Things to do in Jacksonville on a budget!

We've definitely made our rounds with most of the kids stuff to do in Jacksonville, I wanted to put together a little review of our favorite things to do.

1.   Jacksonville Zoo.

   

This one is by far our favorite and we definitely get our money's worth out of our membership!  One thing that helps money wise with most of these is that 1) we only have one kid and 2) She's only two so she's mostly free anywhere we go.

With the zoo membership we pay $72 for both Howie and I for the year and Sam is free until she turns 3.  General admission for adults is $17.95 and $12.95 for kids (3-12), if we both go just twice through the year the membership pays for itself.  They also offer discounts and special pricing and events for members.

2.   Mosh Museum

The Museum of Science and History we've only been to twice.  The first time we went they had a dinosaur exhibit that Sam loved, we just went again last week and while Sam enjoyed running around looking at things, there wasn't very much that was really for her age.  When she gets older and we really start homeschooling, the membership will probably be a good investment.  General admission is $12.95 for adults and Sam was free.  On Fridays they have $5 admission, which is even better:)  Right outside of the museum is Friendship Fountain and some nice shaded, grassy areas which are great for a picnic.

3.  Hand's on Children's Museum

I haven't personally taken Sam but Howie took her a couple of months ago.  While it doesn't compare to some of the children's museum's we've been to its still pretty decent.  Almost anytime we go out of town we try to find a place like this to take Sam to because she loves these types of places.  When the weather cools off a little more here I plan to take Sam again.  One of the down sides of this place is how far away it is, probably a good 45 minutes from where we live and I'm not really familiar with that part of town.  The price is not bad at all at $4 for kids 1-3 and $5.50 for anyone else, including adults.

4.  Jumperz Fun Center

We just discovered this place a couple of weeks ago, and its quite a bit closer to us than most of the other things on this list!  Its basically about 4-6 bounce house/slides/obstacle courses etc and arcade games.  Sam has just in the last couple of months decided she loves bounce houses so this is a great place to take her to bounce off some energy.  They have open play on Wednesday's and Thursday's from 4-7 and its $5.99 for kids 2-12, no charge for adults (which is awesome!)

5.  The Library

I love taking Sam to the library, its free, they have story time, they have stuff to play with, other kids to play with, books and movies to check out, etc.  We go at least once a week and Sam loves it, I usually have to fight her to leave.  I don't think enough people take advantage of what an awesome service libraries provide, I did used to work at a library so I may be a little biased;)

What are your favorite things to do with your kids on a budget??

Week 7 of Tot School

This week went a lot better than last week!  We got into a little bit of a routine and back with learning.

On Monday we spent some time at the park and then introduced the Letter J.

She loved making a pumpkin.

We also pulled out the pipe cleaners for some fine motor skills work.  I'm telling you these things are the best for occupying her while I try to do some housework!  And to make it even better they all tend to stick to each other so I just grab them by the handful and stuff them in a freezer bag for storage.

On Tuesday we headed to the library.  They cancelled story hour for the next two weeks because they are an early voting site but she still enjoys going to play and get a few books.  She's recently been obsessed with this car puzzle, she can do it all by herself now:)

Wednesday was one of my days off so we headed to the zoo!  One of our favorite things to do, while we were there we went ahead and renewed our membership. Definitely worth it!

Before church that night we decided to do a little baking.  I was hoping to find a pumpkin bread mix that would taste like the recipe from scratch that I have and this one tasted ok but definitely not as good.

Thursday we headed to the park since it was nice out and she played for a good hour and still didn't want to leave.  We stopped at the store on the way home and ended up getting some new play doh which has been a big hit!

Originally I had planned a baking post with a pumpkin recipe I had found on Pinterest but they did not turn out well.  It didn't taste terrible there was just no flavor.  I was pretty bummed because it looked so easy and tasty.

