June 2016 Amazon Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered our June Giveaway.  A winner has been chosen.  Congratulations to























Danielle M.  Please contact me at peeingwithdooropenmommies@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Sea Life Aquarium

The first time we tried to go to the Sea Life Aquarium was at Spring Break and the line was ridiculously long.  We had the opportunity to experience this aquarium just recently.  First, I want to point out that Orlando has a lot of aquarium like opportunities.  We have a Sea World pass so we frequently are exposed to aquarium set ups.  Upon entering the aquarium they take pictures of you and at the end you get those photos with interesting background to purchase.  There is a theming room with a video before entering the aquarium.  Each child is given a book to stamp throughout the aquarium with kid facts about sea life with a prize at the end.  I found that it kept my boys engaged in the entire time we were there.  Everything was so colorful in this aquarium and there were themed areas according to parts of the ocean.  There was also a Turtle area that had several types of turtles and learning areas as well.  There was a 360 see through tunnel that was in the middle of the aquarium which had some wonderful views of sharks and other sea animals.  At the end of the aquarium there is a touch tank and beyond that in the back left hand corner tucked away I saw a kids playground.  We were in a hurry at that point but if we had more time we would have spent some time there.  When we got in the gift shop the kids claimed their prize a medal for the stamps they had collected.  Overall, it was a great aquarium experience and if you have the opportunity you should check it out.

***This post was not sponsored or affiliated with Sea Life or Merlin Entertainment.  No compensation was exchanged for this review  The opinions expressed in this blog post are completely my own.  

Jurassic Quest

Jurassic Quest is a traveling attraction that is all dinosaurs.  My 3 year is obsessed with dinosaurs so this was definitely the event for us to attend.  The tickets were base $20 but there is a vip option for $25 which included almost every activity available.  Having never attending this event I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  The video made the event look awesome and I was hopeful that we wouldn't be disappointed.

The event in Orlando was held at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and it was listed as indoor and outdoor attractions.  The first area we were directed to was a huge room with dinosaurs in scenes with animatronics.  www.jurassicquest.com

It was amazing, my boy was so excited.  How often do you get to see a dinosaur moving?

The next area had walking dinosaurs and baby dinosaurs.

 These were scheduled at specific times throughout the day and were behind a gated fence.

At this point I had no idea how big this event was.  There was a building with activities (crafts), digging, and store. Everything else was outside.  There were huge dinosaurs out in a field and they were just figures with no movement.  They were behind a fence and were mind-blowing to see.  There was a large area with all the activities.  You could ride a dinosaur, do a dinosaur bones dig, bounce houses (dinosaur themed) , ride on cars, and a movie theater showing what else? Dinosaurs.  The event was great and I highly recommend if this comes to your area and you have a dinosaur fan to get tickets.  They and you will love it.

***This post is not sponsored or affiliated with Jurassic Quest.  The opinion expressed in this blog are completely my own and no compensation was exchanged for this review.  

Poop Calamity

You know those days where one bad thing happens after another?  I just had one of those upsetting,  unfortunate, and defeating days.  We went out for my oldest's karate class and we were happy to be out of the house after being inside most of the day.  We pull up to karate and I send my boy in right on time for his class.  I then get my remaining 2 kids ready to go in.  My 3 year old says his little sister has a stinky diaper.  Awesome.  So I take her out quickly making a beeline for the bathroom.  I quickly look her over for any leaking from the diaper and there is a small stain on the back of her outfit- no big deal.  I get to the bathroom and start to change her and realize that in our trip toward the bathroom the stain has somehow spread on her outfit.  I quickly start to change her diaper and clothing with the 3 wipes I have in my bag.  Then I search for a new outfit then it hits me I might not have another outfit.  I changed bags and can't remember if I put a new outfit in my new bag.   No new outfit and there is no way she can wear her heavily stained outfit again.  The only thing to cover her is my nursing cover so I wrap her up and we quickly head out to the car hoping for a solution that resembles clothes.  After a quick frantic search no outfit is in the car..I do find a cardigan and a baby swimsuit. I decide to use the cardigan and button it down and roll the sleeves up.  Crisis averted.  Karate class ends and it is time to go.  We head for the car and I am looking forward to getting home. Then I realize when I am about to put my girl in her car seat...poop everywhere.  No more wipes are left in my bag.  I had to somehow move the car cover without taking the seat apart to put my girl in to get us home.  Crying ensues for the 10 minutes in the parking lot trying frantically to get the cover off the seat where another cover is underneath.  Horrible.  I wound up just rolling the cover into itself and strapping her into her seat.  Fortunately we only live about 5 minutes from the karate class so I get home and have to calm down my now hysterical girl.  Thank God it is over.

Another School Year Over

How quickly and surprisingly fast the school year flew by.  Seeing all of the comparison photos of 1st to last day of school was mind blowing.  Our kids over the course of a year grew far too quickly. Now summer is upon us and the task of keeping these kids who were immersed in the activities of school busy and content for the roughly 2 1/2 months of summer vacation. This alone is a overwhelming challenge for me with 3.  To get everyone out of the house despite the steamy Florida summer heat and the task of fun is facing me now.  My 7 year old would protest that most things I could possibly come up with are nowhere near as fun as Minecraft and Mario.  My 3 year old fortunately adores his big brother and will happily follow him anywhere.  My little 7 month old really unfortunately must go along with our summer activities whether she wants to or not.

