My Bassinet to Crib Panic Attack

04 Oct 2012 1 Comment

by Natalie in Dealing with Death, Parenting Battles, What's a mom to do?

I buried part of my innocence when I buried my baby boy.

I wish that I hadn’t.

Before Luca died two years ago, I was naively optimistic about the world. I was certain that nothing bad or difficult would come my way.

Boy, were my eyes opened the night I found out I would have to deliver him after he had already died. Bad things happen to good people, and I will never see the world the same again.

But I thought things were going better for me recently. That having a rainbow baby had once again instilled hope into my life.

I didn’t realize how scared I still was that something might go wrong again for me — until we tried having our new baby sleep in his crib, in a room down the hall.

I thought I was ready to move him, my two-and-a-half-month-old good night sleeper, into a bedroom with his two oldest brothers. But after a 2 a.m. panic attack the second night of having him out of my room, I knew it was too soon.

I pushed my husband out of bed, made him go grab our baby and bring him back to me. I was scared to death that something had happened to him.

Seriously? It’s crazy how much I still worry that something is going to happen to my living children. I have some major posttraumatic stress when it comes to my kids.

Having a new baby has given me hope, but that hope hasn’t quite extinguished all of my fear.

I guess I didn’t realize how many times a night I reach over his bassinet wall to feel the rise and fall of his chest, or lean over to brush my ear near his nose to hear the in and out of his breath. Having him near — close enough to physically feel that he is still alive — has comforted me more times than I realized.

So after one and a half nights in his crib, he is now back in the bassinet by the side of my bed. I know that eventually I am going to have to move him to the other room permanently — heaven knows he’s getting nearly too big for his little bed. But I don’t know how I am going to do it.

How am I going to put my mind at ease? How will I keep from waking and worrying a dozen times a night when he’s not next to me?

Gosh I hate that I have these feelings. I hate that anyone has to go through hard times.  I wish I could go back to the days when I was positive that everything would work out the way I wanted it to.

But I don’t think I will ever be able to go back to those days. And I wouldn’t trade having Luca for anything. He may have died, but he is still, and will always be, my baby.

I just wish he were still here with me, and ultimately that his death hadn’t shattered my rose colored glasses and left me worrying about what big trial I am going to have to face next.

I wish I could have held onto my everything-in-the-world-is-amazing positive attitude a little bit longer. Then maybe I could sleep easier at night.

He Packs, She PACKS

20 Sep 2012 3 Comments

by Natalie in Failed Housewife, What's a mom to do?

Here are the bags I recently packed while getting ready for vacation.

My husband made the comment a couple of weeks ago about how women are always stressed out before going on vacation. Oh really?

After running (with the kids) to get the van’s tires checked, buying diapers and gas from Costco, picking out everyone’s favorite treats from Winco, hauling 4 loads of laundry up and down our stairs, and then packing 1/3 of our home into several miscellaneous bags and boxes I can tell you why this woman was stressed out the day before our most recent vacation.

My favorite part about getting ready for our trip to Yellowstone two weeks ago? My husband telling the boys that they could go outside and have a water fight while I got everything together. Keep in mind, my boys don’t like to do anything without me and my husband was conveniently occupied with meetings over at the church house. Add a fussy 2-month-old to the mix and needless to say, I was up til’ 11 p.m. getting stuff ready to go.

Here is the bag my husband packed while getting ready for vacation.

It’s hard being in charge of everyone’s crap. My husband did his packing two nights before we left. He shoved everything he needed for the four-day trip into one small over-the-shoulder duffle bag.

I wish I could say everything else we needed fit into a similar bag. I managed to cram the rest of our trip needs into two suitcases, a large picnic basket, medium cooler, giant toy/activity bag, big diaper box, camera bag and purse/diaper bag.

And I packed light.

I guess that’s the difference between a woman and a man. I wish I was more easy going about packing and didn’t worry about all the things I might forget.

Luckily the trip was well worth the work. But each time we get ready to go out of town and I’m running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I seriously wonder if it will be worth it.

