Picnic at the Park

This past weekend, we took the younger three kids for a picnic at the park. We had food, drinks, a nice spot under a tree, and the perfect sunny day! Phoenix, Tyler, and Elijah are really into soccer lately, so afterwards, they kicked the soccer ball around for awhile. Poor Elijah ran around so much, his little legs were hurting and, I was truly enjoying the moment so much that I hardly took any photos.

Although a trip to the beach would have been nice, we opted to stay in the area this Memorial Day weekend. As I mentioned before, our Summer goal is to collect memories, not stuff. We do have plans to get to the beach this Summer but, we want to see just how much fun we are capable of having for little to no money, other than the gas to get where we are going. We've discovered that if we really do some searching, there are parks, festivals, museums, and all kinds of events in our area that we can attend and that won't cost us anything.

Here are just a few of the other activities we are planning this Summer: 

• Swimming at Falls River Dam
• Picnic at Pullen Park
• The Natural Science Museum
• The NC History Museum
• Hiking at Umstead Park
• Fishing at Creedmoor Dam
• The Farmer's Market
• The JC Raulston Arboretum

Be sure to check all of these places out if you live in the Raleigh, NC area! And if you do, what are some things that I can add to my list that you know about?


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Strawberry Picking at Vollmer Farm

Strawberry season is usually early May thru about mid June in central North Carolina. Drive anywhere outside of the city limits and you are sure to see signs every few miles that advertise strawberry picking at many of the local farms. I remember going strawberry picking with my grandmother as a child, but had yet to take my own children after all the years of living the country life. Last Saturday, the weather was perfect, so on a whim, we loaded up the three littlest kiddos and drove out to one of our local farms for our first strawberry picking experience as a family.

Not only does Vollmer Farm offer strawberry picking, there is also blueberry and blackberry picking mid-late summer as well. My grandparent's had a big blackberry bush that I remember picking from as a child, but I have never picked blueberries. I would love to go back for blueberries in another month or two.

Of course, we couldn't resist the homemade ice-cream, but overall, this was a relatively inexpensive day for us. Some of our best times are when we don't spend a ton of money, so we have made it one of our goals to go on many adventures this Summer, but to spend as little as possible. We already have a few other plans in mind!




So, what are we planning to do with all of these strawberries? 

I will be putting them in smoothies for a quick and delicious breakfast, adding them to water for refreshing infused water creations, making a delicious sugar free syrup for my paleo pancakes, and even creating some tasty frozen greek yogurt popsicles with the kids.

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Running as a Family + Discount for the Sparkle Me Wild Color Run for My NC Peeps

Thank you to USFamilyGuide.com and Sparkle Me Wild Color Run for sponsoring this post. I was not financially compensated for this post. Free registration to the Sparkle Me Wild Color Run was provided in exchange. I genuinely love running so all opinions are definitely my own!

Ever since Jason and I ran the Color Me Rad 5k, we have been wanting to participate in more running events. My goal at the beginning of 2014 was to participate in at least 2-3 runs this year. Quite honestly, I would participate in more if my budget and time would allow it, and we have definitely been checking out all of the 5k events in our area, trying to decide which ones we would like to do.

Up until I actually started doing a little research, I had no idea just how often events like this take place.  For my NC peeps, the website for Endurance Magazine has a list of upcoming running events. I am pretty excited about the Bull City Race Fest and Food Truck Rodeo this October. It's a 1/2 marathon, 5 mile fun, and 1 miler, so there is definitely something for everyone.

Jason and I also want to share our love for fitness and running with our children, so we were excited to hear about the local Sparkle Me Wild Color Run. Although, we just participated in the Color Me Rad, a similar event, Jason and I enjoyed it so much, we knew this would be a perfect event for all of us to do as a family. We are so excited to get out there and have a blast!

Sparkle Me Wild Color Run will be held at the Wake Med Soccer Park in Raleigh, NC on May 10. Sparkle Me Wild is all about freedom, family, fun, being healthy, and most importantly, a beautiful life. Every once in a while we all need to let our inhibitions run free and get wild! Each step along the 5k will lead to color stations, sparkling glitter stations, and bright bling at the finish.

That's right,  everyone who crosses the finish line will receive a medal! How awesome is that?

Big, small, short, tall, all are encouraged to be a part of the sparkle parade! You can walk, skip, cart-wheel, jog (and yes, run!) or dance or way through the course and at the end, you will not be awarded on time, but rather your sparkling, carefree self as you cross the finish line!

And guess what?

All Six Cherries on Top readers get 30% off Adult Registration and Kids 10 and under are FREE! Simply use the code SPARKLE when you register!


REGISTER NOW!