However on Friday, Pinterest came through with this shape/color sticks.  Ridiculously easy to make, Sam enjoyed playing with them but didn't quite get the matching concept.

I've noticed the last couple of weeks she has really been picking up quickly on the letters.  Before it would take her the whole week to remember the new letter now she knows it the first day!  Her vocabulary has also been increasing ten fold, everyday she's saying new words and putting sentences together!

Growing Pains...

Last week was the start of our new schedule with Howie and I both working and I will admit I didn't anticipate the adjustments that would need to happen.  First off I didn't expect to get bored on my two days off during the week.  Now I will be the first to tell you that I do not do well sitting at home, I like to be out and about doing things.  And that's exactly what ended up happening those two days sooo, all my fault!  And it was just during naptime that the boredom snuck in, I felt like I should be doing something but our house is so small it's hard to do much without waking a sleeping child.  

Yes, this is just a random picture from last week;)

By Friday morning I needed a project so without putting much thought into I decided to clean out my refrigerator, no big deal, right? Well an hour into that project and I was sorely regretting it but it did need done so I guess that's a win!

This is the "after" picture, I'm too scared to post  the "before" picture!

So going forward I would like to have some kind of plan for the week so we can enjoy our time without me going crazy:)  Of course, as with anytime making plans something always happens so hopefully I can be flexible with it too.  

I'm loving my planner!

The other thing is trying to fit in family time when we have opposite schedules and Howie trying to stay caught up with school.  I can already see we are going to have to be deliberate with this and make sacrifices when needed.  

In saying all this I am in no way ungrateful for the opportunity to spend more time at home with Sam, just that like with all changes, adjustments need to be made at times.  I saw something on Facebook the other day that said "The things that worked in the old season won't necessarily work in the new season" or something to that effect lol (I knew I should have taken a screenshot of it!)  So as we're navigating our way through this "new" season, pray for us.  That God would use us, grow us, and keep us tightly bound to one another and Him.

Back at it!

If you saw my Catching Up! post you know Howie has started back to school and we were praying about a job opportunity for him.  He started last Thursday as a contract carrier delivering express mail for the post office in Gainesville.  He works Tuesday thru Saturday from 11-3 (or earlier if he's done with his route) so he's still able to do school as well.  This has allowed me to cut back a day at work and I have all mornings free with Sam.  We are so thankful the Lord opened this door for Howie!  And for the people that are helping us with Sam!

My plan is to get back to doing Tot School with Sam (I lost my motivation for a little while) and to do more with this blog.  I'm also excited for Sam to be able to have more play dates.  She would definitely benefit from having a sibling but we are still praying about the timing on that one:)  

At the library this week, she loved this car puzzle!

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My girl is growing up!

I cannot believe how fast my girl is growing up!  I posted back in her 21 month update that she weaned herself from breastfeeding with no issues.  Since then we've just been giving her a sippy cup of cow's milk before nap and before bed. Our plan had been to wait until getting back from Missouri to wean her from that so we could get a little more serious with the potty training.  However, while we were in Missouri she got a stomach bug and didn't want her milk for a couple of days.  I started offering it to her again when she was feeling better and she would take the cup but didn't drink anything.  So when we got back home we just didn't offer it and lo and behold she was absolutely fine!  

Our next two things to take care of is potty training and the pacifier.  She seems ready for the potty training but I'm still not sure how hard we're going to push it. I did go ahead and buy her some underwear and she was excited to wear them but I'm sure that will wear off soon:)  

The pacifier is a whole other issue, her doctor wasn't concerned about her still having it and said that as long as it's gone by the time she is 3 or 4 that would be fine.  Our goal with that is to start limiting it to when she's in bed.  Maybe tell her the paci has to stay in bed?  We're still figuring this one out and like I said we're not in a huge rush.  She is so funny when she loses her pacifier she walks around yelling "Paci where are you?"

We've taken her to the Amazing Grace Crop Maze every year and it's so crazy to compare these pictures!  

