Travel Gifts

I've posted a couple travel posts about roadtrips and flying in a plane and one of my favorite things to do is to pack some travel gifts. I don't just pack them for my son. I also pack them for my husband sometimes. I'm definitely going to repeat some of the ideas I've shared in previous posts so this is going to be a large list of all my ideas in one place.

For those that don't know, travel gifts are a way to make traveling just a little more fun (especially for kids). I know some people will just go out and buy a bunch of new things to pack in their carry-ons and call it a day. Well, I think it's just a little more fun to open them as presents to add a bit more whimsy to the trip.

For Adults:
1. Sudoku book (or crossword) – or any kind of puzzle book that you're into
2. Fancy Pencils – to go along with those awesome puzzle books

3. Magazine – We don't have a subscription to any magazines for my husband so he loves it when I go to the store and buy him a Wired magazine for the trip.
4. Gum – This is especially useful if you're riding in a plane and need some to pop your ears.
5. Sunglasses – (this is on the kids list, too) These are useful if you're traveling someplace sunny or if you're going to be in the car for a long time.
6. Fun Snacks – I usually buy my husband some snacks that he doesn't get on a regular basis like beef jerky or my homemade seasoned crackers.
7. Travel Pillow or Travel Blanket– If you don't already have one, sometimes it can be great to have something to relax with.

8. Book – I know a lot of people like to have a new book to read while they travel.
9. Power Bank – While on your travels, sometimes you can't find an outlet when you need one so this will let you charge your phone on the go!

10. Book Light – So that you can see your puzzle book, magazine, or book on the road when it's dark or in your hotel room while your traveling companions are sleeping.

For Kids:
1. PlayPack – they come in all sorts of characters from Mickey to Blaze to Princesses to Frozen

2. Small Lego Sets – they make these in every interest known to man! (well, not quite, but it seems like it) Plus, if you have a travel Lego lap tray like we do, these aren't even messy.
3. Coloring Books – they make these in full size and mini sized (perfect for when space is tight).
4. Candy – Clearly, we don't want our kids to be on a sugar-high while stuck in the car, but a fun candy necklace is entertaining and delicious!

5. Pen and Journal – Even for my little 5yo son, he absolutely loved the 6-in-one pen I bought him with the different colored ink and a sketch journal to draw in. Add some stickers and you've just provided hours of fun.
6. Sunglasses – This is an especially great gift if you're traveling somewhere sunny or traveling in the car.
7. Pez Dispensers – You could include this with candy. But my son especially loves all the characters you can find!
8. Books – I usually keep a small supply of new books that my son has never seen in the closet. I buy them from Scholastic during the school year and keep them for gifts. Now that my son is starting to read, these are especially great!
9. Movie – This doesn't have to be expensive! Haven't you seen the $3-$5 movie bins at Wal-Mart? Or how about all those cheap movies you can buy on Black Friday.
10. Create-A-Scene Magnetic Playset – Search it on Amazon. They have so many different ones! I found a Star Wars one for my son last year. He also has a farm one and I know they have a ton more!

11. Small toys – So, sometimes, I save up McDonald's Happy Meal toys to use as travel gifts or stocking stuffers. I take them out before giving the Happy Meal to my son so often that he doesn't even think it's strange or unfair anymore.
12. I-Spy Books – I put this in a separate category from regular books because they hold an entirely different level of entertainment. These books come in all types of characters and themes. Plus, they come for all different age levels. And to top it all off, they come in different sizes (I love the small ones for traveling).

13. Travel Pillow or Travel Blanket – They make these for kids, too! And I know at least my son loves to be comfy when we're on the road or in a plane.

14. Fun Waterbottle – You can buy a bottle with just about anything on it so I like to theme ours around our destination!

15. Collapsible Beach Pail – Seriously! This is only helpful if you're going to a beach. But come on! I don't know how many times we've gone to a store and bought some cheap beach toys after we got to our destination just to leave them at the hotel or throw them away so that we wouldn't have to put them in our luggage. This eliminates all of that!

I hope that some of these ideas are useful to you! And have fun on your trip!

Review: Batter Pen

I have seen these products around in stores and on TV and I really wanted to try it, but I wasn't sure that I wanted to spend $10-$20 on something that I might not use very often. Well, I went to this Christmas Buying Warehouse event before Christmas and saw one of these things there! It was only $1.50. How do I pass it up, right? So I bought it. And then I used it a couple weeks later to make some awesome pancakes. And you guys! I'm serious! It was so cool! I mean, you can make any shape that you want from the simple (snowman) to the difficult (holly). It was so easy. If you can make simple shapes, you can use this pen! I recommend it. My son especially enjoyed when I was able to make a pancake that read his name. Buy one!

