Though it’s not quite fall yet, that didn’t stop my family from attending the Peddler’s Village scarecrow festival. It’s a wonderful event and a great opportunity to get in some family time. I’m so glad that my twelve year old enjoys it just as much as I do.
All the best,
Tanya
Peddler’s Village is a lovely place that Quinn and I frequent during the summer to check out their sandcastle displays and quaint shops. With my birthday weekend lining up with October Feast, I figured why not check out the scarecrow displays for one of our family outings? They did not disappoint!
I’m so grateful that my eleven year old still enjoys family outings and loves autumn activities just as much as I do.
All the best,
Tanya
It’s that time of the year where my daughter and I pack in as many fun-filled autumn activities as possible before the cold weather arrives. Today, we had a sweet time with our cousins at Hersheypark.
Though it was jam-packed with people everywhere we turned, I secured my usual role as bag holder, and Quinn and our cousins, Merissa and Ellie, managed to get on quite a few rides. They even did a little trick or treating and received a bag load of Hershey candy from Reese’s cups to Kit Kats.
With the sun shining along with an occasional breeze, it was a perfect amusement park day. Though it’s only the first weekend in October, our activities are off to a fantastic start.
All the best,
Tanya
While I love autumn and the beautiful colors of the leaves, they eventually find their way on the ground, yard and sidewalk. The nostalgia of jumping in the leaves as a kid and watching my daughter play in the leaves giggling and tossing them everywhere is fleeting.
But there’s new moments which may not be as fun but are memorable. While most nine year olds are glued to their devices and have to be cajoled and pried off the couch to do chores, especially yard work, my nine year old volunteered even without the incentive of earning an allowance. So of course, I decided to give her a little something for working hard and expecting nothing but just wanting to help me. 🥰
Here’s to hoping that she keeps this work ethic well into teenage years. ☺️🤞🏽
All the best,
Tanya
“I want one that’s not too small and not too big,” my six year old told me as we made our way through the admissions entrance of Shady Brook Farm. Picking the “perfect” pumpkin has become just as involved as selecting the right Christmas tree for us. It must have a long enough stem with a slight curve, have a nice round shape, be smooth with minimal to no blemishes, lumps or bumps. It all started five years ago when my husband and I brought Quinn to the pumpkin patch for a little family fun.
Now, it is a wonderful family tradition filled with fun activities, smiles and laughter. My mother has even joined us for the past four years, and we all come ready with our gardening gloves for handling the pumpkins, large bags for carrying them and keen eyes for finding the right ones for our pumpkin decorating projects.
While going to the pumpkin patch is the main purpose of our outing, we also enjoy the many activities available from the corn maize, play ground, moon bounces, entertainment and various games. Of course, we could easily get a pumpkin at the local Giant or grocery store, but I look forward to this family tradition and especially the family togetherness that comes from this day long outing at Shadybrook Farm. If you are local to the Bucks County, PA area and looking for a fall activity for your family, give it a try!
All the best,
Tanya H. Franklin
“This is the best chore of the day, Mommy,” my five year old excitedly told me. It’s that time of the year where autumn is in full swing. Trees display beautiful leaves in hues of red, yellow and orange that we all gaze at and admire. Unfortunately, those very leaves eventually fall to the ground leaving behind that dreaded chore for many adults to continuously rake them all up for the next month or longer, depending on how many of these beautiful trees surround their homes.
I actually don’t mind it so much because I often daydream about when I was younger jumping in the leaves or just making that crunchy sound as I walked down the street stepping on leaves. My daughter has the same love for nature that I have. This morning, after getting home from my kickboxing workout, the sun was shining, and the leaves covered most of our grass and portions of our sidewalk, so I figured that I’d get a little more exercise by raking the leaves.
Automatically, Quinn said, “I want to help too, Mommy! I love raking the leaves!” My sweet girl has been helping since she was just one years old, and each year, she gets better and better. We made it a family activity along with her dad and spent about an hour outside clearing the colorful leaves. She even wanted to hold onto some of the leaves so that she could identify what trees they came from.
I love how we can have fun doing chores and truly enjoy each other’s company. These are the colorful moments we share together, and I will always cherish them.
All the best,
Tanya
I’ve always loved the fall season, and not just because my birthday is in October but because there’s so many wonderful activities and ways to have family fun. Last year, I did many activities with my little girl, and now that she’s three and in preschool during the week, she’s even more eager to have some autumn weekend fun. I didn’t want this season to go by without taking out some time to reflect on this fall and Halloween season.
