Author: Mama

Arkansas Easter Good for the Gray Sky Blues

Posted on April 3, 2018April 3, 2018 by Mama

I don’t think I have ever been more thankful for Easter in Arkansas than I was this weekend. Other than the obvious festivities, good food and catching up with family, Saturday’s weather couldn’t have been more delicious for a girl who is positively sick of the gray skies and cold temps in the Midwest.

We reached the mid-70s with sunny skies in Blue Jay Hollow and everyone spent most of the day outdoors. Other than the protests to the sunscreen, the kids enjoyed made-up games, football and who knows what else. The grownups sat around sipping cold drinks, catching up on the days since Thanksgiving and keeping half an eye on the youngsters. I absolutely relished the sun, which had been completely absent from my life for about two straight weeks. What a perfect Easter eve day!

It was such an enjoyable outdoorsy kind of day that it became a task just to get everyone inside to color Easter eggs! My son declared that we wasn’t coloring eggs this year, but I nixed that idea awfully quick! Of course he begrudgingly came indoors with the other children and then had a blast dying eggs all sorts of greens, pinks and blues (and even a few browns).

The big hit was the Egg-Mazing machine that my niece brought along. This thing is so cool! I definitely need to acquire one of my own. While the egg spins on little wheels, you simply hold a marker against the egg to make nearly perfect little, or big, stripes all the way around the egg. It looked like so much fun, most of the moms even gave it a go. Saturday hit a high note with the Easter egg hunt, especially with the addition of several money and candy eggs, and we all lingered outside in the waning sun until the mosquitoes ran us indoors.

Unfortunately Easter Sunday turned off cooler and rainy, but I accepted this fate because the day before had been so cooperative. We attended church at Thornburg Baptist and then back to Nannie’s for more family time and good food. When we finally arrived home Monday, we were greeted with more gray skies, a snow-covered ground and temperatures barely above freezing. Yuck! Was the near-perfect picture of Easter eve in Blue Jay Hollow just a dream? If so, I’m going back to bed. . . wake me when the sun comes out!

Bunny Trail Sidewalk Chalk

Posted on March 29, 2018March 27, 2020 by Mama

Oh my goodness, it’s almost Easter and I feel like I’m so far behind. It seems like St. Patrick’s Day was just a couple of weeks ago. . . Oh wait, it was! With Easter’s early arrival and our spring break adventure last week, I’m afraid all the holiday hoopla has simply taken a backseat to life. Not that I’m downplaying the importance of Easter and the resurrection of Christ, but let’s just say that I’ve been a little lax in my outward display of enthusiasm. Anyone else in my shoes this year?

Okay, so enough of my excuses. We all still have time to whip up a few items just in time for Easter, and this adorable little bunny sidewalk chalk definitely fits the bill. I love this craft because it is easy to make, it fits into many plastic eggs and kids love them. Winner, winner, bunny dinner!

Here’s what you need:

Silicone Mold (bunnies, chicks or Easter eggs are all good choices)
Plaster of Paris
Water
Tempera Paint
Disposable cups and spoons

Here’s what you do:

Mix equal parts Plaster of Paris and water in a disposable cup.
Add paint to the mixture and stir until you get the desired color. Of course, the more paint the deeper the color.
Pour the colored mixture into the molds. Fill it close to the top, but don’t overflow or you will have to trim off the excess (and that definitely would add oodles of unnecessary work to this super easy craft).
Let the mold set on a level surface until dry, which will take several hours. Your Plaster of Paris container probably will give you an estimated time.
Pop out the little chalks and let them continue to dry for at least a day. You will know when they are completely dry when they are no longer cool to the touch (not that you have to wait quite that long).

As a side note, if you plan to package these fun little chalks in a sealed container, you may want to let them dry longer. I plopped mine in mini baggies and they were a bit moist when I handed them out to the kiddos in the Hollow. The kids loved them but the chalks didn’t seem to last as long. Also, make sure you wash your mold immediately or you might have a hard time getting it completely clean.

Okay, I think that’s it. Enjoy your sidewalk chalk and have a happy Easter!

The Coolest Man-Made Place on Earth

Posted on March 27, 2018March 27, 2018 by Mama

Spring Break is officially finished and yesterday was back to business as usual — my husband went to work, our son went to school and I did our taxes. Sounds like fun, eh? I actually didn’t mind the shift back to real life, because our family adventure to St. Louis last week was a perfect three-day respite for the early spring blues.

Our son had never been to the far side of the state, so St. Louis was a fun trip for our youngster (and a Mom and Dad who hadn’t been in many years). We had originally planned to visit this summer, but it seems like we are always in a dead sprint when school lets out so we decided to move up the date a bit. We knew the weather would be iffy in March but we decided to risk it, and the cold and rain cooperated for most of the outdoor parts.

We visited the St. Louis Zoo the first day, with its playful polar bear, butterfly garden and oodles of other cute and/or ferocious creatures. Admission to the zoo is free, but it costs $15 to park (oversized vehicles cost extra), and an Adventure Pass is also an additional fee. The pass covers all the fun stuff like the train, petting zoo, sea lion show and carousel, and you can definitely save money by purchasing the pass instead of paying for each event individually. We received an additional discount on our passes because we are season ticket holders at our local zoo, so make sure you ask about that.

The third day we visited the Gateway Arch and took a riverboat ride along the mighty Mississippi. It turned off cold and rainy that day, but other than the walk from the parking lot we were inside most of the day. We couldn’t see much from the top of the Arch because it was so cloudy, but that gave the view from there its own sort of mystique. I remembered the cramped egg-shaped tram to the top from my teenage years, but this time it was so much fun to see the thrill of adventure register in my little guy’s eyes! Thankfully I purchased tickets online weeks ahead of time, or we might have been tempted to skip the day’s activities because of the gloomy weather. . . and it was certainly worth braving the elements.

You can purchase combo tickets for the Arch and the riverboat ride, which will save you a few dollars and give you a set time to start both activities. It cost us $30 per adult and $19 per child for the combination tickets. Our ride on the river was a dry and warm endeavor, because let me tell you, the “Becky Thatcher” has a heater that will keep you toasty! We didn’t spend much time on the cold, wet deck, but we did nab a table by the large windows, perfect for city viewing and hotdog eating.

Yes, I know I skipped day two, but only because I wanted to save our favorite adventure for last — the City Museum! While it’s not really a museum in the standard sense of the word, it must be one of the coolest man-made places on Earth! I’m not even sure how to describe this place. . . It’s like a rabid welder crossed Carlsbad Caverns with the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland and created an incredibly insane multi-storied play place for children and their adults. This place is soooo cool! I’m not sure who had the most fun? Wait, yes I do; I think it was me!!!

Admission is $14 for anyone three and up, but there are special rates after 5 pm or Fridays and Saturdays. When the roof is open (it wasn’t while we were there), access costs an extra $5. Don’t bother trying to pick a less busy day to visit, because according to a couple of workers the place is very popular every day between March and October. I do recommend you go on a day it isn’t raining, because there is a huge outdoor area that shuts down during inclement weather. We got lucky the day we visited because the rain didn’t start until we were walking to our car. It was another cooperative weather day for the family vacay!

As you can see, St. Louis was an awesome and energetic adventure for our little clan of three and you might understand why it wasn’t so difficult to slip back into the usual routine. Okay, so completing the taxes and discovering a refund didn’t hurt my Monday either.

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