Cheap Fun: Autumn Edition

Autumn is in the air- can you feel it? The leaves crunching under your feet, the brisk autumn air, the harvest colors. Okay, not so much in DFW but we can dream, right? Even though seasons seem to change in the blink of an eye here in the metroplex, you and your children can still take advantage of all the opportunities fall offers for fun activities.

• Leaf rubbings – Find a variety of leaves from the yard. Place a sheet of paper over each one and rub with the long side of a crayon. Your little archaeologist will love seeing the shape and details of each leaf come alive!

 

• Collect acorns – This one is easy. Dedicate a shoebox for autumn acorn collecting and keep it by the door for easy access. Acorn activities are endless- sort them by size and color, glue them to a fall scene drawn/painted/colored by your child, or just see how many you can collect over the course of the season!

 

• Make a cornucopia of thanks – For many families, autumn and particularly Thanksgiving is a time for thanks and reflection. Help your children participate by making a cornucopia out of posterboard (here’s a template). Hang it on the wall and let the kiddos draw and cut out things they are thankful for. Tape them to the cornucopia and watch it (and your children’s thankful hearts) grow!

 

• Break out the sidewalk chalk – It’s finally cool in Texas, so grab your bucket of sidewalk chalk and decorate the driveway and sidewalks! Think of and draw an autumn item for each letter of the alphabet (A-apples, B-broomsticks, C-cornucopias). Or, decorate ‘pumpkins’ by drawing giant ones on the pavement.

 

• Visit a pumpkin patch – Most pumpkin patches offer at least a day’s worth of fun activities- hay rides, apple picking, petting zoos, and, of course, pumpkin decorating! Hall’s Pumpkin Farm in Grapevine offers free admission and nominal fees for activities like the corn maze and hayrides. Even better: they are open 7 days a week!

 

• Toast pumpkin seeds – Though cleaning out the ‘gunk guts’ of pumpkins can be a chore and sometimes, an arm workout, the seeds are useful! Separate the seed from the gunk and rinse. Spread olive oil onto a baking sheet, then seeds. Stir the seed to coat, sprinkle on salt, and bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

 

Autumn is a special time of year and one that offers lots of things to see and do for kids and families. Use these ideas to make autumn special for your family!

Prepare for Takeoff at the Astronaut Training Center

We spent the morning at the Astronaut Training Center in North Richland Hills. We all had fun. The activities are geared for ages 6 and up so Rachel spent a lot of time in her stroller. But Nicholas’ training was fun to watch so she actually seemed to have a good time too. I did let her out of the stroller a few times so she could try to copy some of the things she had watched big brother do in his training.

We started training in the Countdown Theater where we took a ride on a historical video tour of America’s race to space. We learned of the challenges that scientists and engineers had to overcome in the face of the intense pressure and scrutiny given to the Apollo missions past and future. It was cool because we got to see video of Neil Armstrong and even Alan Shepard who, we learned at NASA, was the first American in space.

Then Nicholas was trained on how to use the reduced gravity simulator. Astronauts have to train for walking around in a reduced gravity environment such as Mars where the gravity is 38% of the gravity of Earth or the Moon where it is only 16.67% of the Earth’s gravity.

After watching Nicholas and the other kids do this for quite a while, she insisted on trying it too. She knew how to get into position but just stopped at that point.

There were lots of educational boards around the training area with pictures and information about space and astronauts. We learned about the moon and then Nicholas got to use the lunar landing simulator. First he landed the lunar module and then controlled his character to exit the craft and walk on the moon. He liked this a lot.

Rachel liked trying to press the keys on the keyboard.

Next Nicholas was trained on the zero gravity simulator which gives the feeling of zero gravity in 2 dimensions. This was a rather impressive contraption and definitely one of Nicholas’ favorite activities here.

Next it was time to don a spacesuit and walk on the moon!

Getting his air tank and hoses attached to his suit…

Wow, he’s one cute looking astronaut!

Nicholas descends the ladder from the Apollo and approaches the moon…

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind…

Reading the plaque that the astronauts of Apollo 11 left on the moon.

Just for informational purposes, here’s a image of the plaque.

