Easter Basket Advice

Easter seems to be getting pretty big in terms of the gifting for the kids. As many parents, I opt for

getting them toys rather than candy. My kids don't eat a lot of candy, so what I buy ends up getting eaten by me. I am the sweet tooth in the house and the one that has no will power so I eat all the candy. What are my options?

This year, the candy only appears in the eggs we will hide for them. There is no candy in their baskets accept gummies in the shape of letters. Both girls are obsessed with letters. I chose some small Pringle cans, and little cookies. So what's in the basket?  I have 3 pieces of Easter basket filling advice. 

#1 Just the Basket

As I am also obsessed with our plenitude of stuff, I made a rule that all items must fit in the basket. No scooters. No giant dolls. No separately wrapped items. It makes it in the basket or it gets saved for another occasion. 

Following this advice will make you happy. It will remind you of your childhood before the 4 aisles of Easter junk at the store existed. It will also make the hiding of the basket easier if you are into that tradition. It will also keep things into perspective a bit, Easter isn't really about the bunny and the basket. Just saying. 

#2 Make, Take and Release

The girls enjoy doing hands on activities and lucky for me, the Target $1 or  $3 area has several options. I have been walking through the aisle for weeks picking up a thing here, another item there and that has been the bulk of the basket items. I like the idea that they can receive something, make it,  use it, display it and then recycle it. 

I am not one of those moms that saves every piece of art my children have ever created. I take pictures of it all. The plan is a digital photo book, when the time comes. This idea will provide instant family fun time, especially if your kids are still young. You will have a few silly easy activities to do with them and there won't be more junk in your house to stay forever and ever. 

#3 Select the Worthwhile

It all can't be devoid of candy and filled with disposable junk. I suppose if I had not invested years ago in substantial sized baskets for my girls, this wouldn't be a problem. A good hint may be pick a small basket to start, but I didn't. I have always made a habit if purchasing children's books when they are on sale, toys when they are on sale, art supplies, clothing and I store them in Tupperware containers that slide under our bed. Because of this thoughtful purchasing, I am prepared for birthdays and holidays such as Easter. 

This year the girls will receive pajamas, books and Disney classic dolls in their baskets. They also have umbrellas and galoshes. I bought this stuff over 3 months ago. I stuck it under by bed and before I ran out to fill their giant baskets, I took a look at what I had. Some of these items definitely have utility and they are going to love it. Know your kids. Get a couple of things they will love. Mine love books.

Basket building should be fun, not stressful. It shouldn't be a financial drain. Keep it simple. Make it fun. Celebrate the promise of hope in Christ through time with your families and the silly fun of Spring equinox with a playful basket that will make your child smile. 

Dunedin Parks

Spring Break is a time to skip in fields, climb trees and play in playgrounds. Since we had sometime off we decided to take advantage and head a little further north than we normally do to a part of Pinellas. Since I have been on the park quest I wanted to go to these two parks in Dunedin that appeared to be huge and pretty impressive. Hammock Park has 90 acres of land, a plethora of walking trails, playground area and even a butterfly garden. Highlander Park only a street away has the largest Splash Park in the county and 70 acres of land, my imagination was dancing with the possibilities of these places.

Sadly, I was a little underwhelmed perhaps it was the fact that my expectations were been blown way out of proportion but the website alone for Hammock Park was significant in contrast a hard to find entrance. We started by going to Highlander Park. The playground was position right next to the splash park which was really great. The splash park was huge, fenced in and provided several shaded benches for parents. The playground had some unique features which is always the key to a well liked park by my girls. Even though the city of Dunedin website had a brief description of the park on their website there wasn't any more information, for example, what is on the rest of the 70 acres property. There are hiking trails and that one needed to walk around to find because they were not labeled significantly from the playground area. If you were a visitor, as we were, you would not know what else there was at this park. There were a couple of fields, courts and such. My girls found these fun.

Since Hammock Park was right around the corner and we wanted to check out the Butterfly Garden we tore the girls away from the softball field and went on to the other part of our adventure. We followed the signs to Hammock Park. We found the entrance to the park which was an odd, road that ends into a dirt road by some run down service buildings. It turned out that one of those shacks was the front of the Butterfly Garden that clearly had not been kept up with. A sad area with overgrown plants that have already clearly been effected by the erratic hot and cold weather.

There was a small climbing area that had been designated on the Internet map as a playground and several paths to follow for hikes. Right at the front of the property there was an old church that was built in 1888. It happened to be closed on the day we were there but it was adorable. It added to my series of disappointments.

Butterfly Garden. We saw one. 

Afterwards we went to British Deli_cious in downtown Dunedin which was adorable and cute. It was very kid friendly. There was a mom there with her two daughters having a tea park. It was quaint. The downtown area was great. We wanted to have lunch right by the marina but it wasn't terribly kid friendly. Though I was disappointed by the over all park experience the girls loved the playground at Highland and I am curious about the splash park even though I will never go up there since it is so far away. The rest of it must be designed for hikers, runners but for a Florida park that just seems silly.

Woodlawn Park

My deepest apologies to the rest of America because the weather here has been divine. Probably even better than that. We decided to go out to dinner last night at the St. Pete classic The Chattaway for some burgers. They have a nice courtyard that is decorated in a very traditional Florida style. The girls enjoyed the surroundings for sure. It's kid friendly because it's outside but we did have to ask for the kids menu since there really wasn't one.
Since Lydia had swim we didn't want to drive all the way back home and then to swim so we found a park on the way that we hadn't really spent time at. Woodlawn Park is situated right on the corner of 16th Street N and 13th Avenue N, next to Woodlawn Elementary. The place of the park is odd because it's ultimately at the center, the school on the northside, the police shooting range to the south, the police appreciation association building to the east and the parks and rec building right the west. Because of the position of the park, there were a handful of homeless persons in the nearby shelter.
This field house provides restrooms that we didn't need to use but I am sure would be handy with young children however I would imagine that they get a significant amount of use throughout the day.


The playground appeared to be the new standard issue set. Things for the girls to climb, slide and swing on.
The park does has about 5 baseball/softball fields and about the same amount of tennis courts. There were a few basketball courts as well.

It was a nice pit stop before swim and the girls loved to play. Because most of the playground was expected, the girls felt very comfortable running around and exploring. Lydia practiced going down the fire pole and Vivi tried all the slide options. Were were there a short time, but the Florida weather really encouraged us to soak up every once of 70 degrees it was offering.
We were seconds away from swim. Lydia did a spectacular job last night and her coach is saying she is ready to move up another level. Vivi, the assistant coach and sister, is a little concerned with her form. She is also ready to be in the one in the pool.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone