Showing posts with label Jacob. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacob. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2015
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
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?
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?
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
december ad space - let's swap
i am really excited about christmas this year! we plan to make the holiday pretty low key as far as presents go, but that isn't going to stop me from doing a whole lot of stuff with the kids. lots of crafts and recipes are in our future, plus lots of other fun stuff... maybe even a couple guest posts too!
i would love to help promote your blog and december is going to be a great time to get the word out! i am only focusing on blog ad swaps this month, so if you are interested in swapping, hit me up in an email and let's do this! i would love to have a couple of guest posts too, so let me know if this is something you would like to do as well.
this blog is continuing to grown each month and i would love to help you out. wanna see my blog stats? just click on the pr/ad space link at the top or email me at sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com to get to code to start swapping.
hope everyone has a safe and happy december!
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
the paper mama's holiday photo challenge starts tomorrow
tomorrow starts the annual holiday photo challenge over at the paper mama, and i am pretty excited! this will be her third year doing it and it is one if my favorite things to link up with every year. i love seeing everyone's creativity put to work for this! i assume most people use their creations as their yearly holiday card... i know i do, so if you are already planning to do one, you might as well link up! today I thought I'd share our photo/card from last year in case you weren't around then to check it out.
have you ever participated in chelsea's holiday photo challenge? are you going to participate this year? you totally should! not only is it tons of fun, there are prizes up for grabs! be sure to check it out tomorrow, and i hope to see your photo linked up with the rest of us.
need some ideas? check out these photos from 2010 and these photos from 2011.
have you ever participated in chelsea's holiday photo challenge? are you going to participate this year? you totally should! not only is it tons of fun, there are prizes up for grabs! be sure to check it out tomorrow, and i hope to see your photo linked up with the rest of us.
need some ideas? check out these photos from 2010 and these photos from 2011.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
things i just don't worry about as a mom
since i started blogging back in 2008, i have realized that we are not the only big family on the planet. come on, i knew that, but it seemed like everywhere we went people were shocked to see us with six kids in tow. i have gotten to know so many wonderful big families since i started blogging, but i still hear that people these days just don't have big families like they use to. perhaps that's true, i haven't researched the stats, but there are definitely more than others realize. people are still having big families. in fact, my sister has six kids too, and my parent's love to say "we have two daughters and 12 grandchildren". you should see the looks they get.
one of the biggest questions that arise when we are spotted with our little tribe, is "how do you do it"? most of the time i say this..."tight budget, strict schedule, and lots of patience"... but honestly, you just can't let your panties get in a bunch and make a big deal about things. you just can't! i have learned to pick my battles and although i still feel like i am a pretty strict mama, every day i am learning more about what really matters. and every day i remind myself that the most important thing is to live by my values.
here are just a few things that i just don't worry about as a mom:
what my kids wear. they pick their own clothes out every day and if it's a total fashion fail, i absolutely do not care. tennis shoes with that dress? whatever! my only rule...nothing revealing.
eating off the floor. of course, i don't serve food on the floor, but if it falls, so what...5 second rule. hell, 5 minute rule, so what! if your ice cream falls in a pile of cat hair and you feel comfortable eating it, well go right ahead...and then tell me where that cat hair came from because we don't have a cat.
cleaning your plate. not everyone likes the exact same foods, and with 8 people in our family, meal time is never going to exactly what each of us wants. however, we have a "no thank you" bite rule that encourages our children to try their food. one bite to taste it, and if you decide you don't like it, your "no thank you" bite tells me that you are kindly refusing any more. we never force our children to eat anything they don't like, but you have to try it to know that you don't like it.
what my kids watch on tv. during the school week, we pretty much don't allow our children to watch tv at all. weekends...whatever. and we don't put on pornos and sit our kids down for family movie night, but rated R with the occasional boob or killing is not off limits. we talk to our children about this stuff and i feel like if i am doing my part as a parent to talk to them, then i don't have to put limits on it.
gender stereotypes. if our boys want to play with barbies and our girls want to climb trees or play football, we are fine with that.
sexuality. our kids will grow up to be who they feel most comfortable being. regardless of whether that means they are gay, straight, marry outside of their race, or stay single forever, we will love them because they are our children.
