Planners!

Planners are going crazy right now.  Who would have imagined with smart phones we would want to actually write things down?  Well, we do!  Or at least I do....

This post I wanted to share two planners that I currently own.  I also just placed an order on Etsy for planner stickers that I can show in a separate post if there is interest.


So I own a Blue Sky planner that I purchased at Walmart for around $10.00.  Yesterday I purchased a MAMBI Happy Planner at Hobby Lobby for around $15 using my coupon.  Below are some comparison pictures.



I really like the size of my Blue Sky planner.  It is easy to write in.  On the other hand I really like the weekly set up of the MAMBI.  It is easier to embellish if that is your thing.  Do you use planners?  What is your planner of choice?

MAMBI Planner Weekly Pages

MAMBI Planner Monthly Pages

Blue Sky Planner Monthly Pages

Blue Sky Planner Weekly Pages

Toddler Book Ideas

Here is another weeks worth of library books.  We just got these this morning and have only had a chance to sit down with them once.  As usual he really likes these touch and feel books.  I put several on his Christmas list.

Left to right:

That's not my pig... - touch and feel book
That's not my plane... - touch and feel book
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? - cute rhyming book.  He didn't seem to interested but I know this is a real popular book
That's not my lamb..- touch and feel book
Animal Noises - animals and the sounds they make


What books are you loving to read to your little one?
Check out last weeks books here.

Toddler Meal Ideas

I tried to take pictures this week of my sons meals (when I remembered!).  Thought this would be a good way to share meal ideas.  Please put your favorite meals to feed your little one in the comments below!  Check out another recipe idea here.




Breakfast: Cinnamon toast waffles, blueberries and a smoothie

Breakfast: Chocolate waffles and raspberries (also a smoothie not pictured)

Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly, goldfish crackers, and a banana



Dinner: Split pea soup (recipe from Skinnytaste blog) but I added noodles to his, strawberries and grapes

Fall activities to do with your little one

October is almost over so it's crunch time to do all of those fun fall activities.  I thought I would create a quick, short list of things to do.  These are things I found around where I live but I am certain something similar would exist around you as well.


1) Pumpkin Patches!  This is a given.  So fun to walk through the pumpkins and pick some out to carve (or paint in our case).

2) Local Farms - around here we have a lot of produce farms.  They all transform into fall fun lands.  Straw mazes, hay to climb, horses, feeding animals, apple picking, etc.  I would google it to see if there are any of these by you.

3)  Halloween parties - every Park District around where I live is having some type of Halloween party.  Also our locals libraries have Halloween parties.  We will be attending several.  Most of these are free or under $10.

4) Trick or treating - if the weather doesn't hold up to take your little one outside trick or treating, check your local malls.  Our mall has trick or treating hours so that kids can go into each store and get their treats.  There is also other activities taking place.

Hope this gives you all some ideas!  If you have any other ideas, please post them below. 

Some Halloween crafts my mom made for us

Traveling with a toddler - Universal Studios - Orlando

This topic is going to be a multi post topic.  This year, we traveled to Orlando with our son twice.  Once to Disney and once to Universal. 

Today I am going to talk about Universal Studios. 

We went at the end of August, so it wasn't too busy as most kids were back in school.  However, it was HOT and humid but that is to be expected.  My son was almost 20 months old when we went.

We purchased our tickets right at Universal.  My husband purchased an Express Pass as he was going to be riding most of the rides and was hoping to do so quickly.  My first impression was that we aren't at Disney!  It really is not as baby friendly as anywhere in Disney.  I am talking about everything from rides, to restaurants, to stores, to simply just walking around and finding a place to get a stroller up onto the sidewalk without climbing up the curb.

Rides:  The only ride my son did was ET.  He just made the height requirement.  He is very tall for his age.  In hindsight, this ride was probably too scary for him.  I felt bad the whole time we were on it.  I could tell he was kind of nervous.  I remember riding this dozens of times when I was younger and it just seemed more "scary" now.  My husband did most of the other rides and enjoyed Transformers the best, FYI.

Attractions:  He really enjoyed the Curious George and Fievels Playland sections.  He played there for awhile.  We also spent quite a bit of time walking around the Simpson's area.  That was more for us than him.  :)

Curious George

Fievel's Playland

Fievel's Playland



Simpson's




Food:  We ate lunch at Universal.  We had pizza at Louie's Italian Restaurant.  It was good pizza.  Not awesome but good. 

 
  Shopping:  The only shopping I did was buying a small ET from the store that the ride lets out at.  It was a horrible shopping experience.  It took at least 10 minutes to check out and I was the only one in the store. 


Overall I would actually go back but not until he is older.  I really wished we had done Disney again instead of Universal at this age.

Stay tuned for my other posts about Universal.  They will include the CityWalk, Cabana Bay Beach Resort (and other Universal hotels), and more!










 

Toddler Book Suggestions

I have another post on what library books we checked out this week.  We have five books this time. 

Left to right:

Through the Town -  a really cute rhyming book although the pictures aren't great. 
That's not my pony... - a touch and feel book. He likes these types
Farmyard Rhymes - a book of popular rhymes related to farm animals
That's not my pirate... - another touch and feel book
Little Critters Colors - a book with each color listed per page with coordinating pictures

Overall his favorite this week are the touch and feel books.  I will do another post next week with new books.

Check out last weeks books here.

Busy Books

I wanted to share another busy book my mom made.  This one, like the other, is made of felt so it's very soft.  This one is "interactive" meaning there are removable parts (using Velcro).  He really like this one.  The down side to this one is making sure you don't lose any of the pieces.

Check out my other busy book post here.