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My Spring Bucket List

Happy 1st Day of Spring! 

Today is the first day of Spring and although it has been quite chilly the last couple of days, today is definitely a Spring day. The sun is shining, the temps are in the 60's, and we are excited about what's to come this season.

Years past, I have always created a Spring & Summer bucket list, but this year, I thought I would break it down more and just start with a Spring bucket list. This is a pretty simple list to start off with, and more than likely, we will continue to add to it.

Exciting, huh? I can hardly believe I will be running my first 5k in less than 3 weeks. And holy cow, my oldest will be 16 this year! I feel like I just graduated from high school myself. I look forward to sharing it all along the way. 

What do you have on your Spring Bucket List? I would love to hear about some of the things you have planned this Spring.


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We Went Geocaching

We have been going Geocaching with our children for quite a few years now. Not only is a fun activity for us to do as a family, it's totally free! I wrote about one of our first Geocaching adventures back in 2010, and we have been doing it off and on since, usually during the warmer months. And, since it was an unusually nice and warm weekend, we decided to go out and hunt for a few of them.

If you have never been Geocaching, I seriously recommend checking out the website, downloading the app, and getting yourself out there with your family and getting involved. Being a big family, we can't always afford the most lavish things in life, but thankfully, I am such a minimalist when it comes to having "stuff" and believe the best things in life can't be bought. Some of the best times we have had as a family have been doing things that cost us absolutely nothing, except maybe the gas to get us there. 

What are some free or inexpensive things that you enjoy doing with your family?

                    

5 things we learned from our trip to the zoo

a few weeks ago we took a day trip to the beach and went to one of the NC aquariums while we were there. as we were purchasing our tickets to get in, the sales woman suggested we buy the one year family passes. at first, i just kind of thought to myself, "yeah, yeah, whatever. who's going to spend that much money, and who goes to the aquarium that many times in one year? but, then she informed us it would only cost us an additional $6 to purchase the one year pass as opposed to a one day pass. so i figured, what the heck, maybe we will come at least one more time. but then, she continued to inform us that in addition to being able to get into the aquarium, we would have access to dozens of other aquariums and zoos across the country at no additional charge. hot dog, sign us up! grand total: $60 for 2 adults and 6 children for one full year.

moral of the story... always check the membership fees because it could be the better deal!

and that's how we ended up planning a trip to the zoo.

labor day weekend, we headed to asheboro, NC where our largest state zoo is. the last time we took a trip to the zoo, i was pregnant with elijah, so this was his first trip. with six kids, you can't please everyone, someone is going to be hungry, someone is going to be thirsty, and someone is going to get tired. here are a few things we learned from our trip to the zoo that we will most certainly keep in mind for our next trip.

1. take the tram all the way to the end, first thing, and then walk back. 

the NC zoo is not designed in a complete circle, therefor, you have to walk all the way to the end and back, or take the tram. next time, we will most definitely hop on the tram first thing, while we are still fresh, excited, and full of energy. by the time we were at the end, our kids were ready to go! they most definitely didn't want to walk back and even standing to wait for the tram was traumatic for them. in their defense, it was a hot day, and i was pretty ready to go too.

2. don't go on a really hot day.

you will sweat and you may even be miserable. not, to mention, many of the animals will be too hot to move and will more than likely be hiding somewhere to keep cool. although we got lucky with the elephants, the polar bears, and the grizzly bear, many of the animals like the gorillas and chimps, were no where to be found.

 

3. bring a backpack filled with supplies

this one we actually did! I filled a backpack with water bottles, a few snacks, and not much else to carry along the way. having a backpack frees up your hands to take pictures with a camera or grab unruly kids.

4. wear tennis shoes

this is kind of a no brainer, but you wouldn't believe how many people i saw wearing flip flops. you will be doing a lot of walking if you want the best views of the animals.

5. take a look at the zoo map and mark which animals you want to see most

by the time we left the zoo, we had some kids screaming they were ready to go and some that were screaming they wanted to see other animals. a good idea is to take a look at the park map by either pulling it up at home before you go or when you arrive. if this is a once in a lifetime trip, then of course you are probably going to want to see everything. however, since we have passes, a good idea would have been to let each child pick the one animal they absolutely did not want to miss and then decide as a family what else you want to see. if you know you will have the opportunity to come back, then trying to make your way through every single animal is not a must.

we had a great time at the zoo, but one thing that was a bit overwhelming for us was elijah's incredibly short attention span. some of the animals didn't phase him one bit and almost seemed to entertain him as much as a photograph of that animal would have. at one point, i remember picking him up to show him one of the animals, his eyes locked on it, he said "wow" in his most unenthusiastic voice, and then screamed for me to put him down... where he promptly ran over to play with a stick. seriously? we did a lot of chasing after him all day and jason and I pretty much gave up really trying to look at the animals ourselves, or really enjoying the experience with the rest of the children, just to make sure we didn't loose sight of elijah.