Catching Up!

Oh my, I have been in such a slump lately with this!  I've started a couple of specific posts but can't seem to get past the first couple of sentences so I'm just gonna ramble here for a bit.  I've never really done general life updates on here but I'm gonna give it a shot.

Howie just started back to school in August, he's got 2 years of pre-req's before he can apply to the radiology program.  Thankfully he can do a lot of them online which is super convenient with Sam and my work schedule.  He might also be starting a job next month, which will allow me to cut back a little at work!  And it will still give him time for school, praying it works out like we're hoping:)

In other news, we're headed to Missouri next weekend!  We will get in sometime Friday the 30th and going to be in Osceola until Thursday when we are planning to go to St Louis for a couple of days with my mom and sister until we leave to come back home.  We'll be at the fall festival at my mom's (Living Waters Ranch) on the 1st all day so hopefully we'll see a lot of people there!  We haven't been to Missouri in almost 2 years so it will be nice to catch up with family and friends there!

Sam is getting so big:(  She has really started putting words together, making full sentences.  Although usually just Howie and I know what she is saying.  We haven't taken her to the doctor recently so I have no idea her height and weight but she's into mostly size 3T clothes.  She still has a pacifier and has a sippy cup of milk before nap time and bedtime.  Both of those things we hope to wean her from once we get back from Missouri.  The sippy cup should be pretty easy but I have a feeling the pacifier is going to be a battle!  The other big change is we put a lower side on the crib to make it more like a toddler bed, she can get in and out of it on her own.  She has done really well with the adjustment!  Just shows how big she is getting:)

Week 6 of Tot School

This week actually went pretty well, Sam recognizes and says letters A-G so far!

On Monday Sam added the letter H to the wall.

She loves her puzzles.

We made handprints for our H.

She wanted to do it herself.

On Tuesday I just let her practice with her glue and scissors.

Then headed to the library for story hour which ended up being cancelled so she played for awhile.

On Thursday we made cookies and then I took Sam to Chick Fil A to play while Howie was at class.  He has a math class on Tuesday and Thursday nights now.  The rest of his classes are online.

On Friday we had a movie night, pulled out the couch bed and watched Beauty and the Beast.  We've started checking out a few movies at the library each week along with books:)

This week was a little more lax than the previous ones but I'm just going by her cues.  Some days she's really into sitting and doing the things I have planned and sometimes not so much.  

One thing we do pretty consistently is at breakfast we point at each letter on the wall and she says what it is.  If we forget to do it she'll ask "a,b,c?"  

Toddler beach tips!

It's getting to the end of summer and we have made so many trips to the beach!  I put together some tips for taking your toddler to the beach.  

1.  Be prepared to run around!  It's not relaxing but it sure does make it more fun.

2.  Dig a giant hole and fill it with water.  Some people say to take a baby pool and fill it which might be good for a baby but Sam loves the sand and water but still isn't a giant fan of the waves.  So the first thing we do is start digging:)

3.  Take snacks such as pouches so you don't have to worry so much about sandy hands and food.

4.  A five gallon bucket can have a few good uses.  It holds all the sand toys, Sam likes to sit in it to rinse off, and we use it to fill the hole we dig.

5.  Lots of sturdy sand toys.

6.  We always take a gallon of water to use when we're leaving to rinse Sam completely off.

7.  If you don't stay all day find a favorite food place nearby.  We always stop at our favorite Taco Shop for lunch, it's only about 10 minutes from where we usually go and we're starving by the time we get there!

I'll be back with more Tot School posts next week!

DIY Chalkboard Table

I'm really excited about this project that Howie took on this last week. My sister in law passed this table along to us, and it turned out perfect for this project.

Before

Howie sanded and primed the table twice, trying to take care of the spot in the middle.

Stenciling the letters and numbers

Sam wanted to help:)

Then 2 coats of chalkboard paint and spray painted the chairs.