Globetrotters Equal Smiles

 

  Globetrotters equal smiles and laughs for the whole family!   A nice Saturday afternoon relaxing in front of a live game was what we needed to start our weekend off right!

  The noise and excitement got you motivated but the silliness and antics of the players kept you focused.

  My kids have never been to a game and I'm glad I got them to one.  We do enjoy getting out on the weekends for some kind of fun and although they didn't actively participate sometimes it is ok to just sit back and enjoy.  

My kids kept their eyes on the game the whole time. The did get a bag of cotton candy but really, really enjoyed the game.     Grab the family and experience the Globetrotters 

There is still time to experience the excitement and fun yourself! Save 20% with code USFAM or 

 this coupon

Go into the next week with this motto!

Thanks for following us on our adventures!

Random Acts of Kindness (Volunteering)

  Working without pay is to volunteer.
Volunteer is one who gives up there time willingly to  do something.  I try to volunteer when I can and when I can take my kids I try to include them as well.

  One evening I took my daughter to assist with Compassion alongside me.  Compassion is an organization that allows you to sponsor a child in another country.  Supporting them through various parts of their life.  Donations could be for food, medical, school and more.

  We helped with The Compassion Experience.  This event is a mobile experience traveling around the world.  At these events you get the opportunity to walk into Uganda or Philippines.  You get a glimpse of poverty.  Hear through a named child's voice their daily life of how they started out and how things have gotten better due to Compassion and sponsors.

  My daughter walked through one experience but there are 3 available.  After that we were ready to work our 4 hour shift!  Our job was to pass out devices (used to listen to the experiences) clean them and retrieve them for new visitors.

  The work wasn't hard but it was helpful.  When you volunteer you allow other things to get done.  The staff, company/organization can work on more important things, they can hire less people resulting in more money used for the specific cause, it also just allows people to help and do good.

  My daughter enjoyed herself.  Understands what we were there to do and the impact we made by being there.

  This year I plan on getting my family out to volunteer in more areas, with more organizations. Helping with causes close to us and places where we are needed.

  If you would like to see the Compassion Experience checkout their website here
to see the upcoming locations.  You are also able to sponsor a child well as sign up for volunteer opportunities.

Family Fun (Theater)

  Lights, camera and action!  Showtime at Downing Gross for the family!  We won tickets a couple months ago for the Willy Wonka show and boy waiting for the show date to get here took so long.

My kids are familiar with both versions of Willy Wonka so they knew the plot but, they also knew from previous theater show experiences that anything is possible.  This show was no different.

Willy Wonka was a little different in this version.

Going to a show is so fun because it proves it's not about who plays the part as much as it is about the story.  Charlie was also a surprise!  Charlie was a girl too!

The show ran for a couple hours with a short intermission in the middle.  My kids sat through the duration without any problems.  They were extremely entertained by the movie.  I wish I could give them a theater experience monthly.

This show was great.  There was a lot of singing and action.  The story focused on the winners of the golden tickets and then followed them through the factory.

Each golden ticket winner was just as animated and entertaining as the next.  It was interesting to watch what would actually happen to each winner on the tour of the chocolate factory.

The audience even got to become a part of the show at one point when bubbles came out from the ceiling.  That was a highlight for my kids.  We were not sitting directly under them to fully appreciate them but it was nice to see them falling.  There second favorite part was the blueberry scene.  In this scent the little girl's suit actually blew up!  

I think a great family show is one with a lot of kid actors and actresses.  My kids enjoyed seeing all the little people playing various parts in the show.  

We had a great time.  No snacks, electronics and sitting still was not even a concentrated effort.  Our time at the theater just flowed.  We had a good time and finished our experience with some photo opportunities! 

Look it's the Oompa Loompas!

Hello Willy Wonka!

Well this concludes our family fun for the week.  Do you have any family fun planned?  Or what family fun did you do already? 

This is a great cultural arts center.  We have enjoyed a few events there as a family and I look forward to more in the future.  They offer a range of classes and events throughout the year.   Along with special summer programs.  We even caught some local school artwork on our way out.  That was fun for the kids to see too.

Family Fun (nails)

  I have showed you how staying home can be just as fun as going out when it comes to hanging out with my kids.  This Friday was another day at home.