Picking up moon rocks with a long “grabber”…

Nicholas had a lot of fun with the R/C rover.

Astronaut training for your little one costs $15 and it was worth it. We were there for over three hours and had a great time. The Astronaut Training Center is located at 6720 NE Loop 820, (SE Corner of 820 & Rufe Snow Dr) in North Richland Hills, TX. They are open from 10:00 – 3:00. Also, they are only open during the summer so if you want to go, get going or else you’ll have to wait until next summer. You can call them at 817-788-2926 to find out their exact schedule and last day of operation for this summer.

SHREK the Musical GIVEAWAY {NEW Winner Announced}

UPDATE: We have a WINNER! Congratulations to Candace of Mama Mia you were selected at Random to win a Family 4-Pack of Tickets  to Shrek The Musical on September 28, 2010 at 8pm at Music Hall at Fair Park. Have a great time!!!!! Original was Jenni Pearl, unfortunately, she was unable to attend, so back to Random.org I went and Voila! Candace is our new Winner!! Congrats!

 

This Texas heat is brutal. As much we  love outdoor fun, we are constantly scrambling to find some cool, fun, INdoor activities as well. 

Boy, do I have the perfect treat for you and it is a good one too! 

WooHoo! We are giving away more tickets, to yet another fantastic show, thanks to the great people over at Dallas Summer Musicals!

 

 SHREK THE MUSICAL, based on the Oscar®-winning DreamWorks film that started it all, brings the hilarious story of everyone’s favorite ogre to life on stage. 

In a faraway kingdom turned upside down, things get ugly when an unseemly ogre – not a handsome prince – shows up to rescue a feisty princess. Throw in a donkey who won’t shut up, a villain with a SHORT temper, a cookie with an attitude and over a dozen other fairy tale misfits, and you’ve got the kind of mess that calls for a real hero. Luckily, there’s one on hand… and his name is Shrek. 

Featuring a terrific score of 19 all-new songs, big laughs, great dancing and breathtaking scenery, WWOR-TV proclaims SHREK THE MUSICAL, “FAR, FAR AND AWAY THE FUNNIEST NEW MUSICAL ON BROADWAY!” 

SHREK THE MUSICAL is part romance, part twisted fairy tale and all irreverent fun for everyone!  Oh and I did check the “rating” and according to Dallas Summer Musicals the Appropriateness Rating: “Completely family friendly”*  

For all Shrek fun all the time, visit Shrekster.com and join the Dallas group to share your love for Shrek with fans across the country! 

  

  

Pictured: Eric Petersen (Shrek), Alan Mingo, Jr. (Donkey), Haven Burton (Princess Fiona)  

  

You can purchase tickets at the following locations: Single ticket prices range from $29-133.50 and are on sale now. Tickets will be available at The Box Office, 542 Preston Royal Shopping Center, all Ticketmaster outlets, by visiting www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 214-631-ARTS (2787). Group orders of 15 or more may be placed by calling 214-426-GROUP. 

BurbMom.net is giving away a Family 4-Pack of Tickets to Shrek The Musical on September 28, 2010 at 8pm at Music Hall at Fair Park. Your ticket to the show gets you into the State Fair of Texas for free on the same day as your tickets! Parking, food, and additional items not included in prize. 

See, I told you it was good! 

How to enter: 

1. Leave a comment telling us which Shrek character is your favorite & why
2. Tweet/Facebook about this contest and then leave a comment telling us you did so.
3. Blog about this contest, link back to BurbMom.net and then leave a comment telling us so.
4. Like our Facebook Page and then leave us a comment that your now a fan. 

That is 4 whole entries, folks! It just doesn’t get any better than that. 

Deadline to enter is August 31, 2010 at 5pm. We will announce the winner on September 1, 2010 and notify the winner by email. Please leave your email address in your post, so that we can contact you, if we do not have it already.

 GOOD LUCK!

Candle Rolling

We opened up a cool candle rolling kit that Grandmother C. found at Magic Cabin (my new favorite place to shop!). I love the rainbow of colors that the beeswax sheets come in.

