Family Vacation!

Remembering that first family vacation we took, is always an amazing memory. Going to the Smoking Mountains was such a great adventure, except for that one person who didn’t enjoy it at all due to fear. We tried to pick activities that she would be able to do and enjoy without being terrified. We went with another family who had already decided to go there, but we didn’t have any idea what this place was going to be like. We decided to take the long route and drove there. Even though we knew it was going to take forever to get there, it was such a beautiful scenery to drive through. Driving through those beautiful smoky mountains definitely made it worth the roughly 19 hours it took us to drive. It was just a great experience to be able to drive for that long and actually got to see how beautiful it was and how different the landscape is from where we live. Even though it was bumper to bumper for most of the trip and took us two hours to go roughly thirty miles was the fun part. We knew it was going to be busy because it was over the Fourth of July.   We knew flying would have been faster but we took our time getting there and enjoyed our trip instead of everything having to be a rush.

                Getting into those steep mountains was a bit scaring, while our driver was driving somewhat fast through those steep hills and taking those sharp curves what seemed way to fast. But my cousin and I just looked at the awesome beautiful scenery that we never had seen before which kept us occupied for most of the trip. It became more and more exciting because I knew we were getting closer and we were really ready to get there, as this was our first trip that we were old enough to remember.

                Finally, after about 19 hours of driving we arrived at our cabin. It was up in the mountains, which made it such a perfect place. We had so many great accommodations in this cabin that made our week very enjoyable. It had an arcade in the basement, a hot tub, a swimming pool and so much more. We spent a lot of our time at nights relaxing and doing these fun activities.

There are so many things to do there that we couldn’t get it all done in the amount of time we had there. Something really fascinating that we had the chance to do was, going to Gatlinburg to watch the Fourth of July parade and the fireworks at midnight. That was so pretty to see with the smoke coming out of mountains along with all the fireworks; trust me this would be something you would want to see.

                Another fun thing that we got to do that we wouldn’t have the opportunity to was, we went “Hillbilly Golfing”. This is where we had the chance to go golfing in the dark in the mountains. It was one of the neatest things that I got to do and had a blast. Even though it got a little scary, when u felt like you were going to fall down the mountain and I wasn’t the greatest at the golfing part. But it was the point that we had a fun time doing it.

                Horseback riding through those beautiful mountains was one of best things that I got to do. It was quite the adventure for only being eight and being on that big horse and having to keep control of the horse through those steep mountains and hills. But I handled it through the whole trail even when the horse were getting mad and bucking a bit. I don’t regret this experience, even though I was scared at first because I never really rode a horse before.

                If you ever get the chance to go to the Smoky Mountains, the one thing that you have to do is go white water rafting. This was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done in my life. We had a blast while we were on the raft, even though it was raining and beginning to storm. But that didn’t take away our chance of doing it. There are different levels that you can chose, and we chose the medium level. This was a really fast past and pretty rough. I got picked to be the lucky one who didn’t have to paddle.  I was lucky, but I was the one who flew up in the air when we went over a big log or rock. Trust me it was a little scary when you’re flying up in the air and they caught it on camera. But when I look back I realize how hilarious it was and begin to laugh.

                We did so many other memorable things plus the stuff that we didn’t even get to do because it was time to head back to Iowa. This is always such a sad feeling. But hopefully, someday we will go back there; maybe with my family. This trip was such a memorable trip and I wouldn’t regret any piece of it. After taking this trip it made us want to do more traveling.

New Year's Traditions

     Everyone seems to forget about New Year Eve and New Year’s Day with it being so crazy busy with Christmas. Some people are still celebrating Christmas. But then there are the others who look forward to New Year Eve and New Year’s Day. A fun way to celebrate it is to have a party or go to a party. Kids can also take part and enjoy it too, if the party consists of kids their age.

      The parents usually do their own thing, but a fun way for the children to celebrate is to play different kind of games, have snacks to munch on, drinks, have the New Year’s hat to wear and a noise maker for when the clock strikes midnight. They seem to have just as much fun as the parents do. Another traditional thing to do on New Year’s Eve is to watch the ball drop in New York at midnight.  As I was growing up I loved to have the chance to see that, even now I still like staying up to watch it.  It’s always decorated so pretty and gets you in the mood for the New Year to begin.  I love to listen to the song Auld Lang Syne, which is always played when the New Year is here. Then on New Year’s Day is the big day to watch the parades and football. New Year’s the final holiday before things will begin to slow down again after a very hectic month or two. It’s the beginning of new year resolutions and for many a time for a fresh beginning in life.

Holiday Fun

     Christmas is one of the most exciting seasons and holidays for the children. I know it’s sometimes a stress for parents, but it’s not all about the money you spend, it’s for spending time with your family and just having a great time. You can do so many fun things during this season.

      One thing to start off with is you could go get a Christmas tree. You can either cut one down or pick one out that’s already cut down. My family always has had this tradition since I was little. We would go shopping the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday Shopping. On Saturday we get our tree, and then go back to my aunt’s house and usually have soup for lunch. Finally, we would go home and decorate our Christmas tree and our house to get into the Christmas spirit. When I was little we would go cut our own tree down but now we just go pick one that’s already cut down, but we still have a blast doing it. We have all of these traditions that we still carry on since I was a little girl.  I just love all of these things that we do and it makes it even more special during this season.

