Hey there! It’s Allison from Tips for Family Trips and today I’m sharing my tips for visiting one of Utah’s most under-rated vacation destinations – Vernal. The Vernal area is Utah’s Dinosaurland, and if you haven’t been there lately, you might be surprised to find how much the area has grown and how many fun activities there are. Vernal is located about three hours’ drive from Salt Lake City, so for us, this was an easy weekend getaway.
Here are our recommendations for a fun weekend visit to Dinosaurland in Vernal:
Archives for July 2014
Personalized Name Art – Creating Meaningful Art (she: Amy)
For the past few months, I’ve been in the process of re-decorating Elle’s room. I want to make a place for her growing book collection as well as create some meaningful art to display in her room.
One of the things I really want to display is her new skill of writing her name.
I know children writing their name is such a simple thing but for me it’s a big milestone. It was only the other day I witnessed my girl write her name all by herself for the first time!
We were at a community event and stopped at a booth where kids can paint their own frisbees. The girl operating the booth gave Elle (almost 4 years old) a white frisbee along with a black sharpie and told her to write her name on the back.At the beginning of the school year, her teachers taught her to trace her name written in dotted lines. Her tracing was everywhere and the letters had a life of their own! Then a couple months later her tracing got tighter and neater. Then she was writing straight lines and later her tracing was right on the dots. Up until a few weeks ago, she was able to write her name if she sees a sample of it.
So you could imagine my surprise when I saw her take the Sharpie from the girl and began writing her name. E-l-l-e she wrote, with the 4 letters filling up the width of the frisbee.
I was so proud of my girl! I cheered and we high fived. I commended her for her diligence which lead her to her accomplishment.
And so as I’m decorating her room and filling up a bunch of empty picture frames with meaning art, I want to frame her name written by her at age 3.8.
Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes (she: Samantha)
Happy July, everyone! It’s Samantha from Five Heart Home, and I’m always happy to have the chance to visit with y’all when my monthly Or So She Says post rolls around! Today I brought over a to-die-for seasonal side dish that showcases prime summer produce in an unbelievably tasty way.
These Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes are beyond delectable, y’all. Fresh ingredients and a simple preparation often yield the most delicious results, and that is certainly true of this recipe! All that’s required is to thickly slice some ripe, plump tomatoes, scatter a bit of minced garlic on top, and then sprinkle them with extra-virgin olive oil, flavorful balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar. After roasting at a high temperature, the finished tomatoes become caramelized with an intensely concentrated tomato flavor that is simultaneously sweet and savory. The garlic plays off of such flavors beautifully, as do the chopped fresh herbs that garnish the finished dish.
Getting to Know OSSS Contributors ~ Blog Hop!
Do I have the best contributors, or what?!? As you know, ‘Or so she says…’ is all about great ideas for women, from women. And the women who write (and have written) for this blog are who have made it so fun for the past 5 years. Thank you to all my contributors and guest bloggers! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
So, we have a couple fun things for you, today and next Monday. Today, I wanted to give y’all the chance to get to know these ladies better. And, what better than with a good ole fashioned Q&A Blog Hop! I carefully crafted 10 questions that I wanted them to answer, that would help you get to know more about them and their blogs. Each one of these contributors have been hand-picked by me, and I know you will love all of their blogs. So, please show them some love today, give them all a big high-five, and bounce around to read their interviews, check out some of their favorite things, their blogs, and what makes them tick. And of course, I’ll answer the questions too
What To Do When Kids Lie (she: Heather)
Happy Summer! Heather here, from FamilyVolley.com. Today I am excited to share parenting advice to make things easier in your home.
Call it what you will, Fibbing, a Whopper, Tall Tale, Story Telling, it is all the same. Lying. And it can be really frustrating when our kids start to tell them.
First, it is good to understand lying by age and stage. Young children tell fibs based on fantasy, and they are usually made up stories of who they wish they were (princesses), or what they wish they could do (today I ate 10 popsicles and didn’t get sick). Elementary School Children start to tell “smarter” lies to get out of punishment, to sound “cool”, and to get what they want.
Natural Family Planning ~ No More Pills for Me!
After baby #6, my sweet little surprise and angel-baby, I thought I would give the IUD one more chance. It lasted probably 5 months and I had enough. My skin was breaking out like crazy! I couldn’t bring myself to do the pill again, so I did what I usually do when I need a little medical advice… ask the Facebook fans! Ha. They always come through for me! So, several ladies mentioned the same disdain for b.c. and mentioned Natural Family Planning as an option, something they LOVED. I had heard of people ‘charting’ and stuff like that, but for some silly reason, had never looked into it. I probably listened to my doctor a little too much over the years, when I should have been doing more research…. BECAUSE I’m totally doing the Natural Family Planning thing now and it’s been AWESOME. It’s so nice to know I am now officially 100% me, no added hormones. The best part is, I found this handy device to help me with the whole process. It has made it all SO, so easy!
