Kids love Music

It is true, kids love music.

Best Semi-Homemade Cornbread Reccipe

I know anything made from scratch usually tastes better but, I like I have that kind of time?  Thankfully, not everything great has to be made from scratch

Safety Town

Safety Town is

Legoland Discovery Place

We recently visited the new Legoland Discovery Center at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta & had a great time.  My Sis-In-Law & nephew were visiting from Fla for 12 days & we had to keep them entertained w/fun activities.  Thankfully, they've never been to the Legoland Amusement Park in Fla or this might have been a terrible idea! My 5 yr old, Cameron & I went with my SIL & nephew, Christian, who is 9 yrs old on a Friday right after July 4.  We left Emily behind with my Mom watching her because I had heard that it wasn't too great for young toddlers. Also, I figured as long as we were going to Phipps Plaza, we might as well enjoy a nice lunch too & that coupled with the long drive would be too much for Emily who needs an early afternoon nap.  We figured going on a weekday, we'd be safe as far as crowds but, apparently a lot of people were off the rest of the week after the 4th so, wrong we were!  It was still really crowded but, we had $10 off coupons so, it made it a little more worth it!  One of the neatest things there is the mini-city of Atlanta.  It was so fun to look around at the Braves Stadium & various buildings & area attractions all made out of Legos.  Totally cool!  It even had a Marta train that ran around the city.  Some things had buttons you could push that made attractions do various things. The kids really liked this too.  The kids also loved the 4D movie which has water that sprays at you at various points & it even snows on you- cool!  It was really neat.  The kids also liked the ride where you ride in a car (4 people p/car) thru tunnels (like a Disney-type ride) & you have guns that shoot at laser targets when you're going thru.  Also, there's a ride that looks like a carnival ride w/arms that have little 2-person things that go up & down as they spin.  They have pedals and supposedly the more you pedal, the higher you go.  I didn't find that to be the case but, then again, I had a kid next to me (my own) who couldn't really reach the pedals!  Anyway, that ride was kind of neat.  They also have a small factory tour at the beginning but, nothing special.  They have small pits of Lego/Duplos around each of the attractions so that if there is a wait in line, the kids can build & play.  I thought that was cool.  More places should think of that!  They also had a big "McDonalds" type of play area w/ball pit & stuff toothat the kids can take their shoes off & go in & play in.  There are a couple of other things there to do like make little cars to race but, it was too busy when we were there.  They have a cafe to eat in but, I was looking forward to having lunch at a "real" restaurant.  We did end up having a great lunch at a place called "Twist" right there at the mall.  Great food, great atmosphere & they had a kids menu too.  There is also a "Johnny Rockets" right outside the Lego place so, I'm sure kids would enjoy that. I was surprised to find that the Legoland place was actually right there inside the mall.  I guess I thought it would be adjacent to the mall or something.  Unusual but, neat.  The caveat is, you have little kids w/you so, you can't really get much shopping done at this posh mall!    Overall, it was definitely worth it if you have $10 off coupons but, w/out a discount (kids 3-12 $16 & adults $20), not so much.

Fun & Different New Local Park

So, I've been checking out all of the new local parks so, that my kids have more options in our area for different kinds of play.  One of the latest is called "Caney Park Preserve" (off Caney Rd., off 141 in Cumming).  This is a neat park with different nature themed play areas grouped together. They also have walking trails and a dog park as well as a picninc pavillion & restrooms.  I went w/my 2 yr old & 5 yr old & my visiting Sister-in-Law & 9 yr old nephew.  The 2 boys had a great time climbing the giant rope spider web.  The kids also liked the water feature that is basically rocks that you climb on with a water stream running down the middle of it & it's enircled by sand.  The kids can play in the water & sand (yes, it's kind of messy). We didn't really let them play much in this part because I didn't dare mess up my new car that I had only had for about a week!  They also have giant ants that kids can climb on but, they're just like giant stepping stones so, who cares?  They have a "Dinosaur Dig" area with pretend (permanent) fossils sticking out of the sand.  Since we brought our sand toys, the kids had fun playing in the sand.  I will say this park is best for 3 or 4 yrs old & up (not much to keep a young toddler occupied).  Of course little Emily tried to keep up with the big kids anyway.  Unfortunately, like most parks in our area, there's not a lot of shade but, the Dinosaur Dig area did have some shade from the trees.  The playground has a very woodsy surrounding & I'm sure the trails must be nice but, we didn't go on them this time.  I'll have to report more later after another visit.  My adice would be to bring sunscreen ( & maybe bugspray, depending on when you go) and sand toys.  I liked it because it was different but, I think 2 yr old Emily was missing the slides or swings that are at most playgrounds. 