how would you suggest handling this situation? at one point we thought a baby leash was a good idea. i have always kind of despised those things and never had to use one on any of my other children. how do you feel about them?

diy advent calendar inspiration + activites

believe it or not, this is our first year doing an advent calendar. several years ago i began the process of making one out of matchstick boxes, but it was sadly ruined by our dog who peed right on top of it because she refused to go outside during a terrible 2 foot snowstorm. yes, it was painted and drying up under our christmas tree and the next morning we were going to glue it together.

and then that happened.

this year i decided to do an advent calendar, but constructed one out of card stock and twine, for a quick and simple one. i simply used the materials i had on hand, wrote the numbers on the front, and an activity for us to do each day on the back.

i know this is a family tradition we will want to keep so i searched pinterest and found these ideas i might like to try next year when we do our advent calendar. these all seem pretty simple with minimal materials needed to make them. love that!

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

again with the help of pinterest, plus some of our own traditions, i came up with this list of activities for each day on our calendar. i try to keep a majority of them simple (and again with minimal materials) to assure that we will actually do them. december is such a busy time, but it is still nice to stop for a moment and spend some time together as a family to do these little activities. 

countdown to christmas - advent calendar activities

december 1: write a letter and christmas wish list to santa

december 2: make cinnamon ornaments

december 3: watch the original version of, how the grinch stole christmas, and drink hot chocolate

december 4: family ornament shopping trip

december 5: color christmas pictures

december 6: make and hang snowflakes

december 7: go visit santa

december 8: watch a christmas movie and eat christmas popcorn 

december 9: make salt dough ornaments

december 10: read the story, J is for Jesus, and eat candy canes

december 11: sign and send out our christmas cards

december 12: make cottonball snowmen 

december 13: dance to christmas music and drink apple cider

december 14: make homemade snowglobes

december 15: drive around to see christmas lights

december 16: watch a christmas movie and drink egg nog

december 17: make an ice wreath

december 18: make pine cone birdfeeders

december 19: make hand print reindeer

december 20: do a christmas scavenger hunt

december 21: open christmas cards

december 22: s'mores on the firepit

december 23: make reindeer food

december 24: bake cookies for santa

december 25: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

if you are a family that likes to incorporate more of the bible into your family traditions, i found this great advent calendar with additional activities plus a reading plan over at the mom diggity.

do you have an advent calendar that you use to count down the days until christmas? what are some activities that you will be doing? what is one thing you always look forward to doing with your children or family this time of year?

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: sixcherries

2012 raleigh christmas parade

 
the raleigh christmas parade is always in november around here. i'm not sure why, but with all the festivities going on in december, it's nice to have the parade during november. this was the first year jason and i have gone together to the raleigh christmas parade. we usually attend a different parade, but it is nothing like the raleigh parade. the raleigh christmas parade is held in downtown raleigh and is the largest christmas parade between washington d.c. and atlanta. you pretty much have to get there a couple hours early if you want to get a good spot, especially with kids.

it was super cold, so i got up early to make coffee and hot chocolate for your thermoses and to bundle up the kiddos in their warmest winter gear. we also went to the parade with my best friend amanda, her husband rick, and their daughter gracie... oh, and little gabriel in mommy's belly {grin}, so the fun was definitely doubled having them there. the parade was great and i love seeing all of the local people i see on tv and listen to on the radio, the businesses i enjoy, and the high schools my friends and i went to growing up. i also love gossiping and people watching! hey, don't judge! we all do it and you know it!


i took a ton of photos, but here are just a few of them.

raleigh motorcycle officers

downtown raleigh horseback police officers

my high school - sanderson spartans

nc agriculture shopping cart

best radio morning show in the south - G105's bob and the showgram (check it out on i heart radio)

the historic raleigh trolley

we had such a great time, but as much fun as we all had, there was one little stinker in the bunch. elijah pretty much screamed that he wanted to go home the entire time. we had to buy an entire box of doughnuts just to get him to cease the screaming for a few minutes, but even with that, he started up again as soon as he was finished. i am starting to wonder if we are getting him out enough because he has been saying this a lot when we take him out lately. the boy is a homebody!


do you go to the christmas parade in your area every year? what is your favorite part of the parade?

linking up with the paper mama, angry julie monday, and sarah halstead for wordless wednesday. 

   

joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com | twitter | facebook | pinterest | instagram: sixcherries