Roadtrip Tips

Recently, my family (husband, myself, and 5-year-old son) went on a 13-hour roadtrip to Washington, D.C. From Illinois. Then, we came back after 3 days there. That may sound a little crazy to some people. It sounds crazy to me! However, it was for a good cause. My husband's cousin was getting married and we wanted to be there so we did the best we could and made it there and back in one piece.

I did my research ahead of time and planned the best I could. Roadtrips are hard. Especially with a little one. They're just so unpredictable. Are they going to sleep? Are they going to throw fits because they're so tired? Are they going to entertain themselves? Are they going to need you to entertain them? You never really know until you're on the road.

Let's start out with the packing of the car. I think the best piece of advice I can give you is to have everything you might need within reach. I even bought a 3 drawer organizer to help us with this. I kept snacks, travel gifts (more on that later), and things to entertain the adults in this. It was a great thing to have handy. My husband and I (whoever wasn't driving) sat in the back with our son so we kept the drawers in the passenger seat, facing the driver so that the driver or the person sitting in back could reach them.

The thing I find to be most helpful with my 5yo son is to bring travel gifts. I buy little toys and things that will entertain my son on our trip and then wrap them like presents (usually in tissue paper rather than wrapping paper to make it easier to open) and then number them. I let my son open them about 1 every 2 hours. Sometimes more often depending on how many gifts I end up buying.
Some ideas for travel gifts:
1. Playpack – there are so many different ones to choose from! They have everything from Star Wars to Hello Kitty to Minions to Inside Out.
2. Small Lego sets – we have one of those awesome travel trays so the Legos stay in one place, but if you don't have one of these awesome trays, bring along something else, like a cookie sheet to keep all the Legos in one place.
3. Coloring Books – I particularly like the Color Wonder books. That way, there is a guarantee of no mess (how often can you say that?).
4. Candy – Clearly, we don't want our kids to be on a sugar-high while stuck in the car, but a fun candy necklace is entertaining and delicious!
5. Pen and Journal – Even for my little 5yo son, he absolutely loved the 6-in-one pen I bought him with the different colored ink and a sketch journal to draw in. Add some stickers and you've just provided hours of fun.

Take breaks as often as you need them. I know there are some people out there that say to take a break every couple of hours. But I'm here to tell you that as long as you have gas in your tank and a sleeping child in the backseat, DO NOT STOP unless you have to. The ride will go so much smoother if you don't have a whiny child. We left at 5am and my son doesn't usually take naps, but sometimes, traveling just makes everyone tired!

Play games. You can play the license plate game or travel versions of regular games (battleship) or paper games (tic-tac-toe or hangman). There are so many options out there!

These are just a few tips to help you on your roadtrip. I hope they help you on your next adventure.

Crochet Earrings

So I made these crochet earrings a couple months ago and they are so easy! Plus, they are so light! I almost forgot I was wearing them one time. So here's the pattern:

Ch 13
Row 1: ch1, skip 1, 4 dc, skip 1, sc, skip 1, 4 dc, skip 1, sc, skip 1, 4dc, skip 1, (sc, ch1, sc, ch1, sc – you should now be on the other side of your work), skip 1, 4 dc, skip 1, sc, skip 1, 4 dc, skip 1, sc, skip 1, 4dc, skip 1, (sc, ch1, sc), ch1, sl st into first st, sew in ends.
Add a pearl to one side.
Add an earring hook to the other side.
Make another one just like it.
And voila! Beautiful earrings!

And if you don't want to make them yourself, you can buy them from my Etsy shop here.

Review: Miller Park Zoo

I have been to this zoo more times than I can count on my fingers. It's a great little zoo. My family has a membership so we get in for free with our card. It pays for itself after the third or fourth visit for us. Once you enter, you can go left or right. The zoo is pretty well set up in a circle so it doesn't really matter which way you go. We normally go to the left, but that's just us. Right now, there are no concessions, but I believe they've been talking about putting some in when they do their next renovation.

Update: They are currently under construction right now so you can't turn right when you first walk in. They're putting in a flamingo exhibit.

There are some really great animals here. The river otters are always entertaining. We love to see the harbor seal feedings. They do training exercises with them. In the back are the large animals like the Sun Bear (who has terrible arthritis, I've been told by the trainers) and the tiger and the 2 snow leopards (who just had 2 babies in early 2015, which is very rare). There are also 2 eagles, singing dogs, reindeer, and many other animals. We love the petting zoo. It's always fun. There is also a carousel in the middle.

One of our favorite things about this little zoo are all the events they hold. We have been here to see if our reindeer could pass Santa's tests to be a backup for his Christmas Eve trip. We have been here for Halloween (always the Sunday before) to go trick-or-treating. We have even been here for Star Wars Day! In 2015, we went to the Zoo Wild Lights event for the first time. This was pretty cool. One thing to know about all the events is that you need to come early. Come right when the event starts. These things get very busy very quickly. We normally finish up about an hour after it starts and by then, there are lines 30 people deep for everything.