But the heat, oh the heat.  To motivate myself to get all my kids ready and out the door and God forbid outdoors is challenging.  The whole progress of getting out is hard.  Get the kids to the car then the whining and crying at the heat in the car.  Then to sit down on our scalding hot leather seat in the car is painful.  Fortunately, I am the only one who has to do this since all the kids have car seats.  Then the time it takes for the car to cool off with the help of Thank God a/c.  Then finding the energy to get out of the car to whatever activity we are trying to go to.  I know you all can relate.

Hopefully I will be able to motivate us all to get out of the house and do something fun this summer.  I know being inside the house is going to do nothing for my sanity.

Winners for Neilmed Giveaway

3 Winners have been chosen for this giveaway.  The following people please contact me at peeingwithdooropenmommies@gmail.com



1. Jennifer C.

2. Charlene E.

3. Candace M.


Congratulations!!!!

7 Cheap Things to Do this Summer

I always have a difficult time figuring out fun and cheap things to do for the summer.  The camps and activities can really add up.  Here is my list that I have discovered over the last couple of years:

1. Summer Book Clubs

Barnes & Noble- After your child fills out their reading journey they can pick a free book from the list of books http://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/summer-reading/_/N-rs9

Family Christain-  After reading faith based books and writing about them your child can pick out a free book from a list of books http://familychristian.com/summerreading

Scholastic -  Log minutes for reading and your child will get rewarded with prizes and unlockable activities http://www.scholastic.com/ups/campaigns/src-2016

2. $1 Movies

Regal Summer Movie Express http://learningtopeewiththedooropen.blogspot.com/2016/04/regal-summer-movies-2016.html

3. Michael's Art Classes- Camp Creativity http://www.michaels.com/classes-and-events/classesandevents

4. VBS (Vacation Bible School)  Some of the weeks in our area have a fee but I was able to find a few that were free in our area.

5. Home Depot http://workshops.homedepot.com/workshops/kids-workshops
and Lowe's building events https://lowesbuildandgrow.com

6.Local Library

 Our library has a pretty vast list of events including an event called Minecraft Madness that my 7 year old was overjoyed to attend.

Outshine

My boys are huge fans of dessert and snacks.  It is a constant struggle and balance to find things that I feel good about them eating.  I always get excited when I see a product that has veggies added into the food.  Outshine fruit bars, or pops as my boys refer to them, are a yummy solution to my healthy snack quest.  I have had them and love them as well.  You can't taste the veggies, which I love.  I know that they aren't getting a massive amount of veggies but to a mom of super picky eaters; every bit helps.

***This post is not sponsored by Nestle or Outshine.  No compensation was exchanged for this review.  The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own.  

Freedom in my Bed

Even being a 3rd time mom, the idea of transitioning to a crib was daunting.  My little girl has co slept with me since birth and not very well.  Every night she would wake up on average 3 times a night and only over the course of 7 months had only slept through the night 2 whole times.  Let that sink in...I haven't had a really good nights rest since before I got pregnant.  I was worried about the crying and sleeplessness that would surely ensue.  Then my little girl made the decision for me by rolling across the entire length of our bed and just catching her before one final roll to a long fall to the floor.  I decided then that there was no way she could be in my bed anymore.  So I prepared myself for a rough night.  A nursed and a drowsy/sleepy 7 month old and I put her in the crib.  Screaming...I had made my bed for the night in her room anticipating at least one nursing session during the night.  After crying off and on for about 25 minutes, she fell asleep.  Shocked and surprised I slept and woke up around 2:30 am where a 2 second cry woke me up.  My girl went right back to sleep and slept till 7:45 am.  I didn't sleep as well it was a bit unsettling for me.  There was a good block of 3 hours that I couldn't sleep.

She repeated her sleeping through the night last night and I slept in my bed, my myself, for the first time in 7 months.  It was amazing!!!  I realized I had been holding her back.  She was constantly being thwarted from a good night sleep by me.  I guess a lot of factors were really at play: she was ready for her own space and didn't really need all those late night nursings.  I am so proud of my little girl and a teeny bit sad.  Since this is our last baby this will be the last time I will have a co sleeping baby in my bed.

Why???

If you have been following this blog, I am sure you recall my concern for my 3 year old that had speech delay.  Fast forward to now and my boy is talking up a storm.  He still needs some work on pronunciation but he is talking and we are so relieved and happy.  So is my boy he was getting so frustrated that we didn't understand him and now he is a happier little guy.  I am actually feeling really good about his entry into preschool this fall.  But as every child goes through at some point my boy has reached the dreaded Why? stage.  Whenever he is asked to do something: Potty, Clean Up, Get Ready to go the answer is always the same Why??  And I always tempted to answer the same way my mom always did "Because I Said So"  I am so thankful we are to this speaking stage though. I am so proud of my little boy for how far he has come.