Usually, I’d post separate entries on our adventures, but our new and very busy schedule has been an ongoing transition for us both. But I could not allow this season to go by without acknowledging all of the fun moments we’ve been having together.
This year, we kept with tradition, and my husband, Quinn and I went to a local pumpkin patch, Shadybrook Farms, to select pumpkins to decorate and to have some fun doing the different activities. Though it did rain a little, it was awesome seeing how much more involved she was in the pumpkin selecting process. She was so excited to get home and work on her pumpkin. Since Quinn loves Paw Patrol, we made a Marshall pumpkin, and it was actually quite effortless with the help of a kit from Target.
For the first time, we were able to attend the Harvest Festival in our township where there were hayrides, bouncers, face painting, treats and other activities. Though many of the bouncers were geared towards older children ,which was a bit frustrating for my little girl, especially since she wanted to follow behind her older cousin, she really enjoyed having her face painted like Hello Kitty.
While it does not involve what adults would be considered a “fun” activity, Quinn had a blast helping my husband and me rake leaves. Of course, she insisted on jumping in them after she helped rake a big pile of them together. Her laugh is absolutely infectious!
We couldn’t have Halloween and fall fun without visiting Quinn’s favorite amusement park, Sesame Place. We planned on attending last Saturday, but it was rained off and on all day. Though I had tons of papers to grade on Sunday, I carved out a few hours to take Quinn there so that she could see the Halloween version of the Sesame Place parade. We sat and waited on the parade route for over an hour to ensure that we had a good spot (it was already packed with people waiting). Just to see my little girl’s face light up with excitement made the wait well worth it.
Another “first” was attending the Halloween party at our local library for children five and under last Monday, October 24th. Even “Llama Llama, Red Pajama” stopped by to entertain the children. It was far more crowded than I anticipated, approximately 50 kids, but Quinn thoroughly enjoyed herself and didn’t want to leave. She’s always liked going to the library, but she now associates it with a fun-filled time.
This makes the third year in a row that we’ve attended the “Boo at the Zoo” event at the Philadelphia Zoo, and as always, it did not disappoint. Though I did not have Quinn wear her actual Halloween costume for fear of it getting dirty (It’s all white), she and my niece, who accompanied us, had a great time trick or treating, learning interesting facts, riding a few animals and seeing some of the animals as well. Plus, it’s always fun to see all of the children in their costumes.
Even though I haven’t been posting as frequently as I usually do, I am grateful for the moments I’m creating with my daughter. I love her so much and truly do enjoy our time together as a family. Here’s to autumn and Halloween fun! My fingers are crossed for good trick or treating weather tomorrow.
All the best,
Tanya
Quinn Painting Her Masterpiece “Orange Leaves”
A few weeks ago, my mother asked me what are my hopes for my little girl. After giving it some thought, I said, “I hope Quinn will be successful at whatever she does and have a happy life.” But then, I began pondering over the many areas in which she displays interests, imagining what she will become. While I do not want to be a pushy, overbearing mom possibly living my dreams and aspirations through Quinn, I want to ensure that I am providing her with the proper resources to determine what she enjoys and in what areas she is gifted.
Most children love painting, and though my daughter is still developing her pincer skills and dexterity, I observe how serious and intentional she is while painting. She knows what colors she wants to use where and even asked to use red and yellow for our autumn tree project because she said, “Red and yellow make orange!” Like a true artist, she demanded that I not take her picture while she’s painting and told me, “Mommy, it’s my masterpiece; no pictures please!” OF course, I had to sneak one.
It may be messy at times, but I am happy that Quinn enjoys expressing herself through painting and hope she will continue to display this interest into adulthood.
All the best,
Tanya
Doc McStuffins and Lambie/Mother and Daughter Costumes
I truly do enjoy having a child; one reason is because we have formed such a special bond in such a short duration of time. Another is that she brings out the child in me. While some people stick up their noses at the idea of parent and child dressing alike or think it’s corny, I’m one of those mothers who loves having coordinating outfits with my daughter. They usually are not identical, but there is a color theme or character theme uniting them.
Halloween is an excellent opportunity to display that mother/daughter bond. Last year, Quinn and I were super heroes to get the most out of the costumes from her first birthday party with a super hero theme; she was Super Quinn, and I was Super Mom. This year, Quinn wanted to be Doc McStuffins, so I, of course, had to be Lambie, Doc McStuffins’ helpful stuffed toy lamb and friend. Yesterday, Quinn and I went to The Please Touch Museum’s Halloween Monster Mash Bash donning our costumes. Though we spotted two other Doc McStuffins, we were the only Doc and Lambie duo and received several compliments on our costumes; there were even a few people who asked if they could take a picture of us.
While I was able to find and purchase Quinn’s Doc McStuffins costume at a local Halloween store, with a 20 percent off coupon of course, mine was not as easy. I did an online search for a lamb and even a sheep costume but only found costumes for young children. Then it occurred to me, I’m crafty and love special projects; why not create my own costume? Since I received so many compliments on my Lambie costume, I figured I share what I did to create it if you are in a similar situation.
Firstly, I purposely selected clothing items that I could potentially use in the future so that I could justify spending money beyond what I anticipated to make the costume.
Target was actually my “go-to” store for most of my outfit. I purchased my knitted hat for $14. The lamb faux fur vest, which was the most costly item at $34.99, a long sleeve white shirt for $8 and pink tutu socks for $2. (Though the total is $59, I had a $5 gift card and saved $3 more by using my Target debit card for a total of $51)
Amazon was my other “go-to.” I ordered my white fleece tights for $11.99 through them and a pair of white yoga pants for $14.95 as a back-up since we have a few outings lined up, and know I will wear them in the future. Though I liked the fit of the yoga pants better because of my height, (I am about 5′ 11”) I opted to wear the tights, which are for a woman of average height, to the Please Touch Museum because they went better with the tutu socks and were fitted around the ankle instead of loose. I also ordered my pink tutu through Amazon, which was far cheaper than getting it from one of the Halloween or party stores for just $10.
To pull the rest of the costume together, I ordered the lamb ears and tail through an Etsy business, TechnicandyLand for $14. They were good quality and had clips so that I could easily attach them onto my beanie hat or even clip them to my hair if I wished. I used elastic crotchet hair bands from AC Moore for just $1.50 for my wrists (Initially, I intended on doing this for my ankles too but just did not have enough time, so I purchased the socks) and didn’t have to purchase tulle because I had plenty left over from previous projects to make the tutu sleeves along with the signature pink bow Lambie wears, but the cost is usually around $3 or $4 or even cheaper if you have a 50 percent off coupon, which I usually have for AC Moore or Michaels.
In regard to making up my face, I used make-up that I already had available rather than buying a face paint kit.
In adding up the total cost, it’s a little over $100, which certainly is more than I would be willing to pay for a costume at a Halloween store, but when I minus out the clothing I will still wear after Halloween or without it being a special event, the total remaining is about $20. I actually purchased a faux vest for my daughter to wear on one of our coordinated “theme” dressing days. Also, the fun I got from putting together this costume and getting input from Quinn made it all worth it.
All the best,
Tanya
All week long, I’ve been posting entries on the autumn fun my two year old daughter and I have been having. Unfortunately, yesterday, I failed to post an entry, but it was for a good reason. Quinn, her daddy and I were out partying with her little friend Arya and her parents and having so much fun at the Please Touch Museum’s annual Halloween Monster Mash Bash. When we came home, the bed was calling my name.
Last year, we attended the event and had a great time, but now that she understands the concept of Halloween and was excited about getting dressed up, we had an even better time. As members of the Please Touch Museum, we we granted entry one hour before the general public and able to visit the different food and treat stations. We enjoyed free carousel rides from 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm and took silly pictures in the photo booth as part of our ticket purchase of $15 per person.
In addition to Quinn visiting the different exhibits and activity rooms, such as the supermarket and hospital, we saw a puppet show and were able to snag seats in the front row of the packed auditorium. Quinn actively participated when the puppeteer asked questions of the audience and even asked if she could see the show again. But there was so much more to do, so we didn’t make our way back to the show.
Then, we hit the dance floor where Clifford the Big Red Dog was hanging out, along with many other children with their families, Quinn and her friend Arya immediately began to dance displaying their fancy footwork!
Though we were there for four hours, not counting the time we waited in line to gain entry, the time really flew by, and Quinn was not ready to leave. But my husband jokingly said that I looked like I was having more fun than Quinn. He’s probably right! Seeing the smile on Quinn’s face and hearing her say, “I’m having fun, Mommy!” without me asking her made me feel so good.
All the best,
Tanya
The doctor is in!
Fun on the Carousel
Quinn dancing with Clifford
Mommy's Baby Steps 