Nicholas decided to make his first candle green since it’s his new favorite color and he decided to make it a tapered candle. So we lined up the tapered candle template on the sheet of beeswax and scored it…

…and cut it.

Next we cut a piece of wick to fit our candle with an extra inch for lighting. Then Nicholas started the rolling process by crimping one side of beeswax over the wick.

Then he rolled the rest of the beeswax over the wick until he had a finished candle.

I lit the candle for him. At first the flame was only burning the wick so it was a very small flame. But as the flame hit the first drop of melted wax, it suddenly burst into a real flame and Nicholas’ eyes popped with surprise. Then he just got more excited as he saw his own candle burning “like a real candle”.

Of course, my boy must play so then he moved on to seeing how many different ways he could blow out his candle!

Even Daddy had to get in on this action. He showed Nicholas two tricks with the candle flame. First, he showed Nicholas how to light a match without touching it to a flame. The chemicals in a match head will start to liquefy as they heat up from being held just above the flame. The match head seems to start sweating and then it ignites. Cool! Then he showed Nicholas how the smoke from an extinguished candle contains flammable chemicals and will re-ignite the match in a burst of flames without ever touching it.

Nicholas is really proud of making his first candle. Sure, someday we’ll move on to actually melting wax and pouring it into molds. But I’m not ready to deal with melted wax and a busy 5 year old so for now I love the simplicity of rolling beeswax sheets into candles…and so does Nicholas!

Tips for Fun at the Lake

One of the best ways to beat the summer heat is to spend a day (or even a few hours) at one of our many local lakes in the DFW area with the kids and family or as a fun day out with friends. I have had the personal pleasure of visiting many of our lakes, and so far my favorites are Lewisville Lake at Lake Park and Grapevine Lake at Murrell Park just south of Flower Mound on the north shore of the lake.

During the summertime, I make it a special priority to get the kids out as much as I can so they can enjoy the water while it lasts. Murrell Park has become one of my personal favorites because of its easy access and free price tag. Although Murrell Park does not offer a playground like Lake Park does, it does offer quieter and more secluded surroundings as well as many hiking and biking trails in close proximity. Murrell park currently has tent and primitive camping, but is undergoing an expansion to increase camping facilities.

I’ve found the following tips helpful when planning a day out with young children:

1.) Wear sunscreen and bring extra, applying as directed. There is nothing worse than spending good quality time together just to be miserable afterward. Bring a hat and sunglasses for extra protection.

2.) Bring towels and wear old shoes you don’t mind wearing in the water and therefor getting wet.

3.) Bring a cooler with drinks, water, fruit, and premade sandwiches or other snacks to eat. Alcohol is prohibited at Lake Grapevine (check with other lakes on their rules).

4.) If you don’t mind carrying them, bring foldable lightweight chairs and a radio with batteries.

5.) Bring fun water toys such as pool noodles, water squirters, flotation devices.

6.) WEAR A LIFE JACKET! There are no lifeguards on duty and a drowning can happen in seconds!

7.) Don’t forget your fully charged camera!

You can also take these tips from my dog, Lily:

A post from the toilet paper

Hi there.

I am speaking out for the rolls of toilet paper that have been destroyed in this mad house that these people call a home. Now I know – a roll of toilet paper is something that has neither a voice nor an opinion but for the love of all things sane – I finally had to speak up and say something!

Point A – I am not a chew toy for a hyperactive 9 month old pug. As if it is not mortifying enough that I have become a chew toy for a pug – I am a chew toy for a pug named Penelope Anne no less AND to add insult to injury, the young people in this house think that her toilet paper antics are hilarious and actually ENCOURAGE this behavior! The mother in the house does seem to have the sense to be suitably upset by the toilet paper chewing but has also not seemed to have the time nor the energy to suitably handle this situation.

Point B – I am not meant to be entirely spent up on the mummification of a 4 year old. Seriously? Two whole rolls? Fortunately the children stopped at the third roll when they became distracted with the prospect of finding some place to bury said 4 year old sending aforementioned 4 year old into an (appropriate if you ask me) anxiety attack and thus ending the game.

