20 Things to Do with Your Children in Greater Atlanta

Do you live in Greater Atlanta and are you looking to have a "stay-cation" with your kids this year?  Here are some ideas for cool stuff to do:

Jaemor Farms in Alto, GA

1. Atlanta Botanical Gardens
2. Jaemor Farms - Hayride/Tour/Apple Cider - call for hours/dates
3. Suwanee Town Center - bring a ball to run in the huge grassy field, bring swimsuit to jump in fountain & walk to Yogli Mogli afterwards
4. World of Coke Museum
5. Aquarium 
6. Zoo & Cyclorama 
7. Imagine It!  Atlanta Children's Museum
8. INK (Interactive Neighborhood for Kids) Museum in Gainesville 
9. Day trip to Chattanooga for Children's Museum and/or Aquarium
10. Center for the Puppetry Arts
11. Braves Game 
12. Falcons Game 
13. Hawks Game 
14. Southeastern Train Museum in Duluth - absolutely awesome even for 2 yr olds; they have a Mom and Tot program 1/month on a Thurs
15. Georgia Renaissance Festival
16. Kennesaw Mountain/Visitors Center - really cool drive up the mountain
17. Explore a new town: Dahlonega, Marietta, Roswell, Lawrenceville, Decatur, Norcross, Duluth and Suwanee all have great town squares
18. Norcross train station restaurant
19. Stone Mountain for the Laser Show, a train ride and picnic by the lake
20. Atlantic Station movie, walk around, ice cream, Ikea

Apple Pancake Wheels

I saw this idea for Apple Pancake Wheels on Pinterest and decided to give it a try for breakfast this morning.  All you need is an apple and pancake mix.

First, core and peel an apple.  Then cut it into pinwheel shapes as shown.

Next, mix up the pancake batter.  Heat 1 Tbsp. of butter on a skillet to medium-high heat.  Coat apple slices in batter and throw in the skillet.  Cook each side for about 3 or 4 minutes (it takes longer than a regular pancake).

And there you have it - Apple Pancake Wheels.  I thought they were wonderful, but my son said he liked traditional pancakes better.  I had some batter left over and some overripe bananas on hand, so… I coated chunks of bananas in the batter and cooked them (results can be seen below).  The bananas got mushy, so they don't look too pretty, but they actually tasted great. I'm going to save and see if I can pass them off as a snack for later.

Etsy Store

I started an Etsy store  - http://www.etsy.com/shop/aseinga - with some original artwork and prints.  Maybe some jewelry in the future. :)

Sock Puppets

I was looking at the list I posted about a month ago - 40 Things to Do with Your Preschooler - and decided to do #25 - Make sock puppets.  It was fun and easy.  My preschooler mostly just picked out the eyes and the pom poms and decided where the fuzzy pipe cleaner should go.  I handled the hot glue gun and the puffy paint.  All in all, it took about 15 minutes.  The hard part is that we can't play with them until tomorrow because of the paint having to dry.  If I could do it over, I probably would just hot glue some fabric for the mouth, so it would be instantly finished.

Supplies Needed:
Puffy paint
Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
Old socks
Pom poms
Googly eyes
Other odds and ends such as fuzzy pipe cleaners, scrap fabric, etc.

Talking with Kids

I found these conversation starter questions and tweaked them a little to apply to 3 year olds.  I added in red what my child answered for posterity:

1. What do you like to dream about? FOOD
2. What is your best memory? MY GAMES
3. Who is your hero? Why? ME, BECAUSE I'M FAST
4. Who is in your family? YOU, DADDY AND LARRY
5. Who is the kindest person you know? MS. NANCY
6. What job do you want to have when you grow up?
7. If you were an animal what one would you be? LARRY 
8. What is your favorite toy? LEGOS
9. What is your favorite game? HIDE AND SEEK
10. What makes you angry? GETTING AN X ON MY CHORE CHART
11. What makes you feel better when you are sad? CANDY
12. Where is the most fun place you have ever been? BEACH HOUSE
13. If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be? LARRY
14. What is your favorite color? PURPLE

Toddler Chore/Good Habits Chart

This has worked well so far!  He gets a purple check mark for every chore/good habit he does and a red x mark for every one he fusses about (after a few warnings).  This is how it looked when I got it at the Dollar Store:

And this is how it looked after I added graphics and my toddler got some checks for good behavior.  I added pictures since he can't read yet. :)  I attached it to the refrigerator and we consult it several times daily (well, at least for the past 2 days).

Fruity Breakfast Cookies

Thank you to my friend Jennifer for turning me on to healthy breakfast cookies perfect for grabbing on the run.  I found two basic recipes online, combined them and added more healthy stuff (and more stuff for taste like butter and salt).  Here are the results, which are pretty tasty and, I think, healthy to boot:

Fruity Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. butter

½ c peanut butter

½ c unsweetened applesauce

3/4 c brown sugar

4 Tbsp. honey

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c shredded carrots

1 3/4 c self-rising flour

1/4 c wheat germ

2 Tbsp. flax seeds

1 tsp. salt

2 c quick cooking oats

½ c raisins

½ c dried cranberries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter, peanut butter, apple sauce, sugar and honey.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  Mix in all other ingredients until well blended.  To make large cookies suitable for grabbing for breakfast, drop 3 Tbsp. portions on lightly greased cookie sheet and press down slightly.  Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees.  Makes about 16 large cookies.