I guess I can’t help falling into the stressed-out-before-we-go-on-vacation woman category. Next time I’m going to let my husband do the packing, that way if we forget anything, it will be on his watch.

Melting Up Some Magic

13 Sep 2012 3 Comments

by Natalie in What We Do/Make for Fun, What's a mom to do? Tags: , , , ,

My brother and his cute new wife just got back from a honeymoon to Florida. Where they visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Universal Studios in Orlando.

They stopped by and showed us photos of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, where they bought their robes and wands.

Naturally, after they told us of their stop to Ollivanders and the amazing wands they bought, my boys wanted wands too.

They thought my brother should have bought them some.

I tried to tell my boys that “the wand chooses the wizard” so there was no way that their uncle could have chosen a wand for them, but they still didn’t understand.

My oldest son told my brother to go home and use his Elder Wand to do a spell to send him and his brother their own wands. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that no use of the word “accio” would ever be able to summon up wands.

The next day a small box was delivered to our doorstop while we were gone running errands. My boys ran to the porch to see what it was, but were sorely disappointed when the box contained my new year’s supply of contact lenses – not their new wands.

At that point they began to realize that they might not magically get their hands on some wands.

That’s when the constant begging began for me to help them make some wands. My sister-in-law found an easy way to make authentic-looking wands on Pinterest and my boys wouldn’t let me forget it.

Finally when I could take it no longer, I found the Pinterest pin and we gathered up some supplies to make our own magic.

First off we headed to the local oriental market for a package of chopsticks. We bought a 20-pack for $3.99.


Then we came home and gathered up brushes, some acrylic paint, hot glue sticks, a glue gun and a bunch of different sized beads.


The boys took turns looking through and choosing their own beads and we worked carefully to glue them on to the bottom end of the chopsticks. The instructions I saw online said to cover the beads in glue then, after the glue was cool, to mold the wands’ handles with your hands.


That didn’t go so well for me. I ended up nearly melting my palm to a few of the wands trying to mold the ends before I decided it wasn’t worth it. Instead I ran the end of the wands under some cold water until the glue was almost all set. Then I squeezed the end with my hand to make sure the beads would stay.


The beads and glue made the handles of the wands look real. We even added a feather into a couple of the wands so that they had a “core.”

Once we had the wands molded to our liking, we needed to finish them off with paint.


The painting part was probably the fastest, but most stressful part.  I don’t know why I ever think I am a patient enough mom to paint with my children. Even though I make them wear some of my really old t-shirts I am still a nervous wreck that they are going to end up with paint everywhere.

But we survived and I am really happy with how the wands turned out.


They were really easy and my boys have been playing with them ever since. You can check out the website we looked at for instructions here.

My boys wanted to be done after we made only two wands. But after I had strewn crafting supplies all over my kitchen, I wasn’t going to stop with only a couple of wands. I made them help me finish ten. That way when we lose some (which I know we will) or when friends come over, we will have extras.

They are definitely not as fancy or as authentic as the ones my brother picked up in Florida, and I am sure they aren’t nearly as nicely made, but don’t tell my 4 and 6 year olds, to them they are still pretty magical.

What Should I Tell My Children About My Past Mistakes?

06 Sep 2012 2 Comments

by Natalie in From My Heart, Parenting Battles, Trying to be a Better Mom, What's a mom to do? Tags: , , ,

I had flashbacks all last week to one of my most traumatic childhood experiences.

My son’s elementary school headed to the local aquatic center last Friday for a field trip party at the pool. The thought of him going swimming with his schoolmates flipped my mind back to the time when my elementary school did the same — and the time when I was a few seconds from drowning.

I was 8 or 9 years old when the experience happened. My school was heading to their annual trip to the local pool. We walked with a buddy and were to stick with that buddy while swimming.

Unfortunately for me, my buddy could swim and I couldn’t. My mom warned me for days to stay off of the donut-shaped floatation tubes. She knew I couldn’t handle them. She wanted me to stay in the shallow end where I would be safe.

But my buddy rented one of the tubes then headed to the deep end of the pool. Stupidly I followed.

Almost immediately I ended up under the donut floaty while waves splashed around me and I fought for my life to climb back up. The tube’s slippery plastic, along with other tubes slamming on top of me, kept me from climbing to safety. Luckily a sixth-grade swimmer saw my desperation and drug me to safety where I coughed up what felt like a gallon of water.

It was one of the scariest things that has ever happened to me. And I still haven’t learned to swim because of it.

Not only was I scared for my life in the pool, I was scared for my life at home. I don’t think I told my mom about my near-death experience for almost a week. I knew she would be furious. She had warned me not to float on a tube. I was terrified to hear her say, “I told you so.”

So with that experience in the back of my mind, I geared up to let my 6-year-old baby splash in the water with his friends. Despite the fact that the school sent home a note forbidding flotation devices, I was still terrified.

I didn’t want him to sense my hesitation in letting him head to the pool with the student bodies of two elementary schools and only their staff and a couple dozen lifeguards there to protect him. But how could I hide it? And I didn’t want to tell him about my experience because I was certain he wouldn’t go after that.

I tried to encourage him to go, but I was so scared.

He has taken swimming lessons for the past three years, but he is just starting to feel comfortable in the water, and he is definitely not a fish-like swimmer.

He ended up not wanting to go so I picked him up early from school Friday and he hung out at home.

Honestly I was relieved because I knew he would be safe with me, but it got me thinking about what I should share with my children.

I don’t want my children to know of all of the major mistakes I have made or will make in life. I don’t want my stupid choices to impact their decisions. But when they have challenges in life, maybe it would help them to know of my own challenges. Maybe it would help them realize that I am an imperfect human, just like they are.

Now I know that floating in the deep end of the pool when I knew I couldn’t swim wasn’t an immoral or illegal action, but it was something that was seriously stupid. Should I tell my boys about my experience?

Maybe if I didn’t completely scare him from the field trip, my oldest might have been able to learn from my story and use it as a what-not-to-do example.

Heaven knows I have other stories of stupid things I have done. Should I shed all of the skeletons from my closet and come clean with my children?

Maybe, for now, I’ll keep the skeletons locked up, but not forgotten. That way when my sons make mistakes or do stupid things I’ll be able to sympathize. Hopefully all of my stupid mistakes will make me a better parent, a more understanding parent.

Because as the mother tasked with raising three boys, I am sure I will parent through my fair share of their mistakes.

Sew Stressful

23 Aug 2012 1 Comment

by Natalie in Failed Housewife, What's a mom to do?

I don’t know why I think I can sew but every once in a while I get a wild hare and decide to tackle another sewing project.

What was it this time? A skirt for me to wear at my brother’s wedding.

I must have been feeling overly confident because I recently sewed some burp cloths that turned out pretty cute. But then again how hard is it to sew a square spit rag? The burp cloths were nothing compared to the skirt.

In my defense I didn’t think of sewing the skirt a week before my little brother’s big day as a first resort. One of my best friends and I went to several stores skirt shopping and had no success.

Nothing stood out to me and I didn’t want to spend $40 or more on something I thought was mediocre. Not to mention the fact that being a little over a month post-partum I hope to lose a few more pounds of my baby weight. (Note I said, “hope.” We will see what really happens.)

I didn’t want to drop some serious cash on a skirt that might not fit in December.

So the day after my skirt-shopping failure, I packed up my boys and made a trip to JoAnns.

I don’t know what other young boys think of that craft superstore, but my boys hate it. They were out of control the second we stepped foot in the door.

I rushed through the store searching for something to match my brother’s wedding colors as my boys swung from the cart and chased each other around. I finally settled on a green-patterned print and hurried to get it cut.

But I thought I was going to scream at the cutting counter. One of my sons decided to play dead in the middle of the aisle by lying sprawled out on the floor. That’s when the other one decided to pounce on him like he really was dead meat. All the while the young employee cutting my fabric just chuckled under her breath.

I didn’t think it was funny. I grabbed one of them by the arm and he started screaming out that I was hurting him. After half the store had turned their angry eyes on me – the parent that was beating up on her child – I called his bluff and made him admit that he wasn’t hurting at all. That’s when he started laughing and ran off again to chase his brother.

By the time we made it to the checkout line I was ready to cry.

My oldest two boys did end up crying – one hit his head on a metal shelf while trying to (once again) run away from me, the other bonked his forehead on the credit card swiping machine while trying to hang onto the counter like an upside-down acrobat.

I didn’t want to say it while we were in the store, but in my mind I was thinking it served both of them right.

I cut my fabric out later that night and was itching to start sewing but ran out of time. The next day I started bright and early stitching my skirt together.

I think I let my boys watch more TV that day than they have in a long time. As long as they were being good while I was working with my sewing machine, I didn’t really care.

The sewing actually went really well until I went to try the skirt on. I didn’t really know what size to make, but obviously I estimated wrong. I couldn’t cinch up the side. Unless I sucked in all of my air and didn’t breathe all day, that skirt wasn’t going to fit for the wedding.

Luckily I had some extra fabric. I sewed a couple extra inches into the edge of the waistband and readjusted the gather at the top of the skirt. At this point I almost felt like giving up. I had already gathered the top several times after my gathering string kept breaking. (I know one of my friends told me recently about a gathering trick using dental floss, but I couldn’t remember that in the heat of the moment.)

But the couple inches in the back was just what I needed in order to make myself squeeze in comfortably. A few hours and a lot of finishing work later and the skirt was finally done.

It turned out better than I thought it would and was super comfortable. It might not fit everyone’s style but it was perfect for me. (Even if my husband said it looked like I was ready to go to a sock hop in it.)

The wedding breakfast, ceremony and reception were amazing and even though it seemed so stressful getting my skirt together, it was so nice to have something I felt good in. Luckily it was all worth it.

The Turn Off

09 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by Natalie in Failed Housewife, Uncategorized, What's a mom to do?

I’ve picked up on a horrible habit the past month while nursing my newborn. I have spent the majority of his 30-45 minute chow times scanning my social media accounts on my cell phone. Considering he eats an average of 7 times per day, that’s about four hours of time I have been wasting online daily.

And it’s starting to get me down.

Don’t get me wrong, I love checking in on people – especially on Facebook – but let me tell you how little things change when you are surfing the site every three hours for half an hour at a time.

I knew something was getting to me lately, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint it. Was it a mild case of post-partum depression? Not nearly enough sleep? Keeping my oldest two boys from killing each other the last two weeks of summer? A combination of all of the above?

I didn’t know exactly, but something was eating at me, leaving me with no desire to do the things I normally enjoy. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt like weeding my garden, and I used to love weeding my garden.

It wasn’t until I read an article from my junk email folder that I discovered a big part of what was making me blue – digital depression.

I think I have been getting way too much computer and cell phone face time.

The brief article talked about the potential computers, phones and video games have to make people feel more connected, but that they can also make people feel dejected.

I’ve got to get a grip and flip the switch on my social media overload.

Just think about what else I could be doing with my spare time. How many books could I read? How much Italian could I finally learn? How much more attention could I be giving my children?

There are a number of things I could be doing.

Now I’m not saying digital overload is the only thing draining me. I am definitely exhausted. Having a new baby has worn me out.

But I think that if I cut back on checking into my “social” life to just a couple of times per day, I will feel better.

So I’ve got new rules for myself. I’m not the type to completely delete my online accounts but there will be no online checking in during meal times, no online checking in while playing with my kids and no online checking in while nursing.

Hopefully logging out will help me log back in to the things I used to love.

My Summertime Shadow

02 Aug 2012 7 Comments

by Natalie in Parenting Battles, What's a mom to do?

I love my 6-year-old son with all of my heart. Letting him start kindergarten last year nearly killed me. But after spending two months of summer vacation with him, I’m feeling smothered.

The kid ALWAYS has to be right beside me.

If we are playing outside and I need to run in the house to check on dinner – he has to come with me. If we are playing the Wii downstairs and I need to run upstairs to check on his baby brother – he has to come with me. If we are cleaning up and I need to throw something away in the outside garbage – he has to come with me.

I am almost never alone.

I know what you are thinking. How cute! This little boy LOVES his mom. But I don’t think the crazy kid does it because he is enamored with me. I’m pretty sure he does it because he’s terrified of being by himself.

On two separate occasions I put him in the bathtub then ran downstairs to throw in some laundry. About five seconds down the stairs I heard little footsteps running frantically across the kitchen.

One of those times his slippery naked bum slid across the wet kitchen floor while he was racing to see where I went. He hopped out of the tub and ran across our upstairs because he was too afraid to be by himself for two minutes.

I was so mad that I didn’t have much sympathy when he hurt himself in the buff.

One night, after the boys were in bed, I made the mistake of running around the corner to pick something up from a neighbor’s house. My husband was home, but he was outside mowing the lawn. I tried to sneak out our front door, but apparently my oldest heard me.

I was gone three minutes, but I am pretty sure he screamed and cried the whole time. I honestly felt bad that he was so scared, but on the other hand I was so mad that he didn’t trust me. I have told him numerous times that I will NEVER leave him completely alone.

You can bet I won’t try to sneak away again – even if his dad is home but mowing the lawn outside. And he won’t let me.

His bedroom is on the same side of the house as the outside door we use the most. Unfortunately the storm door screeches wildly when swung. If I try to go outside for any reason after his 8:30 p.m. bedtime I can almost guarantee that he’ll hang over the side of his top bunk bed and pull open the blinds to see who has escaped.

I feel like a prisoner in my own house.

I think Kindergarten actually made him worse. I don’t know if during his 8-hour school days he spent any time alone – except to use the bathroom. He was clingy before the school year started, but now he’s holding onto me with a death grip.

I’ve got to find some comforting ways to let him know that he is OK on his own; to reassure him that I won’t leave him in danger. I’ve got to lovingly show him that although I love him more than anything and love spending time with him, sometimes I need my space.

I can kind of sympathize with the kid. I remember hating when my parents would ask me to fetch something from the dungeon-like basement of my childhood. I was scared to death to go downstairs alone. Sometime I’d make my younger brother go with and then I would run as fast as I could back upstairs, leaving him in the dust to be eaten by anything that lurked in the shadows.

But I am pretty sure my fears were centered mostly around the basement. At least I would like to think that I gave my mom a break every once and a while and didn’t hover by her side ALL of the time.

I feel schizophrenic writing this post because last fall I wrote how my heart was breaking sending my oldest to school. And although I feel like I need some space, I still don’t want to send him to first grade this fall.

I honestly love being with him. But I also want to be able to not be with him for a few minutes here and there.

I’ve got to get to the bottom of what is making him feel so scared when alone. Then hopefully I can sometimes shake my shadow for a few moments of freedom.

Reading Babies??? Update – Your Baby Can’t Really Read

26 Jul 2012 Leave a comment

by Natalie in Parenting Battles, What's a mom to do? Tags: , , ,

Photo of Braxton Hill taken by Angie Hill.

Apparently I am not the only one who was skeptical of the hypnotic, overplayed annoyingly distracting commercials for a company touting the ability to teach a baby to read.

Last week the Today show ran a story on the “Your baby can read” company. A company that claimed its product could teach a baby to read using repetition, flashcards and DVDs.

Jeff Rossen, a Today Show correspondent, did a story on the company in 2010. He talked to experts from Harvard, Tufts and NYU about the company’s product and they all said the same thing – the babies using the program were not in fact learning to read, but were simply memorizing images of words on flashcards.

Not only did the experts say that the company was “misleading” parents, but that the product could potentially harm the babies by exposing them to too much television.

Last week the Today show updated the public on the story, stating that “Your Baby Can Read” is now out of business.

