Mexican Juice Bags

A fun idea for special BBQ get togethers or summer fun with the kids is to make Mexican Juice Bags. We used to do this for our annual Cinco De Mayo get togethers because if you travel to Mexico or Honduras, you will commonly find street vendors selling these.

Ours were a big hit with the kids!

All you need are:

flavored juice in fun different colors
baggies
colorful straws
small rubberbands

Just pour juice into each baggie until about half full. Place the straw inside and then tie the rubberband around the straw and baggie so that it cinches and closes the top of the bag. Place all juice bags into freezer until they are semi-frozen and slushy. Then serve.

Watch the kids as they have fun with their special drinks!:)

Letterboxing

I read an article several years ago about “Letterboxing.”  It’s a family activity that gets your children outdoors enjoying nature – combined with a fun scavenger hunt.  I had wanted to try it with our family but didn’t get the chance to until we visited my parents in Oregon one year. We were trying to come up with something to do together and I suggested trying to go on a letterbox walk.

We went to http://www.letterboxing.org and looked under our state and county. Then you just find the area and walk you want to try. We found one not too far away and printed out the letterbox scavenger hunt directions to take with us. We drove to our destination and got out to begin our walk.

We had a total blast. We were led to a path that we didn’t know was there and found numerous points along the way that brought up discussions or cause for laughter. We brought along our camera and took pictures next to beautiful old trees, cool little bridges, and more.

Our walk took a couple of hours until we found the box hidden in its spot.  Our biggest mistake was that we forgot to bring our water bottles with us so we were all extremely thirsty by the end of our walk. But we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I highly recommend “Letterboxing.” It is a great family experience to get everyone outside in nature and it’s free!  The kids especially like uncovering the box and signing it or stamping it.  And I guarantee that your family will create a great memory together.

Give it a try and discover a whole new fun family activity – just as we did.

A Car Picnic

There were times as a young mom that I would have very busy days with appointments and errands. I remember one occasion in particular where through no-fault of mine, the last-minute appointment went through the lunch hour.  This created a dilemma for me because I would have my two young daughters with me. I didn’t know what else I could do at the time, so I packed a picnic lunch and put it in the car.

I wanted to make eating in the car as fun as possible for the girls so I told them we were having a “car picnic.”  Much to my surprise, they were delighted with the idea! It was a huge hit and they had such a blast.   We put on kid tunes and I brought a couple of their kid magazines for them to look at after they were through eating.

Who knew that something I threw together would become such a hit and great memory?

We can learn a lot from our children. I had looked at the prospect of eating in the car as a nuisance. My children looked at it as an adventure and they even asked me when we could do it again and have another “car picnic.”

You don’t need to eat out to lunch all of the time when you are out and about.  Get a little creative and pack a lunch to eat inside of your vehicle. Sit back and watch as your children teach you how to be flexible in unplanned circumstances, as well as thankful, for a new and different situation.

See the world through their eyes. The eyes of “fun.”