stuff. we are a family about doing, not having. i would much rather have the memory of our time together than a pile of junk to be sorted through. we give our kids the things that they want, but always remind them that life is so much more than that.
what other people think. my kids are my kids, i am their mother, and who cares if you don't like the decisions i make. that is not just something i say, it's something i mean. ask anyone who knows me.
what are some things that you just don't worry about as a parent?
one of the biggest questions that arise when we are spotted with our little tribe, is "how do you do it"? most of the time i say this..."tight budget, strict schedule, and lots of patience"... but honestly, you just can't let your panties get in a bunch and make a big deal about things. you just can't! i have learned to pick my battles and although i still feel like i am a pretty strict mama, every day i am learning more about what really matters. and every day i remind myself that the most important thing is to live by my values.
here are just a few things that i just don't worry about as a mom:
what my kids wear. they pick their own clothes out every day and if it's a total fashion fail, i absolutely do not care. tennis shoes with that dress? whatever! my only rule...nothing revealing.
my kids love these nerd glasses. tyler wore the outfit on the right to school one day. she's wearing two skirts at once. oh well.
eating off the floor. of course, i don't serve food on the floor, but if it falls, so what...5 second rule. hell, 5 minute rule, so what! if your ice cream falls in a pile of cat hair and you feel comfortable eating it, well go right ahead...and then tell me where that cat hair came from because we don't have a cat.
elijah's food that he was eating...in the bathroom. he later went back
and finished it. and just eating some food he stole.
cleaning your plate. not everyone likes the exact same foods, and with 8 people in our family, meal time is never going to exactly what each of us wants. however, we have a "no thank you" bite rule that encourages our children to try their food. one bite to taste it, and if you decide you don't like it, your "no thank you" bite tells me that you are kindly refusing any more. we never force our children to eat anything they don't like, but you have to try it to know that you don't like it.
what my kids watch on tv. during the school week, we pretty much don't allow our children to watch tv at all. weekends...whatever. and we don't put on pornos and sit our kids down for family movie night, but rated R with the occasional boob or killing is not off limits. we talk to our children about this stuff and i feel like if i am doing my part as a parent to talk to them, then i don't have to put limits on it.
gender stereotypes. if our boys want to play with barbies and our girls want to climb trees or play football, we are fine with that.
stuff. we are a family about doing, not having. i would much rather have the memory of our time together than a pile of junk to be sorted through. we give our kids the things that they want, but always remind them that life is so much more than that.
what other people think. my kids are my kids, i am their mother, and who cares if you don't like the decisions i make. that is not just something i say, it's something i mean. ask anyone who knows me.
what are some things that you just don't worry about as a parent?
Monday, August 13, 2012
JOIE de VIVRE
we actually had another pretty good weekend considering we have been staying home a lot lately. however, we finally have ryan and jacob for a week now, right before they go back to school. jason and the rest of the munchkins went to get them on friday and gave mommy some alone time for awhile. i was able to throw in a second workout for the day and just relax. it felt pretty weird.
..........
saturday, my mom and i took the girls back to school shopping at the mall. i hate going to the mall, we almost never go, but they pretty much have everything they need for back to school, except for a few small things. i am so grateful that my mom helped me out this year with the girls' stuff. schools seem to be asking for more and more every year. not to mention, all the money put in throughout the school year. mackenzie had 3 field trips last year and each one came with a $80 fee to go. phoenix and tyler had several as well, including one that was an "in school" field trip that cost $5. what kind of crap is that?
..........
after sitting down and planning my grocery trip on sunday, i suddenly got the urge to get out of the house...more so that going to the grocery store. so, a spur of the moment trip to the lake turned out to be a super fun day for us. we actually only live about 15 minutes from the lake, but we ventured over to the dam area where there are hiking trails, a playground, and river access. we hiked up to the top of the falls lake dam and back down to the water's edge, let them play on the playground and then hiked back down to the river where an impromptu swim session took place after tyler fell face first into the water. we clearly weren't dressed for swimming but no one seemed to mind. i will be sharing more photos of our adventure throughout the week, but for now, check out this video!
on our way home, we decided it was best to end our day of fun with hot dogs and s'mores on the fire pit. we already have plans to go back sometime soon.
how was your weekend? tell me something awesome you did!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
semi wordful-less-ish wednesday - jacob
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| jacob, pullen park, mother's day 2012 |
however, since jacob turned 10 in january, every now and then he will show his "big kid" side. the side where clothes and image is important, girls are no longer gross, and xbox and music take the place of board games and disney channel.
he is definitely growing up!
