June 2014 – Mom on the go in Holy Toledo

Indian Creek Petting Zoo

June 7, 2014momonthegoinholytoledo

Witnessing your child interact up close with animals you don’t often come in contact results in lots of laughter, fun, and makes for some precious memories which is precisely what you get when you visit Indian Creek Petting Zoo. Indian Creek Petting Zoo is a walk-thru-zoo that offers up close viewing of exotic animals like Zebra, Camels, Emus, Wallabies, Lemurs, Donkeys, Sheep, Alpacas, Peacocks, and more! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit today. I thought it might be fun to share some pics that really highlight our experience, enjoy!

As we enter we are greeted by….

And the children had fun guessing what was hiding in each cubby. (Look familiar to anyone? This used to be at the Toledo Zoo.)

We continued on the path and the next stop was the Lemurs. Oh, I almost forgot, you have the option of purchasing a basket of food for the animals for $3, which is so worth it. I am glad we did because we were able to see this little contraption work, totally priceless! On the pole is a rope, bucket, and pulley. The children place the food in the bucket and the Lemur pulled it back. It was seriously the cutest watching his tinny paws at work and listening to the children giggle.

We finally pulled ourselves away from the Lemurs and headed to see the…

The Peacocks were stunning! And then the real fun occurred. We got to feed the CAMELS!

They were so slobbery, gentle, and cute! They basically licked the food right off the children’s hands. (To all the germaphobes, myself included, do not fear, we used sanitizer afterward).

Then we thought it might be fun to get pics of each of us with our children near one of the camel….it sounded like a good idea. Haha! She wasn’t in any immediate danger so I took the pic, glad I did. LOL!

Let’s just say there was definitely no shortage of laughter. I think the adults had just as much fun as the kids.

I tried to get a pic of me with the kiddos and the camel but between the camel and the 3 year old indecisiveness the camel won. Haha!

Then we were off to see and feed the….

And then we looked at the Zebra, but dare not touch. Apparently they bite, bummer!

Then we stopped for a photo op…who doesn’t love these!?

On our way back towards the entrance we stopped into the bunny path….isn’t this adorable? I Hop. Haha!

And I have a dozen more pics that I won’t bore you with…bottom line, we had a magnificent time and would totally go back! I can’t think of a better way to spend the day with the kiddos. For more info be sure to checkout the Indian Creek Petting Zoo Facebook page, like, and share!

When was the last time you visited a petting zoo? Have you been to one with your children? How did they like it?

Last Day of School!! (and clever ways to spend it)

June 4, 2014momonthegoinholytoledo

Goodbye 2013-2014 school year! We will treasure the memories, the Kindergarteners’ special persons’ breakfast, the art shows, carnival, learning what a blizzard bag is, haha! We are sad to see it go but excited for the summer ahead!!

Today is the last day of school and guess what? The kiddos didn’t have to go till July due to all the snow days thanks to the awesome blizzards bags and crazy early drop off /late pick up schedule. This year was a little eventful to say the least. I am happy to say we survived and thrived! Momma managed to get the kiddos to school every day on time! Can I get a woohoo for the momma bus…not one tardy and they literally did not miss one day of school (minus the 13+ snow days).

I am going to miss this school year; the kiddos had such amazing teachers. And we made memories this year that we will treasure always. I can’t allow myself to get too sentimental now, I still have to go back to school to pick them up and I’d prefer I not show up on the last day with sad raccoon looking eyes from crying my heart out because my babies are growing to fast. Must. Not. Look. Through. Their Baby books. Why do I do this to myself? Haha!

Here area a few clever end of school year idea I came across…..

Tip Junkie has 20 neat ideas, click here.

Pinterest has some really adorable ways to enhance the last day, some are just too precious! Click here

And here is one that I plan on doing with my kiddos….

Interview your child at the end of the school year!

Name

Age

Grade

This school year is over. How do you feel about that?
How was this year different from last year?

In the classroom

What did you like most about your teacher?
Who do you like to sit by in class?
What is your favorite subject? Why?
Name two books that you read this year that you liked. What did you like about these books?
Did you have any extra helping jobs in your classroom this year? What were they?
What jobs did you like? What jobs did you dislike?
Who do you play with at recess?
What is your favorite thing to do when recess is outdoors?
What is your favorite thing to do when recess in indoors?
What was the best birthday treat you had this year? Do you remember whose birthday that was?
What songs do you sing at school? Tell me three of your favorites.
Tell me about the one field trip this year.
What was your favorite lunch?
Did you like art class? What was your favorite project?
What was the best thing about music class?
Did you learn anything about computers this year? What?
If you could only wear one outfit to school for a week, what would you wear?
What is your favorite after-school snack?
What do you usually do right after school?
What else would you like to remember about this year? A funny story?

Friends

If you fell on the playground, who would come running to help you?
Who likes to make everybody laugh?
Who likes to wear fancy clothes to school?
Who likes to get dirty?
If you started a snowball fight, who would join you?
If I told you someone had to stay in for recess, who would you guess it was?
Who runs the fastest?
Who talks the loudest?
If you needed someone to help you with your homework, who would you ask?
If you were sad and needed someone to talk to, who would you choose?
If you could spend a week with somebody else’s family, what family would you choose?

Source

Do you have a fun tradition you do with your kiddos on the last day or school? Or maybe you have come across something fun? Please share.

Conversations with the Kids

June 2, 2014momonthegoinholytoledo

So yesterday after a funfilled day outside we sat down to dinner, late as usual. Haha! We prayed, started eating and conversing. I asked our son about a birthday party he attended earlier. We all talked about the end of the school year. And then it happened. The conversation went somewhere no parent wants it to go. And the crazy thing is it came out of know where! It hit me like a brick wall. Like my head literally got thrown against a wall…I couldn’t think clearly. My mouth dropped open. Eyes bulged! And I was uttered speechless for seconds after our adorable kindergartener asked, “When do women become women and men become men?”

Me, “Umm…”

Husband, “Well….”

Me, “Ummm…”

Son, “Seriously, when do men become men and women became women? TELL ME!”

Me, “See…umm…”

Husband (staring at son)

At this point my once cozy comfortable quaint kitchen table became the most uncomfortable place in the world. All I kept thinking was PASS. Pass, can I pass…next question please…ask me about anything…geometry, trigonometry, chemical compounds, etc. just not this…can I get a new topic, PLEASE? Darn their inquisitive little minds. Haha! And then I had an idea!

Me, “Well, men become men when they graduate from school, get a job, and a place of their own. And women become women when they graduate, get a job (and I wanted to say respect themselves enough not to settle for less than a man…but that might have been way too complicated for his little kindergartener brain) and get a place of their own. Haha!

So there you have it folks, the talk about human sexuality and how a girl becomes a woman and boy becomes a man. Lol! So we might have epically failed but can you blame us? The kid blindsided us. Why can’t they give us fair warning when it comes to conversations like this? We parents need time to determine the best angle to broach such a topic. But that’s the thing about parenthood, no warnings, no cliff notes (how awesome would that be…seconds after they are born the doctor hands you the cliff notes for the next 18 years…let’s be honest I’d probably lose them)just shoot from the hip and pray it all makes sense.

God bless parent everywhere, this job isn’t easy and sometimes we just need to give ourselves a break and remember tomorrow is a new day…and the library is a great resource for age appropriate books that discuss various topics, like how a man becomes a man and a woman becomes a woman. Haha!