Now, if you're not visiting during an event, you will probably need 1.5 hours to see everything. It's a great way to spend an afternoon with the kids. Don't pass up the zoo if you're in town.

We have a couple things planned in the next couple of months with the zoo that I'm really excited about! First, we're doing a 5k through the park as a fundraiser for the zoo in March. My 5yo son is even going to do the Fun Run (¼ mile). Then, we're having our son's 6th birthday party at the zoo in April. There will be a post about that later. I just love this place.

Recipe: Spinach Dip Bread Bowls

I said I wanted to post more than just reviews this year so here is my first recipe of 2016!

I made these in a regular-sized muffin tin first, but then a couple weeks later, I made these in a mini muffin tin and in my personal opinion, they were much better. They're super filling, so if you're making these as appetizers or for a party, the mini just makes more sense. These have just now become my go to appetizers. I have actually made them 3 or 4 times in the past year (which is a lot for me). Hopefully, you'll love them as much as I do.

Ingredients:
Roll of refrigerated french bread loaf, I used Simply Pillsbury
2 Tablespoons oil, I used canola
2 cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
3 oz softened cream cheese
½ cup light sour cream
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese, I used grated
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 20 mini muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. Unroll the package of french bread and slice into 10 equal slices, about 1 inch thick. Then, cut each of those slices in half. Press each slice into a circle with your hands. Press into the bottom and up sides of the muffin cup. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir spinach until wilted. Add garlic, cook and stir for another couple of minutes then turn the heat off.
3. Place cream cheese, sour cream, cooked spinach and garlic, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl. Mix until well combined. With a spoon, scoop dip into each of the centers of bread bowls. Top evenly with shredded cheese and bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges start to turn brown. Remove and let cool for a couple minutes.

A New Year

So 2015 is gone and 2016 is here (and has been for 10 days). Last year, I made some resolutions. They included to blog more on the regular, lose a little weight, and get a job. Truthfully, I didn't do too bad. Except for August, September, and October, I blogged about once a week. But I'm pretty okay with that because that is exactly when I started my new job. I am an assistant teacher at 2nd Pres Preschool. That's two boxes I was able to check off. As for the last one: lose a little weight. Well, we all know how easy that is. I lost about 17 pounds so at least I didn't gain any.

All of that being said, I have a few resolutions I would like to make for this year.

1. Keep up with blogging. I have been increasing my number of blog posts every year (2012: 18 posts; 2013: 32 posts; 2014: 62 posts; 2015: 70 posts). Let's see if I can keep up that momentum, huh? I also want to keep my posts diverse. In 2014, I did a lot of recipes and reviews. In 2015, I did a lot of reviews (like a lot!) and the 25 Days of Christmas. I mean seriously. I did like no recipes or crafts. What was I thinking? Oh well, I want to put a lot of my school crafts on here too to help out some fellow teachers!

2. Lose Some Weight. And I seriously mean just a little. I hate having unrealistic expectations for myself. I want to lose like 40 pounds this year. I got a FitBit for Christmas. I'm hoping that helps keep me on track.

3. Become a better teacher. Now, this shouldn't really be THAT difficult since I just started 4 months ago. But still, I think we should always strive to be better.

25 Days of Christmas: Day 24

Elf on the Shelf: Merry Christmas!
Our little elf just loves Christmas so much, he wanted to be a part of it! So he made himself part of our Charlie Brown nativity set!

Day 24: Charlie Brown
Every Christmas Eve, my son opens a box that has a new pair of pajamas, a Charlie Brown Christmas DVD and book, hot cocoa and popcorn. So of course, we read the book, watch the movie, and eat popcorn and sip on hot cocoa all while wearing new PJs! It's a fun tradition.

25 Days of Christmas: Day 23

Elf on the Shelf: Hiding in the Wreath
My son loves finding our elf every day so to make it extra hard, he hid someplace that took my son quite a bit of time to find.

Day 23: Apple Cider and Coloring
We had a great time just watching Christmas movies, coloring some Christmas coloring pages, and sipping on some hot apple cider. These relaxing moments with my family are some of my favorites.

25 Days of Christmas: Day 22

Elf on the Shelf: Leaving Presents!
Well, it looks like our elf was just checking things out yesterday, but today, he actually left some presents! Books! But it looks like he got stuck before he could get down completely.

Day 22: Christmas Shrinky Dinks
So these are not quite Shrinky Dink brand, but if you look on Amazon, you will find some shrinking paper. I bought some of this special paper and my son and I made some. They turned out awesome! I drew the outline for my son and he colored it in.