Category Archives: On The Go

Car Travel Fun – the Distance Game and the Silent Game

Sometimes when you are road trips the best thing that could happen is for everyone to be quiet for just a little while. One way to do that is to pick out something in the distance, a building, a bridge, even a billboard. Everyone but the driver shuts their eyes. They players have to guess when they are right beside the building or bridge. If you know the route, you can play this by having everyone (except the driver of course) shut their eyes and guess when the turn to Grandma’s is, or how far it is to a certain … Continue reading →

Antiquing With Kids

Next time you and the kids see an antique and rummage store, go inside. It’s a lot of fun to show them what phones looked like when you were a kid, the typewriter you learned to type on, your first camera, or the same dishes your grandmother had. We like to look at old postcards too, some are very silly. I like to show my kids things like butter churns, glass citrus juicers, or old washing machines and have them guess what the items are. Sometimes even I don’t know what the things are and we ask. Usually people are … Continue reading →

“Pretend” Camping – All the Fun of Camping Without So Much Work

My last entry on camping supplies reminded me of “pretend camping”. Many years ago a friend and I decided to our little boys up to the mountains for a hike. We parked near a picnic area and had a nice hike with our children. When we came back down from the hike, we spread out our picnic and let the kids play in the little creek while we talked. A couple of hours went by and the kids still didn’t want to get in the car. My friend and I didn’t either. We knew that traffic, boring chores, yard work, … Continue reading →

Camping Supply Fun

Part of the fun of a trip for me is preparing for it. It’s amazing what camping supplies are available now. Ovens that fit onto camp stoves, incredible meals in dehydrated form, and sophisticated water purifiers. We didn’t buy all that, but here are two fun new things we did get: I love the look of those classic tin cups for camping. But the cups are too hot to hold when they have anything hot in them, which makes drinking coffee a challenge. Plus, after a few camping trips they tend to rust. Today we got a silicone bowl and … Continue reading →

Build-A-Bear Workshop and Saturday

This morning when I got out of bed I was surprised to find my fourth grade twins already dressed, and with shoes on their feet. They’d read on the internet that Build-A-Bear Workshop was holding a charity bear stuffing, where the first 150 guests could stuff an animal for free, and donate the animal to different charities. Since the Build-A-Bear store is a mall across town that we rarely go to, and the fact that the charity animals were limited to the first 150, I grumbled, got dressed and grabbed a cup of coffee for the road. I expected a … Continue reading →

Options for Summer Fun

My children have ten days left of school. Sometimes by this time of year, I am tired of the routine of mornings, homework, and packing lunches and am ready for school to be over. This year isn’t one of those years. Summer has really snuck up on me. I’ve got to get some stuff planned for the boys. They are all much too old to be interested in the sand box and bubbles. I do want them to have a lot of down time this summer, unscheduled fun – those days where they can just play and be creative. But … Continue reading →

Poohsticks

Poohsticks is a favorite game we like to play on hikes. As a bonus, it is guaranteed to occupy toddlers for a long, long time. A.A. Milne fans will recognize the game from The House at Pooh Corner. From the middle of a bridge, Pooh Bear drops a fir cone into a slow moving river and is surprised to see it turn it on the other side of the bridge. And if you’ve seen the original Disney Winnie-the-Pooh movies, the Pooh gang plays Poohsticks in Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore. So why is the game called Poohsticks … Continue reading →

Walking Fun for Preschoolers

When my children were younger, about preschool age, we took a lot of walks. It seemed like walks could do so many things. They were exercise and fresh air of course. But walks also had a way of turning bad moods around and making life interesting again on those days when we were all a little bored. We used to love to go on signs of spring walks. Looking for something in particular made the walks more interesting. Sometimes we’d go on color walks and try to find as many things we could of certain colors. It didn’t matter to … Continue reading →

Errands, Cheese, World Records, and Slowing Down

Today, the boys and I ran a few errands. One of our stops was at Whole Foods. My kids love all the free samples they have. We just needed one thing, so I told the boys it would be a quick stop. It wasn’t. While we were there, the store employees told us that they were going to set a world record by having 720 of their stores in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. break open wheels of Parmesan Reggiano all at the same time. Now, as world records go, cheese isn’t exactly the most exciting thing. But we … Continue reading →

A Fun Breakfast with Horton Hears a Who

We had breakfast today at the International House of Pancakes. We haven’t seen the new “Horton Hears a Who” movie yet, but the marketers are doing their job. My ten year olds knew all about the special menu at IHOP featuring green eggs and ham, a drink called a Beezlenut Splash, and Who-Cakes. They passed on the green eggs. Since the eggs are made with creamed spinach, I could hardly blame them. The Who-Cakes came in graduated stack of five cakes, secured together with a pink lollipop stuck through their middles. Blue and pink glazed icing ran over the top … Continue reading →