Summer camp at home: Week 6 -- Out on the ranch

Summer is halfway over. It's hard to believe that in a month, I'll be lining up things my preschooler needs to go back to school. So we're going to enjoy summer while we have it -- a more fluid schedule and more impromptu fun.

This week, we're going to be cowpokes out on the ranch:

- Visit a local farm. There's a county park a couple cities away where we can see ponies, a pig, goats and even peacocks! We would ride ponies, too, except both of my boys shy away from them.

- Cowboy pretend play. (All you really need is a cowboy hat or a bandana!)

- Pretend a water park is an ol’ watering hole and cool off. As much as we love water parks, I can't believe we haven't been to one since we went to Aquatica in early June.

- We might make hobby horses. Here are instructions for making a hobby horse that don't look too hard.

- Read Charlie the Ranch Dog (by The Pioneer Woman blogger Ree Drummond), The Cow Loves Cookies, Good Night Cowboy, Cowboy Small and other books we come across at the library.

We are also going to go on playdates, play at the park, play with magnetic fridge letters and anything else we find fun to do -- cowboy related or not.

Miki House children's clothing comes to Florida -- win a Bloomingdale's gift card!

Finding fun clothes and accessories for children that are also unique is something I like doing for my boys or for friends who are having birthday parties or showers -- and a visit to the new Miki House store in South Florida is a great place to shop for them!

Miki House has super cute, high-quality clothing for children 6 months to 6 years. The company started in Japan 40 years ago and now has stores all over the world. South Florida is lucky to have the only Miki House store in the state -- at Aventura Mall in Bloomingdale's.

Miki House has great accessories, too. I bought a sippy cup and the cutest chopstick, fork and spoon boxed set. The backpacks are just the right size for little backs to carry and are huggable too:




The Miki House clothes for little ones are made from supima cotton, so they are extra-super soft and hold up wash after wash. I like that the infant clothes have stitching on the outside, so babies' tender skin won't be irritated by rough edges or seams. There are lots of little details like that in the Miki House clothes, which are colorful and easy to mix and match.

One thing about being a mother of boys is you realize the shopping experience really is made for girls. Stores usually reserve more than 50% of their space for girl clothes and accessories, and the boy items don't seem nearly as cute. The Miki House boy clothes really are just as cute as the girl's, though. Shoes that look like cars? A reversible jacket with removable hood that has bear ears? Adorable stuff.

Speaking of shoes, I love the Miki House shoes! The designers have taken special care creating shoes that are truly just for kids (and the parents who have to put them on tiny feet). The shoes open wide so they're easy to slip on, then they close easily with Velcro. The toes of the shoes spread out and angle up to make it easier for new walkers to keep their balance -- and prevent falls. If you ask me (mom of two boys whose shins are often covered in bruises), that feature alone is worth the $60-$90 price tag.

If you'd like to get shopping and want a chance to win a $20 Bloomingdale's gift card, please leave a comment below with something cute you saw at the Miki House Facebook page. I will pick a winner next Friday so someone can hit the mall next weekend!

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Miki House invited me to attend a special presentation at its new location. They gave me some stationery items, their signature children's washcloth and a pair of spats. Bloomingdale's provided me with the gift card to give away. Opinions and silliness are my own.

Summer camp at home: Week 5 -- World Traveler

With our patriotic "America, the Beautiful" themed week of summer camp at home a couple weeks behind us, it seemed natural to have a week focused on other countries of the world as well.

It's never to early to teach little ones about the world they live in, and that includes different cultures. Even if my four- and two-year-olds don't get everything we might explore this week, I think they will still learn something -- and they will have fun.

Each day, we'll focus on a different country. That's the goal, anyway -- we had an unusual day yesterday because of a doctor appointment and having family from out of town, so we didn't do any special projects at all. The boys were wiped out! But I plan to make them a little passport-type booklet to have "stamped" when we "travel." I'd also like to make a little suitcase that we can cover in stickers featuring various lands the way they used to. (That's where Google Images comes in and I can print out a little picture on sticker paper, then cut it out and use it like any old sticker.) We'll pretend to travel by airplane, train or ocean liner.

Other ideas for this week:

- Make simple costume props, and/or projects from Michaels craft store Passport to Fun craft projects from around the world.

- Listen to foreign music

- Do any coloring pages we have that feature other countries, or this It's a Small World coloring page.

- Have an “It’s a Small World” party with friends and dress up in traditional clothing from our favorite countries! (Please let me take this moment to acknowledge the extreme annoyance and even hatred some people have for this Disney ride, and the song, despite the fact most little kids love it. I'd also like to suggest that Disney sell toy dolls from this ride, as apparently it once used to. I found one Small World toy the last time my family went to Disney World, and it was a bathtub toy boat. One toy. If Disney can take the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and turn it into a popular four-movie series, just think what a Small World movie would be like for the preschool set. Come on, it would have to be at least as good as The Smurfs!)

- Read Country by Country Guide: Our World; A World of Wonders; Travels of the Zephyr and other books from the library about the countries we are going to learn about this week.

We have a busy week ahead in addition to learning about other countries. Playdates, invitations, playing in parks, running errands.... It seems we've just gotten used to it being summer, and after this week it will be half over already. How's summer going for you?

Ranger Rick's Geocache Trails comes to South Florida

Ranger Rick, the National Wildlife Federation's ambassador to kids who want to learn about wildlife and nature, is the host of a new adventure -- geocaching! Ranger Rick Geocache Trails is a fun way to get families outside, learning about the outdoors and exploring the world!

Geocaching has become a popular outdoor activity. Using a GPS device or app, people find caches that others have hidden by using the latitude and longitude coordinates and special clues. Some caches are small (like a pill bottle or film canister), but others are watertight boxes filled with fun treasures that you can collect or swap! It's like being a modern-day treasure hunter. Some caches contain trackable items called travel bugs that people pass along from cache to cache -- some going around the world! When you find a cache, sign your name in the log book inside, then put the cache box back where it was to keep it hidden for the next geocacher. You can also log your visit at the Geocaching site (an account is free). If you really love geocaching, you can even hide your own caches for others to find.

That's what I have done with my sons. We have hidden eight Ranger Rick Geocache Trails caches around the area where we live in South Florida. All of the caches include fun Ranger Rick activities for kids. Some of the caches also contain fun surprises! The parks where the caches are hiding are kid-friendly -- most with playgrounds. And we've tried to make the caches easy to find.

To get started finding a Ranger Rick Geocache Trails cache, start by downloading your special passport. This makes finding the caches more fun, as you can take the stamp inside each cache to mark your passport (and learn about wildlife in the process!). Find all the caches in the trail to fill up your passport with wildlife stamps. It's fun!

There are Ranger Rick Geocache Trails in several states, so if you don't live in South Florida, check for others near you. If you don't find one, maybe you'll want to become a trail host like me so kids in your area will have fun outdoors with their families.

Geocaching is a fun outdoors activity that is now more fun for kids with the Ranger Rick Geocache Trails. You and your kids just might get hooked.