Category Archives: adventure

Trying to keep things fun for the Monster

2 Replies

Since Reese has been born, I’ve tried to make a conscious effort to spent one-on-one time with Rylee.

Sometimes it works out, other times? Not so much.

The other day Andy was busy running errands or something. It was just the girls & I pretty much all day. Things started out okay, but then took a turn for the worse when I was feeding Reese and Ry needed or wanted something and/or wasn’t happy with the answer I was giving her. I was determined to make sure the rest of the day didn’t keep that momentum so I thought fast and decided that as soon as I was done feeding Reese, we’d head outside and do a photo scavenger hunt with Ry and her camera.

I quickly thought of some clues, scratched them them out on a piece of paper and explained the rules to Rylee. I would tell her the clue. She had 60 seconds to find the item/take a picture of it. Each photo was worth 10 points. If she got 100 points she’d get a “special prize”.

She LOVED the idea. So much so, that she wanted to do a practice run while I was still feeding her sister. Her attitude did a complete 180. I found some extra stores of patience. She ran out some major energy. Reese napped in the Ergo the entire time. And the day turned out awesome.

She came up with these all on her own! And for the record, she won the special prize of some Hello Kitty nail polish.

Somethings taller than you…{a tree}

Something Red…{the Buick}

Something Pink…{her sunglasses…I took this pic, so she only got half points. ;) }

Something Hot…{the sun} {Apparently Ry’s toddler tough camera is not a fan of the sun}

Something Yellow…{on my shoes}

Something you can eat…{pears from our pear tree}

Something you can climb on…{her play structure}

Something that smells good…{a flower} {this is totally a weed but I gave it to her anyway. haha}

Something Stinky…{her feet…she giggle uncontrollably while taking this photo!}

Something Blue…{the farm truck}

Something smaller than you…{SISTER!!}

Something you can drive…{the tractor}

Something that crawls…{this fly}

Something Brown…{the chair}

Something Round…{the brick}

Conclusion: Best spur of the moment made up game ever!

 

Exit the Highway. Get Outdoors.

Leave a reply

We love spending time outside. Camping. Fishing. Hiking. Or even just hanging out on our property. With Baby Sister due so soon, we knew we wanted to get out to our favorite spot in the woods for at least a day trip. And with the nice, long holiday weekend, we figured that’d be the time to do it!

We loaded up and headed out bright and (not too) early. The sun was shining. The windows were down. We had lunch and drinks packed up. It was the recipe for a perfect day!

Between casting lines in the creek and taking aim at pop cans, we found cool shaped rocks, played some I Spy and just did some general 4-year-old-type exploring. We enjoyed a back-of-the-car picnic in the shade. We even did some litter patrol picking up some of the junk that previous campers had left behind. {seriously disappointing that people would do that, but a fantastic teachable moment.}

{“Rocks are sooo ‘tool’!”}

{Cheesin’ with Baby Sister by the creek.}

{One of my very favorite places on earth.}

On our way back home, we pulled off at a campground and did a bit of hiking around to some great waterfalls that Rylee was absolutely enamored with.

{Hiking with Dad by the falls!}

I love that we are so close to so many great places to explore and I can’t wait until we can do it as a family of four!!

It was so nice to get away and get outdoors, even if it was just for a day.

Do you have any plans to Exit the Highway this Summer??

*****

Want a chance to win a brand new Toyota Prius v just by getting outdoors!?

Toyota and the National Audubon Society are teaming up this summer to ask Americans to Exit the Highway and pledge to spend more time taking scenic roads to nature. For every initial pledge and for every photo of a nature stop shared online at ExitTheHighway.com, participants are entered to win a Toyota Prius v, a new evolution in hybrid vehicles with more cargo space and Prius’ heritage of environmental performance and fuel economy.

“Exit the Highway is a beautifully simple idea. Take an hour, change your routine, and spend a little time with friends and family outdoors,” said Audubon President and CEO David Yarnold. “You may discover something that will touch your heart or teach you something new, and you’ll find out who’s working to save it. And then you’ll be back for more.”

To start planning a nature adventure, take the pledge at ExitTheHighway.com, or Causes.com/Toyota. In addition to taking the pledge, the Exit the Highway website also allows travelers to:
  • Earn bonus entries into the Toyota Prius v sweepstakes by sharing photos tagged with #exitthehighway via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram accounts or manually uploading photos at ExitTheHighway.com.
  • Explore nearly 100 nature destinations (70 of which are free to the public) along with a link to details and hours of operation.
  • See itineraries that utilize Google Maps for point-to-point directions.
  • Recommend favorite nature stops in your area to other nature seekers.
  • Get personal recommendations from local leaders with a passion for caring for the environment.

Disclosure: I was selected for participation in the TWIN community through a program with Clever Girls Collective. I did not receive any compensation for writing this post, or payment in exchange for participating. The opinions expressed herein are mine, and do not reflect the views of the Toyota.

Rylee Get your Gun!

4 Replies

For Rylee’s first birthday, we bought her a pink single shot .22 rifle. {While it may seem a little extreme that that was her 1st birthday gift, I assure you the only reason it happened was because the company I worked for at the time was owned by a gun manufacturer and I got a sca-reamin’ deal.} It’s been locked safely away ever since. Back in October, Rylee went on her first hunting trip, and since then, she’s talked about shooting her gun. We told her that maybe this summer she’d be big enough to shoot it and let me tell you, homegirl does not forget things like that, so we added it to the Big Sister Bucket List.

We had camping on the bucket list too, but our suburban is still not back from the shop, so unfortunately camping got knocked off the list. Instead, we decided to make a day out of it and headed out to our normal camping/fishing spot to do a little fishing, a little exploring and let Ry shoot her gun for the first time.

On the way out of town we swung into my dad’s to pick up the gun. Before I put it in the back of the Jeep I opened up Ry’s door to let her see it…this was the first time since her first birthday that she’d even laid eyes on it. She looked at the gun, looked at me, then back at the gun. She got a huge grin on her face and in an awe-inspired half-whisper, said “Wooow…it’s beautiful!”

We started out with some fishing. I’ve been going up to this area fishing since before I was Rylee’s age. Never in my lifetime have I had such a great day of fishing and caught such big fish! No joke. It was kind of surreal. Literally just about every other cast in the creek and we’d have a fish on! And while the term “big” is relative for this creek, I’ve never seen a fish bigger than 8″ or so come out of the water, but Ry’s very first cast she caught a beefy 11″ trout! Every fish we caught that morning was at least 9″ long.

Her first cast in…”Daddy, I got a fish!”

One excited (and proud!) Daddy! {And my new favorite photo of the two of them!!}

Casting with Mama…

Hey look…Another fish!

Once Ry’s attention span with the fishing ran out, I let Andy fish a while longer and Rylee and I went “exploring”. We played I Spy, picked up rocks and looked for butterflies. After a bit, we all headed back to the Jeep for some lunch. After lunch was over, it was time to shoot!

We started out by going over safety, none of this was new to Rylee considering we talk about gun safety a lot but she was a good sport and listened intently. {and for the record, no the “R” on her shooting ear muffs, do not stand for Rylee, just a nice coincidence.}

Safety first! Rylee got these youth sized glasses and ear protection for her birthday this year. {Also, like the belly in the reflection!?}

Daddy showing her how to hold the gun.

Getting ready…

Learning how to load in a bullet…

Taking aim!!

A few shots with mama…

Checking out the target…

After the first few shots, I started getting too hot, so I headed back to the shade to hydrate while Rylee and Andy kept shooting. She had a ton of fun and I think it’s safe to say we’ll have a little outdoors girl on our hands!

And just like that, another thing is marked off the bucket list!

Impromptu Blog Break

Leave a reply

Uhhh…herro Friday. Where’d you come from?

Between only working 2 days this week and the holiday and throw in some family adventure for good measure, there’s been no time for blogging, I guess.

Nope, no baby yet. Doctor appointment yesterday went well. Nothing new to report. I have a “state of the cervix” appointment next week.

4th of July was low-key, but a kick. In Rice Fam tradition we spent the afternoon and evening at the same BBQ we’ve gone to for the last umpteen years. In years past, we’ve only ever made it through about 10 minutes of fireworks because Rylee didn’t like the noise. This year, we used Ry’s shooting ear muffs for the fireworks and I’m happy to report for the first year ever we were able to stay for all of the fireworks!

We knocked a couple more items off of the Big Sister Bucket List.

I’ve got loads to blog about, but for now I’ve got an iced coffee sitting next to me and an extra long weekend to enjoy with my little family of 3. For now I will just go ahead and leave you with this…

Say Balls!

3 Replies

Be prepared for an abundance of ridiculously cute photos…you’ve been warned.

Saturday Morning Rylee and I headed out to meet up with Lindsey, Otto and Loretta at the Science Factory! If you’re local and never been, I’d say it’s worth the $4 admission. The kids had a blast! We were there for at least two hours and I know if we would’ve let them, they would have stayed for another two. {seriously, Ry was not happy about leaving.}

It was my turn to grab the Starbucks so naturally, when Rylee suggested we get a cookie and her and Otto could share it? I obliged. The morning started off with a back-o-the-Jeep snack picnic where the kiddos grubbed on a cookie and some beverages while Lindsey and I had scones and caffeine!

{Please to be noticing the giant belly in the reflection of Ot’s sunglasses. Priceless.}

After snacktime was over, we headed down the path to the Science Factory. I’m pretty sure we could have just let the kiddos run around outside and they wouldn’t have known the difference. And bonus! I actually remembered to bring my camera and take pictures this time…so luckily for you, I won’t be required to turn in my blogger card. You’re welcome in advance.

{Fun fact, I know the artist that painted this duck. I guess you could say I’m kind of a big deal.}

After we finally rounded up the kiddos to…oh I don’t know, actually go inside, we had loads of fun. I think it’s perfect for kids that are in the 4-7 age range.

{Future astronauts.}

{Guess the smell!}

{Puppet Shows / Sailing / Bicycle Powered Electric Train / Ball Turn / Ball Pit / Arch Puzzle}

At one point, they were playing in the ball pit and while I was trying to snap a photo, Lindsey tried to get them to both look at the camera at the same time so told them, “Hey kids, SAY BALLS!”. {And then I died laughing and missed the photo op.}

Even the girls got to spend a little quality future BFF time together.

The kiddos have a blast playing together. It’s true we don’t get them together nearly enough, but I’m selfish and I kinda like my kidless Lindsey lunches…just sayin’.