Point C – I am not a toilet bowl “clogger-upper”. I am meant to be used in modest amounts for appropriate (but not necessary to be mentioned) bathroom necessities.

Sincerely,

The Toilet Paper

 

Spice Up Staycation with Cheap, Creative Thrills

You aimed to rent a beach house the Big Island this summer for your family, but alas, the economy has downsized your plans to include only cold showers at home.

That said, you and your kids can substitute a costly vacation with a smashing “staycation” here in Texas. All it takes is a little imagination and perhaps some phone calls. And just think: You’ll have the luxury of your own washing machine, which, when enjoyed with a frosty margarita, is a beautiful thing.

Oh Possum!

So, remember that possum my husband and I found on the creepy neighbor’s fence? You know…the white piggie my little boys found. Well, little Miss Piggie found another spot under our deck to relax during the daytime and I only found out because I was washing dishes while my youngest was outside playing. It was then that through the kitchen window I watched as he began poking sticks and little fingers into the spaces between the deck boards.

In a new spot.

Ladies and gentlemen–meet Momma Possum:

Ain’t she awesome?

Especially when you stick a foam bat in her mouth.

(Hurry, someone call PETA.)

You may be asking yourself right now why exactly I think this is a momma possum I’ve got here. You may even be assuming that I am sexist with assumptions. And to that I would say what do you call these?

Ahem, and these?

And this?

Oh possum!

Er, I mean possums. Momma and her four baby possums needed to find a new home quicker than a fly on a turd. I wouldn’t have cared so much if momma and her babies lived under my deck if my boys were A.) nonexistant or B.) not curious, but alas they are quite the opposite and so I called animal control. Again. Again they told me to put down the $50 deposit or have my husband pull up the deck boards and they’d get the critters. Once I relayed that information back to my husband, he was all forget that and did the dirty work himself.

My boys couldn’t have been more proud…I mean more curious.

Then that’s when I got the begging to keep one as a pet. Just one baby possum pretty please.

I had to tell my husband no. No Way.

I called animal control to come get their possums and set them free, but not before my husband held one of the babies hostage and took it around the neighborhood for our neighbors to see.

I’ve never felt like more of a redneck than I did two days ago.

PS: Animal control finally showed up and took off with the possum family. They set them free for us. Of course, we found another baby possum after hours and so my husband took to being it’s momma for the night carrying it around in his hoodie pocket and petting it and kissing it. Yes, I just said he kissed the danged thing. Several times.

PPS: I called animal control first thing in the morning. Cannot let that man get too attached.

The Ft. Worth Botanic Garden

My daughter and I recently visited  The Fort Worth Botanic Garden!

It was a lovely sunny day, and we really enjoyed looking at all the theme gardens and butterfly watching! If you live in the DFW area, I really recommend taking a day trip there.

There were lot’s of stations along the trails for children explore. In fact, the pictures above are of Molly playing in a “log” with rubber insides. It had holes all along it so kids could pretend they were a Forrest creature in their own little log home! Molly loved it.

As the trees begin to change color, I’m sure we will be making many more trips to The Botanic Garden. It’s a lot of fun, and a beautiful place to spend an afternoon. Hope you enjoy our pictures!

Art + Science = Fun

We played with art today. I showed Nicholas how to make a resist painting. First he wrote his name and drew some designs on a white piece of paper using a white crayon. It was very weird for him to draw without being able to see his work.

Next he painted over his writing with some thinned tempera paint.

The paint sticks to the paper but not to the waxy crayon so the drawing shows through as white against the paint.

We turned this into a game too. I wrote a “secret message” with the white crayon on the white paper. Then Nicholas pretended to be a bad guy who stole the message from me but couldn’t read it because he couldn’t see anything on the page. Then he pretended to remember some previous spy training and got out the paint to reveal my secret message. I couldn’t believe how creative he got with using this simple art experiment.

He can make anything twice as much fun as I would have planned on my own!

On to another experiment. I really didn’t know how this one would turn out. You fill the bottom of a baking dish with milk then add a few drops of food coloring.

Check out what happens when you put a drop of dishwashing soap in one of the drops of food color.

Next Page »