as you want - zoo trips, picnics, backyard swimming, etc. I have been trying to explore Atlanta every weekend and have found lots of fun free things to do. I think the day of the week can also be flexible??

This is where I need your help. I need feedback as well as an idea of who is interested.

So, please post away and lets get something started.