I am sorry if you were sucked in and purchased the program thinking your child would end up stepping into kindergarten ahead of the curve. Heaven knows my boys begged me on a number of occasions to order the program. Commercials for the product regularly interrupted their favorite cartoon shows.

Thankfully I didn’t see any value in teaching my toddler to read. Like I said in my previous blog post about the product, I want my children to succeed, to be smart and capable, but I also think there is a time and a season to all things.

And we all know how much I love my children watching TV. I wasn’t about to buy something that encouraged my tiny kids to stare at the boob tube for hours on end.

If you click on the “Your Baby Can Read” website you will find an open letter from the company to its loyal customers. Here’s part of what it says:

“Regretfully, the cost of fighting recent legal issues has left us with no option but to cease business operations. While we deny any wrongdoing, and strongly believe in our products, the fight has drained our resources to the point where we can no longer continue operating.”

I was glad that someone did some research on the program and was able to shed some light on its effectiveness. And I still stick to my original blog post’s question:
Why on earth would you teach your 18-month-old baby to read? You don’t teach someone to run before they can walk, so why teach someone to read before they can talk?

Check out the Your Baby Can Read website here:
http://www.yourbabycanread.com/

Watch the recent Today Show story on the company here:
http://www.tv.com/shows/the-today-show/watch/your-baby-can-read-company-out-of-business-2512611/

The Meltdown

05 Jul 2012 3 Comments

by Natalie in Parenting Battles, What's a mom to do?

We made such a mess at the ice cream parlor last week that I don’t know if my husband will ever take us back.

We let the boys choose their own flavors. Of course my oldest chose the brightest blue cotton candy ice cream I have ever seen. To top it off, he decided to get gumballs mixed in.

My first instinct was to change his mind. But then I remembered all the times my older sister and I ordered pink bubblegum ice cream from Baskin Robbins and the hours it took us to eat it because we would spit the fluorescent pink square-shaped gum cubes into a napkin. That way we could eat them later.

Maybe he would like doing that too.

Before I had even taken a lick of my own chocolate Reese’s cone I turned to see his chin dripping with bright blue goo as he struggled to eat both the gumballs and the ice cream.

He was torn.

I taught him the napkin trick but that only made it worse. I sat across from him, and watched him regurgitate diced up gumballs onto a napkin while leaning over and dipping his shirtsleeve deep into his ice cream bowl each time. He was a mess.

But all I could do was laugh. That made matters worse — for me.

The next thing I knew the bottom of my waffle cone had sprung a leak and I was dripping chocolate all the way down my front. I couldn’t even see past my pregnant belly to know where the drips were.

Once again I started laughing.  I snorted all over and spilled even worse than either of my boys. I had ice cream coming out my nose and mouth.

My husband had to bail me out with a big fist full of napkins.

A few more blue and chocolate shirt stains and a dozen napkins later, my 5-year-old and I were finally done.

I am sure my husband was relieved. I eat ice cream a lot, but I have never had a meltdown like that at the local parlor.  We made a big mess.

But I can’t wait to go again.

Oh What Do You Do In the Summertime?

21 Jun 2012 4 Comments

by Natalie in Uncategorized, What We Do/Make for Fun, What's a mom to do?

ImageSummer. The time when we don’t eat breakfast ’til 9 a.m. and don’t get dressed until noon. The time when I get my 5 year-old back and he plays happily with his younger brother – most of the time.

The time when I have to find at least one thing to do each day to get us out of the house or I’ll go crazy!

I’ve heard other moms talking about how excited they are to have their kids home again during the summer. I’m dying to know what those moms do with them all day.

I love having my boys home together, but I am always interested in ways to entertain all of us – ways that don’t include Netflix or Wii Games.

We have done a bunch of fun things during the first month of summer, and have made a pretty good list of more activities we want to do, but I want to know what you guys are doing.  How are you spending your summer?

Check out all of the fun, inexpensive things we have done so far and let me know what other things appear on your list. That way I will know what else to add to our Summer Bucket List.

