Kids Summer Vacation Packing List

A couple weeks ago, I joined some moms by the pool while our kids were swimming. One mom was agonizing over packing her four kids for summer vacation. I could tell she was extremely overwhelmed at the idea, and I suggested that she let the kids pack their stuff- because the oldest three could totally manage. She mentioned that hadn't worked in the past, and I decided to share my solution with her. She liked it so much, she thought I should share it here.

I have a steady lists for packing suitcases- one for summer vacation, one for international trips, one for winter locations. I print a copy of the applicable list for each boy. He then has to put everything together from the list, and lay it out on his bed. After he's gathered everything, he calls me up, I inspect the choices, double check the list, and then it actually goes into the suitcase. We then zip it up, and post said suitcase by the door. Packing is almost never a stressful thing for me, because I'm not having to pack for anyone but myself, and/or the other necessities we might need if we are renting a house (I do also have a list of things to bring or purchase in the case of it being a house rental- spices, etc.- that's a share for another post). Also, it saves me time not having to recreate lists every time we go on a trip.

Now, this will obviously only work if your kids are of reading age; and if they can stay on track. But I do have one kid who will whip through this in about 20 minutes, while I have to give the other one the list at least a day in advance and quite a bit of nagging if I want it done- ha! But for focus-challenged kids, I would recommend making it a game- maybe set a timer and see if they can beat the clock, or make it a contest if you have more than one kiddo- winner gets choice seating on the trip.

Letting the kids pack themselves also eliminates the drama that might come from you choosing their clothes- if that's an issue in your house; and it allows kids to take responsibility for their choices and become more independent. It also eliminates the "Iampackedandreadytogowith82stuffedanimals" dilemma because they will see that all the extra friends and books won't fit!

Packing is a real life skill that kids need to develop over the years, so I never feel bad about asking my kids to do it. For older kids, you can take it a step further, give them the list a couple days in advance (have another on hand in case they lose it); and have them verify that all laundry needed is clean and ready to go prior to packing- maybe even do their own laundry! WHOA, mommas! This makes life so much easier.

Cool little trick I've learned- I let them choose from approved snacks for their trip- and put it in a hard plastic pencil box, so that snacks don't get crunched in their bag. This also keeps them from over-eating junk on the road.

Please feel free to use/tweak my packing list. I added a couple things because I am obviously a boy momma and probably haven't thought of all the extras that come with packing a girl. Also, bear in mind, I didn't put any medications or things on this list- because those are things that go on my master list for either my carry on bag, or the house rental list. If you have suggestions for adding to the list, I'd love to hear them here!

Happy Summering~

Amanda

Chowin' Down on Farm Grown Veggies

A couple days ago, I ran across a new pick your own farm facebook page in the Dallas area, and I couldn't have been more excited. My boys and I have done a couple blueberry picking farms in the area, but most are quite a bit away, and don't feature vegetables other than fruits or pumpkins, or they don't have the option to pick-your-own.

Pure Land Organic is a new-ish, budding farm located on the back farm roads of McKinney, TX. The facebook post I saw mentioned that they would have tomatoes for picking on Thursday and Friday of the week from 9-12. I suddenly had visions of my mom canning my grandma's southern chow-chow relish in our steamy summer kitchen in NC; and a wild hair was born. I would pick those tomatoes and I would make relish. This whole thing is very ironic since as a kid I hated every single ingredient you'd find in this relish (except sugar), but I digress.

I knew this little adventure was straight up C's alley, so Friday morning, we loaded up with sunscreen and bug repellent and set out on the journey to the exotic farm afar. Afar meaning- from my house in NW Frisco, it was about a 25 minute drive. HAHA!

I entered the address- 7505 County Road 201 into GPS and it worked great, and I didn't have any issues finding it other than Siri waits to long to tell you to turn. The scenery was great as we slipped away into the "country" and breathed a little sigh of relief. The weather unexpectedly cooperated in that it was fairly overcast- the sun started to peek through a bit while we were there, but over all, it wasn't too bad for the last day of June in Texas.

We turned into the one-way driveway into the farm, and were greeted by an old farm looking building  containing a tractor and a white tent set up to the side. There were about 5 or so cars parked in the grass- so not too busy. I was immediately greeted by whom I can only assume was one of the farmers- (Megan?) and she was so friendly, helpful and excited to see us.

There were several rows of tomatoes for picking- $3 per pound and a bucket was around $5, and you could choose red or green, regular ones or cherry ones. She did have small scissors on hand for cutting the peppers and explained how to pick the tomatoes properly. We filled one with the green tomatoes for the relish, one with red for other stuff, and then moved on to the bell pepper row. I picked the most humongous green bell peppers for my relish, as well as some beautiful purple ones that I didn't even know existed. The final row in the garden was the hot pepper row with jalapeno and shishito peppers. We took a few shoshito with hopes to recreate a dish we've had at a restaurant recently.