Finish Carpentry Ideas ~ Courtesy of My Husband, Round 3
It’s that time of year again, where Northern Utah holds it’s annual Parade of Homes, where builders showcase their finest work. I have a personal love for the Parade of Homes, because my husband, Dan and his crew, often does the finish carpentry work in several of them. It’s really the only chance I get to see his work finished… painted AND decorated. It’s pretty fun. So, every year I tote my camera (or camera phone, in some cases) around and snag pictures of the finish carpentry work he did. And, every year… I share them with you. Well, at least for the past couple years. So, without further adieu, how about some finish carpentry ideas!?!
Best Southern California Hotel Pools (she: Kim)
Hey Everyone, it’s Kimberly Fidler over at Packed with Fun, the official blog for Get Away Today. It is the middle of summer and I have swimming on the brain. I know I’m not the only one who selects my hotel around the pool. Southern California has some incredible pools, and at Get Away Today, we tour all of our hotels. To make your pool hotel picking a little easier for your next vacation, I’ve narrowed down what I think are the best Southern California hotel pools:
Children’s Book and Activity… A House Is a House for Me (she: Brooke)
Hey, Or So She Says readers! It’s Brooke from Blissful Roots. How was your 4th of July weekend? Fun, and festive, I hope!
I’m sure if you’re not sick of hearing it by now, you might be soon, but I pulled this children’s book and activity from my first grade teaching files. I’ve been wanting to share it for quite some time, and finally have gotten around to it. It’s the perfect activity for a lazy (or bored) summer day, and you can actually add to it all summer long!
This is the book you’ll need. It’s called A House is a House for Me (click here to listen to it on YouTube). Have you heard of it? If not, it’s one you need to add to your collection as soon as possible. It talks about all of the different houses in our world. A hill is a house for an ant, a web is a home for a spider, the sea is a house for a whale, a husk is a home for a corn cob, etc. So many clever ideas in this book! It makes your children (and you!) realize how many things house things in our world.
Blackberry Cobbler… The Perfect Summery Dessert (she: Maria)
Hello, dear friends! This is Maria from Shopgirl visiting again, and I have another recipe to share with you today! Since summer is officially here, it’s time for all those delicious summer desserts! Nothing says summer dessert to me like baking with fresh fruit. I look forward to ripe, juicy berries and wonderfully fragrant peaches all year! This blackberry cobbler is a great choice for a quick and easy, but utterly delicious summer dessert. You are definitely going to want to make this, because it is like summer in a bite (especially topped with a big scoop of ice-cream, of course).
DIY Fort Kit for Indoor or Outdoor Use that Kids Will LOVE!
Hi Everyone, it’s Holly from Bits of Everything!
Do you need an affordable, creative, and fun idea that will keep the kids busy for hours? I have the perfect thing for you! Today we are making a DIY fort kit using PVC pipe. I’ve done a few PVC projects and they are always lots of fun, but my favorite part is that PVC is cheap!
All the supplies you need to make your fort kit is 1/2 inch PVC pipe, pipe connectors, a pipe cutter (the metal sturdy one is best!), duct tape, clamps, blankets (or drop cloths), and a box to store everything in.
If you get the PVC that is 10 feet long, you should be able to get all these fort pieces with 10 pieces of pipe. We also got a variety of connector pieces. Once the pieces are cut, assign a color to each length. Color coding the length like this makes it so much easier when you need the same size pipe – just get the same color!
Fourth of July Bike Parade (she: Darleen)
Happy Fourth of July! Do you have any exciting plans tomorrow? There is something extra special about festivities that happen around the Fourth of July. Well, this is Darleen from Darling Darleen, and at our house we go all out on this patriotic holiday. I make sure we are all donned in red, white and blue outfits…of course! When we lived in the Northeast we spent many 4th of July holidays in Boston and on the beaches in Cape Cod, attending the parade and fireworks show. Since living in the South, we’ve picked up a tradition that many of the neighborhoods do, which are bike parades! This was new to us, but we love the idea.
We love this because you can take your party on the go–whether hitting up your town’s annual parade or having a festive picnic at the park. Visit the dollar store or your local craft store just a few days prior to the 4th or better yet TODAY. They usually mark down holiday party items a couple days before the actual day. Pick up paper pinwheels, streamers, garland, flag picks and the inexpensive what-is-this-used-for items. Chances are most of it will look pretty darn good on an 8-year-old’s bike.