Category : Uncategorized
What: Touch-a-Truck; When: July 23rd from 10am to 1pm; Where: Roger Scott Athletic Complex: Cost: FREE with a donation to the Manna Food Pantries
If your kids love cars, trucks, and fire engines, they will love to visit this annual event, Touch-A-Truck. Children are encouraged to touch, climb and discover construction vehicles, police cars, fire trucks, semi-trucks, buses, and more. Home Depot will be conducting their Kid’s Workshop, too! The event is free with a donation to the Manna Food Pantries.
Things to Know Before You Go:
- We didn’t go last year, but we got several messages that the event was a lot of fun but that it was HOT! Bring a cooler full of water and drinks for after the event.
- Roger Scott Athletic Complex is home to the Roger Scott Pool. If you time it right, you can attend one of the swim sessions and make this a full day outing!
This family loves Sid the Science Kid so when I had the opportunity to check host a Sid the Science Kid campout I knew I had to say yes! When the show starts, my kids love to sing and dance. My 6yo loves to discover the answers to science investigations along with Sid. We are also big fans of PBS, we love to camp and we love to get our kids outdoors as is evidenced by many of the posts on this site. It was a match made in heaven! Camping heaven!
We try to campout in our backyard several weekends during the fall or spring. It is easy to set up because all you have to do is put up a tent or grab a few blankets. The food can stay in the fridge and I usually head to my cozy bed while dad and the kids stay outside. We started our adventure outside with a suggested Backyard Campout Scavenger Hunt. My kids love scavenger hunts! We wandered around looking for little creatures and plants living in our backyard. We drew pictures of them and talked about where they lived. The garden was a source of discussion because we found a HOLE in it and several plants missing. We had a long discussion about what decided to dig into our garden and eat lots of plants.
Afterwards, we decided to move the campout inside. Unfortunately, if you live in Florida you know that camping in the middle of the summer is pure torture! My outdoor thermometer has been reading in the triple digits all week and don’t even get me started on the humidity! Ugh! This is the great thing about backyard camping though…you can always move indoors if you have to! We huddled up on this great Sid the Science Kid Blanket to watch the show.
We watched the Sid the Science Kid show on the iGo Pocket Projector that we were sent to try out. Can you believe this little thing projects such a great, clear picture?
You can watch Sid’s Backyard Campout on PBS (WSRE) today! But that isn’t all! We have a great giveaway so that you can have your own Sid the Science Kid Backyard Campout!
We are giving away one Sid doll, a blanket, and a video with four Sid the Science Kid episodes to one lucky winner!
How to Enter
If you would like a chance to win, leave one comment in this post before 5:59pm CST on Friday, June 24th, and tell us what your favorite camping activity (backyard or otherwise) is. Don’t worry about being creative with your comment, the winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Please make sure that you fill out the required fields by putting your first name in the name field and your email address in the email address field. I do not share email addresses and you will not receive mail from Pensacola with Kids unless you win.
Extra Entry
For one extra entry, add a second comment. You can comment with a camping story, favorite camping item, or just say extra entry!
*I removed the FB extra entry due to the new FB rules for contests that were brought to my attention. For the five ro six that had already entered, I changed your entry to read “extra entry”. They are still in the same order they were commented and no additional changes have been made.
Winners
We will choose ONEwinner randomly and announce the results here on Pensacola with Kids after Friday, June 24th.
Rules
One comment per person per giveaway post with the exception of the extra entry. Duplicate comments and anonymous comments will be discarded. Please make sure that the email address in your comment form is valid so that we can contact you (email addresses are never made public). Winners must claim their prize within three business days after the date of notification of such prize. We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology. No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except that Pensacola with Kids reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize. Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state and local taxes on the value of their prize. Relatives of Pensacola with Kids are not eligible to win.
Because this is a family site and we get a lot of spam comments, all comments on this site are moderated. If your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry!
*Disclosure: I was sent a Sid the Science Kid video, blanket and the iGo Pocket Projector to facilitate this review as well as the giveaway. As always, all opinions and reviews are mine without any outside influence.
Here is your weekly roundup! If you know of a family friendly event we should add to the list, please leave us a comment! Please be sure to check the dates and times of each event before you attend!
Friday, June 17
Preschool Story Time and K-5 Summer Reading Program – Pace Library
Pencil Techniques – Tryon Library
Sounds of Summer
Pirates Trolley Tour
Sunset Seawall Beach Walk at Ft. Pickens
Free Friday Family Flicks
Saturday, June 18
Story Time at Westside Library
Read to Dogs at Tryon
Palafox Market
Home Depot Kids Workshop
Storytime at Barnes and Noble
JAKES Outdoor Event
Campfire at Historic Fort Pickens
Zoo Tots
Sunday, June 19
Sounds of Summer
Monday, June 20
Preschool Story Time and K-5 Summer Reading at Jay Library
Karaoke and Open Mic at Tryon Branch
Beach Blanket Movie Night
Tuesday, June 21
Preschool Story Time and K-5 Summer Reading at Navarre Library
Kathleen Gibson Music at Westside and Century Branches
Gulf Islands National Seashore Free Day
Blue Angels Practice
Free Movie at the Ridge
Free Movie at the Breeze
Free Movie at Rave Bayou
Wednesday, June 22
Preschool Story Time and K-5 Summer Reading at Milton Library
Kathleen Gibson Music at Southwest Branch (held at Big Lagoon) and Tryon Branch (held at WHS cafeteria)
Family Pajama Story Time at Main Library
Storytime at Main, Southwest, and Century Library
Storytime at Barnes and Noble
Blue Angels Practice
Free Movie at Rave Bayou
Thursday, June 23
Teen Underground Movie Lounge – It’s Kind of a Funny Story at Main Library
Preschool Storytime at Tryon
Preschool Story Time and K-5 Summer Reading Gulf Breeze Library
Sunsets at the Plaza
Evenings in Olde Seville Square
Free Movie at the Ridge
Free Movie at the Breeze
As I continue to post, I know it is difficult to locate the posts about summer activities. If you just want this week’s movie schedule you have to wade through several posts. I have created this roundup with links to the posts about summer activities. As I write about things that are exclusively summer activities, I will continue to add them to this post. Look to the second column and you will find a link for summer activities…that will link back to this post so it is easy to find!
Summer Activities
55 Days of Summer in Pensacola
Blueberry Picking
Chagall for Children
Splash Pad Hours
Summer Reading Programs
Sunsets at the Plaza
Free Summer Movies
Breeze Cinema 8 Free Summer Kid Show
Destin Commons 14 Free Summer Movies
Friday Family Flicks
Rave Bayou Free Summer Movies
Ridge Cinema Free Summer Kid Show
Silver Screen Movies
Pools
Roger Scott and Cecil T. Hunter Summer Hours
I was able to get my hands on the Bayou Rave Free Summer Movie Schedule and I am so happy to share it with you here! Remember that this schedule is subject to change. The Rave free movies are a great way to get out of the house and still stay out of the humidity! So mark your calendars! The tentative schedule is as follows:
June 7th and 8th - Megamind
June 14th and 15th – Yogi Bear
June 21st and 22nd - Diary of A Wimpy Kid
June 28th and 29th - Marmaduke
July 5th and 6th - Ramona & Beezus
July 12th and 13th - Percy Jackson
July 19th and 20th – Chronicles of Narnia 3
July 26th and 27th - Gulliver’s Travel
When it gets closer to the first showing, I will post our tips to know before you go!
*Photo courtesy of NightRPStar via Flickr
My pal, Briony, has started a new blog called Freeze Your Way Fit. I have learned so much from Briony over the past two years on how to eat cleaner and healthier, waste less food, and save more money! I am so excited to share her new blog with you!
Freeze Your Way Fit includes information on how to start eating healthier, utilize your freezer as a tool to help you cook less often and save money on groceries through couponing.
Every Monday, she posts a weekly meal plan with healthy recipes and coupon link ups. She also shares stockpile scenarios that will help you save money in the long run.
One of my favorite things to see now is my stockpiled freezer. For example, whenever I make a lasagna I will make two. We eat one and freeze one. It helps me to save time and I have a healthy meal waiting for me in my freezer. Last night, we had leftovers that freeze well. Instead of putting it in my fridge where I know it will just move into the back until I finally clean it out and throw it away, I freeze the leftovers and have entire meals ready for me in minutes!
Here are a few of my favorite recipes (I have made these at home on my own and they really are easy!):
Clean Eating Healther Granola Bars
Joan’s Homemade Hummus
And these are some of the site’s most popular recipes:
Homemade Yogurt in the Crockpot
Sneaky Sloppy Joes
Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
If you aren’t sure how to begin couponing, freezing or moving to a healthier eating lifestyle, stop by her Getting Started Page.
The thing that I love about Briony is that she shares easy techniques to help everyone get started without making you feel overwhelmed. Making it easy for all of us comes easy to her because she changed her eating habits gradually. Here is Briony’s story!
Changing our eating habits was a very gradual process for our family. It all started when I was pregnant for the first time. I was sitting at the dinner table after reading the section in What to Expect When You’re Expecting about nutrition during pregnancy. I’m one of those people that can never do anything half way… and I want a book for everything. I had sat down earlier that day and made a chart to ensure that I was fulfilling every category of nutrient every day (seriously, I’m that crazy… I do this sort of thing regularly). I realized I was behind for the day so I made whole wheat pasta with meat sauce for dinner. I put ¼ cup of wheat germ into mine because I needed my dose of folic acid for the day. On the side I had ½ a red pepper and a baked potato w/ cheese.
I took one bite of the pasta and started to cry. The wheat germ was way too much and made the sauce totally thick and dry. On top of that, we always ate white pasta so the whole wheat pasta seemed too heavy and just added to the thick, pasty mess. The amount of food surrounding me was simply overwhelming. “I can’t eat this. Our baby is going to be nutrient deficient!!” I wailed. My husband, Matt, was very sympathetic and reassuring… he kept his laughter down to a low giggle.
I ended up just eating the baked potato and the rest of my pregnancy consisted mainly of eating mac n’ cheese out of a box. The fact of the matter was that it was just too much of a change all at once and I was completely overloaded with information. I was so stressed out trying to get a check in each nutritional box that I wasn’t able to enjoy my food. Okay, pregnancy hormones might have had a little bit to do with it as well. It was too big of a leap from what I was used to, which made it harder to stick with.
So how did I go from eating only simple carbs and processed cheese for nine months to the way we are now? It all started with baby food. Once Colwynn was old enough to start solids, my friend lent me Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. I already thought that we ate well. After all, I cooked dinner every night and I liked fruits and vegetables. However, my version of “cooking dinner” was anything from chicken stir fry (good) to Hamburger Helper (not so good). As I read through the book I learned a lot about how to make better food choices and what foods were more nutrient dense than others. I started making Colwynn’s baby food and began making VERY gradual changes to what Matt and I were eating as well.
Super Baby Food helped me develop an incredibly efficient system of using my freezer to make big batches of food for Colwynn and then use it one portion at a time. As Colwynn got older and started eating non-pureed foods, I began making even more changes to what Matt and I ate. I didn’t want to have to cook more than one meal for dinner so I started planning meals for us that Colwynn could eat too. Because the change had been gradual over a few months and we started making small substitutions and changes at a time, we didn’t notice as much and it was easy to keep up.
A little while later another friend introduced me to Clean Eating magazine. I combined the concepts of Clean Eating with the methods of batch cooking and freezing to develop a system of only cooking three or four times a week and utilizing our “freezer stash” so that we were still eating a nutritious, home cooked meal every night. Then I started adding different veggie purees into regular dishes to increase the nutritional content.
When we first moved to Pensacola, our family was living on one income and paying two mortgage payments. We needed to really watch our spending so I started looking into couponing. I checked out some how-to sites and planned my first trip to Publix. I walked out with an entire cart full of groceries for less than $20 and I was totally hooked! I found at first that it was difficult to save a lot of money on the things I wanted to feed my family. But once I got the hang of stockpiling and creative meal planning, I was regularly saving 50% or more a week.
Thanks so much for sharing with us, Briony! If you want to learn more, be sure to connect with Briony on the Freeze Your Way Fit Facebook page!