Here’s what we’ve done:

1.    Wild Wednesday at The Ogden Nature Center: This is one of my boys’ favorite activities. We went the last week in May and learned about Raptor birds. At Wild Wednesdays kids are taught about a specific topic in a classroom setting, then they get to go out on the grounds and learn about it hands-on. My boys are major nature geeks so they eat those type of activities right up. Here is a link to the center’s website: http://www.ogdennaturecenter.org/

2.    The Ogden Eccles Dinosaur Park: There are a handful of things to do at the Dinosaur Park. My boys like to dig for fossils and watch employees glue dinosaur bones together. I got an email this week saying that this summer they have story time in the education center Monday through Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and on Sundays at 2 p.m. They are also having a different summer project featured in the education center each week. Here is a link to their website: http://www.dinosaurpark.org/

3.    Treehouse Museum: We love the Treehouse Museum. The museum staff is always changing and improving the hands-on activities. Normally when we go, there is a craft the kids can do in the art garden and in the afternoon there is a partici-play going on where they can help act out a story on the stage. It’s a great place to go for a couple of hours. Click here for more information: http://www.treehousemuseum.org/

4.    Fishing at a community fishery: My boys like fishing whether we catch anything or not. But, I don’t like driving far and hauling a bunch of stuff with us. So, local community fisheries are perfect. We normally go to the Roy Pond – where we have actually caught some fish. Here is a link to a list of Utah’s fisheries: http://wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/fishing/community-fisheries.html

5.    99 cent miniature golf at Fat Cats: Fat Cats has an amazing deal this summer. Bowling, shoes, miniature golf and bumper cars are all 99 cents each this summer – Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. I took the boys miniature golfing and it was a blast. We plan on going back for bowling and bumper cars. Find out more info. here: http://fatcatsfun.com/

6.    Splash Pad: I think I love the splash pad more than my boys do. We have been to a couple of splash pads, but I particularly like the Riverdale one with its mature trees that provide great shade. I get to sit and visit with other moms while keeping an eye on my boys. We don’t normally stay very long, but it is definitely a great place to cool off. And it’s free! Here is a link to info. about the Riverdale Splash Pad: http://www.riverdalecity.com/meetings_events/special_events/Splash_Pad.html

7.    Matinee Movie: There are so many theaters with summer movie deals for kids with shows as little as $1 each. We went and saw Madagascar 3 (which wasn’t part of a movie deal) but hope to go see more movies, particularly if they are only $1. Normally the movie deals are for older shows, but some of them we still haven’t seen. Here are links to information on the summer programs at a few local theaters:

Megaplex Theaters: http://www.megaplextheatres.com/KidsMovieMagic

Syracuse 6 Theater: http://www.syracuse6.com/index.cfm

Cinemark Theaters: http://www.cinemark.com/summer-movie-clubhouse-2012

8.    Discovery time at the local library: My boys LOVE to read. So they love discovery time. But I like it too because they get to sing, dance around, make a craft and more! Here is a link to the Weber County Library Website: http://www.weberpl.lib.ut.us/ and the Davis County Library Website: http://www.co.davis.ut.us/library/

9.    Neighborhood Treasure Hunt: My creative neighbor put together a pirate-style treasure hunt a couple of weeks ago. It was great! She hid clues at different spots around the neighborhood and we all went loose looking for them. The kids ran around the block getting out some of their excess energy and they loved finding a box full of bracelets, rings, temporary tattoos and chocolate.

10. Water Balloon Fights/running through the sprinklers:  Summer would not be complete without my boys chucking water balloons at their poor, innocent mother. They love both filling them up and throwing them down. This is the first year they have wanted to run through the sprinkler. I’m all for it – especially on a hot day.

Our Summer Bucket List – we hope to make it to the following places:

  1. Bingham Canyon Mine – http://www.kennecott.com/
  2. Old Springs Trout Farm – http://www.coldspringstroutfarm.com/
  3. Union Station Train Museums – http://theunionstation.org/
  4. Tracy Aviary – http://www.tracyaviary.org/
  5. Hogle Zoo – http://www.hoglezoo.org/

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