Cheddar Chicken Tenders

Yum, who doesn't love good chicken tenders?  Here's a nice twist on them that is quite tasty.  I made them the other night & my whole family liked them.  Yummy & easy to make -what a combo!

Recipe:
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups (about 3 oz.) Cheez-It crackers
1 1/4 lbs chicken breast tenders

Put Rack in lower 3rd of oven & preheat to 375 degrees.  Brush baking pan w/oil (I line mine w/aluminum foil for easy clean up).  Crush crackers in to crumbs w/food processor (or put them in a plastic zip-loc bag and bang the crap out of them).  They don't have to be super-fine crumbs, just smashed up enough to roll the chicken in them. Transfer cracker crumbs to bowl & stir in pepper.  Toss tenders in mustard & then dredge them in Cheez-It crumbs to coat.  Arrange on oiled pan & bake (turning once) until golden brown, about 15 minutes.  I like to serve them w/honey mustard or buttermilk ranch for dipping.  You can dip them in whatever you like because they go well w/most any sauce.  Bon Appetit!

Makeshift Outdoor Tent/Fort

Okay, so I saw this somewhere (& I'm thinking it must have been Pinterest) and I knew my kids would like it.  You make a tent/fort/house (whatever you want it to be) outside by using rope and sheets or blankets & whatever trees you have available.  Today was a hot summer day but it wasn't too hot this morning & there was a slight breeze which made it bearable outside.  I went out with both kids to the backyard & took some rope (I reccomend rope that you use for towing or clothelines) that I keep in the garage.  I bought mine at the Dollar Store (Is there anything you can't buy there?) and it is a long 65 feet of rope.  I keep it for hanging stuff outside like when your decorating for an outdoor party & you need to hang stuff & for camping (hanging a tarp, as a clothesline etc.) or, for this idea.....  You could use 3 short ropes but, I found it easy to use this 1 long rope.  You tie one end to a tree & stretch it across to another tree (or in this case, my kids play-climber) at about chest-high level & tie it.  You can tie a 2nd rope, ideally about 1-2 feett or so apart from that first one & slightly higher (maybe 6-10 inches) . Then, tie the third one the same distance apart but, about the same height as the 1st one.  Once you drape the blankets over the ropes, it will have a tent or house effect since, the middle rope is higher to give it the peak in the middle.  Of course, if you use 1 rope like I did, you just have to pull it over to the next place that you want it to be.  In other words, tie it on the branch and then pull it over to another branch slightly higher to tie the 2nd line & then pull it over to another branch for the 3rd line.  Hope this makes sense but, if not, looking at my pics should help.  Then you drape 2 blankets or sheets (full or queen size work well) over the ropes (one lenghtwise & one widthwise) and you have a nice tent to play in.  I reccomend using sheets instead of blankets because the weight of the sheets doess weigh down the ropes a good bit.  I can imagine heavy blankets would really weigh them down. I also like the light, airy feeling of the white sheets because they kept the sun off of us but, we still enjoyed a lot of light. We put an outdoor blanket down for a "floor" and use little surf-floats (that came with our Slip-n-Slide) as beds & throw pillows from our outdoor patio set to make our fort comfy inside.  We played in there for a good while this morning & then had snack under there this afternoon. It's also really easy to take down & we took it down at the end of the day.  My kids really liked it & so did I!  I do not have 2 trees close enough together to make this between 2 trees (which is really ideal) but, I improvised by substituting my kids play-climber for one of the trees.  I wish I could have gotten the ropes a little farther apart to make a bigger fort but, I had them as far apart as I could with using the play-climber.  Also, I wish I could have tied the middle rope higher to make the more house-like peak but, couldn't due to the height of the kid's climber that I had to use.  I think I'll get more creative & do a much better tent next time but, it was still a lot of fun. Believe me, I wish I could've made it bigger because, I did spend a pretty good amount of time in there with my kids!  Anytime, I wasn't in there with them, they called out to me to join them!