...........
i wanted to share so many of the other photos i took on mother's day this year but i still don't have my laptop fixed and i have resorted to editing through one of the free photo editing sites.
did i mention it sucks? it sucks!
did i mention i want to whine like a brat? i do!
did i mention money is tight and i may have to wait a really long time to get another computer? i just might!
but, i am trying to keep a positive attitude about it all because being a brat and throwing a temper tantrum isn't going to make a new computer land in my lap. and if you like phone photos, crappy edits and SOOC shots, you are in the right place.
..........
this was nearly a full body shot that i love cropped like this. and i am actually pretty pleased with my edit considering what i had to use.
linking up with the paper mama, angry julie monday, and then she snapped, and sarah halstead.
Friday, February 24, 2012
a month in iphone photos
these photos are from all different times throughout the past month. they are in random order too.
just a few things you might see above:
several beautiful winter days / elijah's new hand under head position / jacob's birthday at frankie's fun park / ryan skateboarding / mackenzie & jacob iceskating / tyler's sour gum face / a mustache valentine's day / riding the slide at jumpin' beans / new big boy underwear / my new canon 5d / my new epiphanie camera bag / my new coffee coozie / dinner at a mexican restaurant / in my pajamas / mackenzie's new slouchy beret made by a friend
...and more.
wanna know how i made the collage above? it is the photoshake app. using the grid design.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
little bits of happiness
this is smooches.
smooches is not our cat. well, he is ryan's and jacob's cat at their mom's house. he/she...i honestly don't even know if smooches is a boy or a girl but it was the sweetest little thing to watch smooches get excited to see jacob when we dropped the boys off at their mom's house on sunday.
Monday, December 5, 2011
ryan & jacob fall 2011
a couple weekends ago, i took my kids out to take a few pics, but unfortunately, they weren't very cooperative. elijah was such a busy body, my oldest two boys, ryan and jacob, thought wrestling was a better idea, and mackenzie was busy being a teenage drama queen. surprisingly, phoenix and tyler were actually getting along and listening but, they forgot their smiles at home. they were SO all over the place that pictures were blurry, my settings were way off from trying to adjust while keeping up with them, and my patience was pushed to the max.
these were a couple of my best photos, but i am not going to lie, i converted to black and white because my lighting and flaws were best disguised this way.
my boys are looking so grown!
joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com twitter facebook pinterest instagram: mamacherry
these were a couple of my best photos, but i am not going to lie, i converted to black and white because my lighting and flaws were best disguised this way.
my boys are looking so grown!
joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com twitter facebook pinterest instagram: mamacherry
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
thanksgiving 2011
the holidays are always so busy for us, especially when traveling with six children. my phone has almost become an excuse not to drag around my big girl camera and hopefully in the new year we can spend more time together. i carried my dslr with me on thanksgiving but i never once used it. shame on me. hope you all had a great day and were safe while shopping the black friday sales. i don't know if i am lazy or just smart, but i did all of my shopping right here in the comfort of my jammies, curled up under a blanket on the couch.
joni - sixcherriesontop (at) gmail (dot) com twitter facebook pinterest instagram: mamacherry
Sunday, November 6, 2011
product review: axe hold + touch spiking glue
i have only tried a handful of products on my boys. not until recently, as they have gotten older, have they really been into dressing nicely, smelling good, and "doing" their hair when they come home from their mom's. i received the axe hold + touch spiking glue a few weeks ago and couldn't wait for them to get here to try it out (jason doesn't exactly have hair to test it out on).
these styles are a little over dramatized but it definitely demonstrates the power of axe spiking glue.
applying it was pretty easy, i simply squeezed a dime size amount of the spiking glue in my hand, which was actually a little too much, and rubbed my hands together. then i just ran my hands through their hair to give it a "messy" look, if that makes sense. it dries quickly and washes out easily.
more like the style they like.
they love it, i love it, you will too. go check it out!
disclosure: thanks to klout and klout perks for the free sample of axe hold + touch spiking glue. all opinions are my own. six cherries on top disclaimer/terms of use
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