  Nail party!  Now granted I try very hard to discourage my son from getting his nails done.  He usually gets a smiley.  This week he was an active painter.

Per his request to use yet another of my birthday presents I received; I accepted his offer to paint my toes.

He selected my colors which involved alternating colors on each toe.  

He took his job very seriously and painted each toe with precision.  He showed great patience and dedication. 

I then painted my daughters feet!

She selected purple and gold.  She always likes alternating colors.

Finally I finished my hands! After all the time it takes to paint nails or have them painted requires a lot sitting still so I was on my hand to finish up.

Pink and gold for me!  

One thing I noticed from this activity was the attention to detail.  The television was on but my son didn't pay attention to it. He was doing something he wanted to do and nothing else mattered.

Such a fun evening at home!  How was you evening with your family or kids?

Train Depot Pitstop (Tuesday trip)

  A couple weeks ago my bookclub visited the Suffolk Seaboard Station Railroad for our recent book The Girl on the Train.  While here we discussed the book, were introduced to the next book and received an informative tour of the museum.

The tour was interesting as I had never visited here before.  Inside you see all types of items from the train itself, to what the conductor wore, signs and dining car items.

The group made the climb upstairs and took in the sights of downtown Suffolk.

 We concluded our trip with a peek in the caboose.  I actually didn't know these were the living quarters for the train staff.

Not sure about the story behind the torpedoes.

It was a nice day trip.  Train fans would appreciate seeing all the memorabilia and model trains.  

If you are interested in visiting the museum you can find out more information here.

Family Fun (Rock edition)

  Over the summer my kids had a blast finding, hiding and painting rocks in our area.    This is such a great time for the family.  The snow and cold weather has slowed things down but not stopped it.

  Hiding the rocks is a one of the fun parts.  We don't always remember to bring them with us to re-hide so sometimes we just re-hide the ones we find. 

We hide them on the sides of buildings!

Under trees in plain site in a high traffic area!

Along the side of a walking path!

Although hiding inside buildings is not acceptable some places are like the library. 

Rock selection is up to the person. 

 Decide what your going to paint and begin painting.

  Sit back and be proud of your rocks. 

Don't be surprised if you even make something that you can't part with.  

The rocks can be painted or made as elaborate as you like.  Even though you may hide them outside or inside the owner can keep them where ever so anything goes on a rock when it comes to the design of them.

Lastly, you have to hide some!  That's what makes this so fun.  It's all about hiding and finding them!

Rock groups are everywhere and if it's not you can easily start one.  Paint a rock and hide it. Start a Facebook group so found rocks can be announced and you can even share clues of where the rocks were hid on there.  

This is a great and somewhat cheap activity to do with your family. Rainy day, inside or outside activity.  Any age can play to because an artistic ability is not necessary.

I hope you enjoyed reading one of our family fun events! If you hide rocks I would love to hear about your experience.

Wordless Wednesday (Halloween 2017)

  Every year even if we go to the same places Halloween is different.  The trunks are different at the Trunk or Treats, the festival events are different and even a trip though the neighborhood brings new experiences.  Regardless of all the candy the kids will remember what they were, who they were with and maybe how much they walked.  Candy cravings will fade and I can't wait.

    The hardest part of Halloween is not what candy to eat first, or which house to start at first.

It's what costume to wear!

The festivals are fun because they have so many activities and crafts to do.

Master Gardeners always have such fun crafts.  They glued different leaves on plates and the kids used their imagination to complete the picture. 

No lollipops for these ghosts. These were made from the Sweetgum Tree pods. 

Finale to our night was Trunk or Treat.  I can't say if there was a theme or not but, some of the trunks are so fun no theme is necessary.  

It's extra fun when people match the cars! Hello Mario where's Luigi?

This was my favorite!  Such minimal work but a huge statement!

We went to the circus.

We didn't touch the jellyfish.

Emoji's are a language everyone knows.

Special appearance by the Golden Girls.

An interactive trunk. I-Spy!

This was the most elaborate car. The starship enterprise.

4 pumpkins brought this yellow brick road together.

Pumpkins were not going to be showed up by some cars!

                

                

  This fun was the weekend before the big day so we had days of Halloween fun!  How did you spend you Halloween or last few days of October?  Did you attend a fall festival?