        Cooking is another special tradition that you could do with your family. The kids loving cooking. Some of the things that you can cook is homemade Christmas sugar cookies. My family does this every year and we have a blast. We make the same recipe and it’s my mom’s recipe which will probably get carried down to each generation because it’s such a great recipe. Some of the most common cookie cutters we use is the Santa, reindeer, star, Christmas tree etc. Then we will make the homemade frosting and decorate them as they are supposed to be. They always turn out awesome. We will save them until Christmas Eve, which is always at the same place. It used to be Grandma and Grandpa’s house, but they have both passed away and it’s now my Aunt, Uncle and cousin’s home. It wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t have Christmas Eve there.

          Another tradition and is usually on a Sunday is get together Aunts and a few cousins and make homemade Christmas Candy. We all bring supplies for what candy we want to make and combine it all together and take some home for our families and save the rest for Christmas Eve. Some of the main candy we make are; peanut clusters, popcorn balls (and make them red and green), dipped pretzels, dipped cherry balls and many more. This is always an all-day thing and a big huge mess but we just always enjoy it every year.

            Even making crafts is a fun idea to do with your children. My aunt is good at drawing and she gets a bunch of my cousins together; it doesn’t matter what age and she will pick one Christmas thing and go through each step on how to draw it. It’s always really cool when you think you can’t draw and after that day you see what you have just drawn something pretty neat. Some Christmas crafts you can make with your younger child could be; homemade ornaments.  I remember that I made tons of them when I was younger in preschool and older. I loved that every year we would make something different and wrap it up and could be a Christmas present for my parents. We also made gingerbread houses out of milk cartons. This was a fun thing that I still remember when I was in kindergarten; and the special thing was that my mom got to come help me and the class out.

            You can do so much more during this time period with you child. It’s important to do fun things that they can remember and even repeat it every year so you and your family can start traditions like my family did. You’ll never ever regret having these family traditions. Remember, Christmas is not always about spending a lot of money; it’s about family and traditions and memories to share.

Thanksgiving with your kids

     Kids get so excited around this time of the year, in anticipation of the holidays comings. They have just made it through Halloween and now waiting as Thanksgiving approaches. Especially the older your kids get, the more excited they seem to become because they know more about what the holidays are. This is a really great time for parents because they can do so many fun things with their kids. Are you just not the type who knows what to do with your child for the holidays? You’re not quite sure what you want to do? Well, here are a few ideas to get into the holiday spirit.

        One of the fun things you can do would be to decorate your house inside and out. You could help your child build a scarecrow and set it out side by your door to greet your guests. You can be very creative with this project.  The following is a website that can help you get started; http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Scarecrow.  There are all kinds of ways to decorate, just use your imagination.  This will be a very fun way to help start your Thanksgiving season.

         Do your kids know what Thanksgiving is about? This is something they should know. You could read them a story or tell your own story of the Mayflower, Indians and pilgrims. You could do some kind of activity with them each day. A good preschool age activity would be at supper time to have everyone go around the table and say what they are thankful for. Your child might have a hard time at first, so you will probably just have to give them some examples of what they can say.

           Another thing that you could is you could get a set of little square blocks of wood and have your child paint each letter on the blocks to spell out “give thanks” and have it setting out anywhere in your house. Because giving thanks is one of the most important messages of Thanksgiving and this will help your child learn more about what Thanksgiving is. Also, remember to talk to your child while they are making this little project so they get to know what Thanksgiving is all about.

            You can also have your child do all of these different crafts, and use it to decorate your house. Some craft ideas you could with your child are; making turkeys even if it’s out of construction paper and decorate it. You could take a brown paper bags and decorate it and make them into pilgrims and tell your child what the pilgrims are and even the story behind them. You can make Indian head bands using homemade feathers or purchase them at a craft store.  Even if you and your child just sit down and color plain paper and come up with things that you can draw and color that represents Thanksgiving.

            Remember to let your kids help in the kitchen too, baking cookies and making food for the big dinner is so much fun for them. Holidays are supposed to be spent together with family and have a great time.  Getting everyone involved in all the activities makes for great memories and traditions for your children to pass down to their families.

Homemade Playdough

      Are you at this point that your child is going through so many craft supplies that you provide for them and get tired of buying new every time something gets dried out or gross? Well the key word is making it homemade. You can make so many of your child’s items homemade and it will last twice as long. It’s not only cheaper than buying it at the store, but you will make a larger quantity of it.

      One great things  you can make is play dough. The recipe is very easy and doesn’t take very long to make it. Here is a very good and simple recipe that you could use: Just go to the following website for a great recipe. http://fun.familyeducation.com/sculpting/recipes/37040.html. A fun thing that you can do is put sparkles in and make it really cool, like we did at work. We had turned it into pirate play dough. It looked very cool and the kids loved it. Our kids even got to help with it. Making homemade play dough will keep for months. After its drying, you just need to put it in a sealed zip lock bag and it won’t dry out.

     There are so many other things that you can make at home instead of going to the store and buying it every time. You’ll save a lot of money throughout the year.