As I checked out, (and she does take cash and cards via square- and I always spend too much so used the card)- I added a bucket of onions, red onions, and garlic at $2 per pound. All were nicely cured and with smooth tight skins and no bruising. Nothing like you'd see in the store- so much better. I chatted quite a bit with the farmer. She mentioned they had already pulled the carrots. The birds had gotten to the little peach tree orchard this year- but they were thrilled because this was the first year they'd gotten peaches at all- I bet next year will be a great crop. She also mentioned that she has black eyed peas that will be ready for picking in a couple weeks, and she's willing to give those away because they are a "cover crop" to help the soil... Black eyed peas are pretty labor intensive to shell and prepare. But, yes, my family loves them so this southern Grits will be heading back to pick some of those, too. And I found a gadget online that I might add to speed it up. She also mentioned having arugula and kale, so I get the feeling they will keep rotating crops year round.

Look closely at the size of those peppers! 

Chow-Chow used a bunch- here's the leftovers.

Pure Land Organics also farms out to several area restaurants known for their organic and local menu selections. There are lots of farms in the area, but pick-your-owns are not as prolific and I learned from her that it's probably because getting liability insurance for agri-tourism is kind of a new and weird thing. Thank goodness she found someone to do it, because all our kids should be seeing where our food comes from! She mentioned that they are open for field trips, and scout outings; and I plan to keep checking in on this little farm in the days to come, until I can have my own big garden one day.

Before visiting, check their facebook page for the most up-to-date picking times.

I wish I had gotten more thorough information and her name, and better pictures, but honestly, I didn't plan to blog about this- it just kinda happened. So sorry and I'll try to do better in the future. This blogging thing is turning into quite a time-consuming hobby but I love it!

In the mean time, I've canned that relish- it's cooling and I can't wait to enjoy it over the Fourth of July holiday. Happy Fourth, ya'll! Enjoy your barbeques!

Newbies at a baseball game

Last night, my family and I were fortunate enough to attend one of our very first MLB games at Globe Life Park in Arlington. It was my second MLB game, and my boys' first. I should state here, in case you don't know us... that despite the societal pressures of living in Frisco, we are not a huge baseball family.- which is probably obviously from the scarity of aforementioned MLB ticket stubs. I mean, we enjoy it, but we don't necessarily tune into to games or hang out at the ballpark, unless we have a dog in the fight... in this case- the Rangers.

I should also mention that Rangers fan wear is bit scarce around here, as well. C, my youngest son is definitely the biggest fan, but even his fan wear had been through the ringer on the playground. So, when Husband said, "Hey, someone gave me tickets to the Rangers game", I did what I always do, and sent my mind immediately into the closet to plan everyone's attire. (See the pantless Seine cruise post, haha!) You might not think this was a big deal, but trust me- it could have ended up that way, so bear with me. My last Rangers fanwear was a Hamilton tshirt, that I ended up donating after he left- only to have him yo-yo back and make me regret my decision.

Now, C had been counting down the days to this game, and reminding us daily about it, so he was psyched. We considered picking up fanwear, but looking at Target, Husband said, "Nah" to the $20-30 price tags for each of us. But when I woke up yesterday, and C was dressed to the nines in his Rangers ball cap, and a FC Chelsea soccer jersey from England (because, hey, it's the right colors!)- I said, NO. This will not do. They are playing the Toronto Blue Jays for crying out loud, and let's not have any mistaking our commonwealth affiliation; while I love anything attached to Her Majesty, we are Texans for crying out loud.

I hightailed it to Walmart, and they did not fail me. I was able to pick up a couple of Rangers tshirts for about $12-15 (which was the perfect price point for "temperate" baseball fans); the women's selection was limited so I just went with a generic Texas shirt and improvised with Rangers colors.

As I began researching the ballpark and what was permitted- (could I bring in a bag? Did it have to be a certain size?, etc) I came across the realization that soft-sided cooler bags were permitted. I texted a friend because the website did not specify what exactly could go in said cooler. She recommended bringing in as many waters as possible, and this turned out to be the best advice ever, because waters were for sale for $5.25 each in the park. I estimate that we saved around $60 by bringing in two soft sided coolers of water.

Also, researching the concession options, we knew that it could add up quickly. You can view their menu here. However, I came across the mention on the site that you could tailgate as long as you don't have an open flame. Now, I know you can do that for Cowboys games, so I'm not sure why that didn't occur to me before- but at that point, I was gung-ho for tailgating. We loaded up the Boy Scout camping grill, and made a run to pick up the usual suspects of hot dogs, chips, fruit, and sodas. Turns out we forgot to bring lawn chairs, but we made do with the back tailgate in true form.

Not bad for $12-15 fanwear. Tailgating at the ballpark was a great idea. 

There were quite a few people tailgating in the parking lot for a Monday night, and plenty of spaces to park. You can read the tailgating tips HERE. Tailgating and bringing in water allowed us to go into the park and use our budget on more important things like cotton candy, and peanuts, and the ultimately elusive bacon on a stick.

The Rangers lost by one point, but we feel like we won the night with the money we saved, and you can't beat the experience for some family fun- even if you are a "tepid" baseball fan.