Tips on battling boredom from a Veteran Mom

School is officially out for the Summer in our city and I think often to times when my kids would say, "I'm bored!" I have been mommin' it up for almost 18 years so I feel like I have a lot of experience dealing with these situations. I took it upon myself to make up a list of some very good tips on how parents can help their kids fight boredom this Summer. I can almost guarantee these will work!

When your kids tell you they are bored you can respond with:

• How about going outside and pulling some weeds from the garden and alongside the house? Why not increase the fun by mowing the lawn? Um, you mean like out in the sun? Where you sweat? 
• How about we go buy 10 Sunday newspapers and clip all the coupons so we can go out on and extreme couponing shopping adventure! They will quickly run away because they don't want to be humiliated pushing 6 carts through the store. 
• Would you like me to have your dad sit you down for one of his lectures? If your husband is like mine, he can talk 'em to tears!
• Go clean the baseboards, ceiling fans and kitchen cabinets. I think my kids would be rolling their eyes in their mind :)
• How about going to the dentist? You can get a cleaning and see what else they find that can be taken care of! If you told me this I would RUN! 
• Go bathe the dog and then blow dry him. Wet dog smell on a teenage girl? Not happening!
• Go read a book. They get all huffy because they felt like that's all they did when school was in session.
• Wanna help paint some rooms in the house? This starts off as fun and after a few swipes they usually start to whine. 

I have tested these out and they all worked the very first time. You can thank me later! ;-)

Disney has ruined my kid!

You might recall reading a post about our family going to The Magic Kingdom a few months ago. Well apparently little William has not gotten over it. He is obsessed with all things Disney. He is, as I write this post, singing the "Happy Holidays" song that was being performed at one of the parades. He carries around a map of Disney in the house, the car, the store and asks to go to Disney World... several dozen times a day!

Dwayne recorded video of the parades and William watches them repeatedly. It also doesn't help that Disney commercial come on all day long!! When he meets new people he immediately tells them all about the "castle". SMH, I need to hit the lottery quick so we can take this boy back! I really thought he would have been over it by now. I guess the magic is still in him. I won't lie, I want to go back myself! Looks like it will be on the places to visit list in the next couple years.

Our trip to the Magic Kingdom

Last week, the Ismail family packed up the car and headed down to the happiest place on earth...Disney's Magic Kingdom. The drive was great up until we were 8 miles from our destination. We were stuck in traffic for almost 2 hours! Thankfully we had plenty of fuel in the car and made the best out of that time. It was actually fun although I don't necessarily think I would want that to happen very often! We stayed in a nice resort with some family members.  We really loved that we had all the conveniences of home so that we were able to cook family-sized meals which really helped out a lot.

When we were driving to the park we were all so leery of the cloudy sky. There was good reason for all those clouds. More on that later in the post.

Those clouds really had us in a panic.

We took the Ferry boat over to the park since the clouds started to break. Boy was it windy though! We all wore short sleeves. Hey, it's Florida. That's the norm right? 

We wore our "I'm Celebrating!" buttons that we got from the ticket booth just to be festive. 

Of course the teenagers were freaking out over their hair getting wind-blown!I admit I might have secretly been going through that myself!  

William really enjoyed the ferry boat ride and got to throw coins in the water. He was all smiles! Of course he did not cooperate to take photos. The sun started peaking through the clouds and we were all super excited to have some fun. Well, our fun turned into soaking wet fun. Yep, you guessed it. Rain. Not just rain, cold and windy kind of rain. We all looked a hot sloppy mess but put a smile on our faces and kept it moving. I am so happy I packed a back-up outfit for Will so at least he did not have to wear a wet shirt. Man, did it end up getting cold though!

Dwayne kept William since he is not a ride person and I went with the girls and a couple of our cousins. We met up here and there to eat and check on each other. The food was way over-priced and not all that great. You better believe that I made everyone eat every last bite!

Somehow Dwayne and William got to do way more than the rest of us waiting 2 hours to ride Space Mountain (which was totally worth it). They got to get a photo with Mickey and Minnie and our boy William was NOT feeling it! He was so afraid of them I think because they were so big. He looks like he was trying to leap out of Dwayne's arms! 

He did LOVE LOVE LOVE the castle. He is still talking about it and asks if we can go back again. I can't believe that Dwayne actually went on rides with William. I guess Disney really is a magical place after all :) 

Pure happiness :)

He was taking it all in.

We were able to catch a few parades and shows as well as get on some of the rides. Everyone had the best time and we made some great memories. We do plan to return again for sure. I wish I had more photos to share but they did not come out all that great after we got rain soaked! William had the most fun and behaved perfectly. Come to think of it, he did well from start to finish. No complaints, no mischief, no potty accidents, no foolishness. I am the luckiest mom on the planet! 

Now this sight was worth every drop of rain we encountered. I did not even have to edit this photo.  It was very cold at the end of the night but at least we caught the magnificent fireworks display. Truly amazing!! 

I'm back!!

I just wanted to post a quick update to explain my absence. Our family went away on a 4-day vacation to Orlando, Florida! I have tons of photos and stories to post but I am trying to get back into the groove of the everyday since we got in at the wee hours of the night. I did not do any Facebooking, blogging or Tweeting while we were gone and I actually survived!! It was a much needed break and I can't wait to share some details. Now I'm off to unpack, do laundry and get my house cleaned up for the New Year. I promise to catch up on blog reading this weekend. I wish everyone a happy and safe New Year's weekend! :-)

What’s in Every Mom’s Beach Bag? {Giveaway}

**Contest Closed**
Winner #135 kathy pease

We are in the thick of the summer and most of us are packing up the family and heading for the beach. Of course if you are a mom you pack as if you are going away for the entire summer, especially when you have babies or small children. You plan for those "just in case" moments as well as the usual drinks, snacks and entertainment items. We are going to the beach in a couple weeks and I have already started my checklist. Of course I know I will overdo it as always but hey, a mom must be prepared! Check out some of these products below that are great for throwing into your beach bag (or bags if you are like me!)

USANA Usanimals vitamins: Usanimals comes in fun animal shapes while providing a phytonutrient blend of blackberry, cranberry, raspberry, and wild blueberry fruit flavors. The vitamins contain a comprehensive array of antioxidants, and minerals, in amounts designed especially for active, growing children.

Smart for Life protein bars: Eliminates post-exercise hunger, so you gain muscle not fat. Supports healthy cardiovascular function, helps promote weight loss, boosts metabolism and controls hunger.

Inky Perfume: Used after showering or as a pick-me-up during those hot summer days, these body sprays refresh and revive the senses, with just the right amount of scent. The Tattooed by Inky collection offers 5 distinctive scents for every personality---two men’s, two women’s, and one unisex. Inky is available at Big Lots and Target stores.

Star Rock for Kids CD: A CD of fun and age-appropriate music that is perfectly “in tune” with the whole family, featuring hits from past decades and today. Beyond being a rockin’ CD series sung completely by kids, Star Rock for Kids! Presents an exceptional opportunity for budding singers to show off their talent and realize their dream by becoming a “Star Rock Kid” and appearing on the next CD.

Kids-EEZE Allergy Soft Chews: Kids-EEZE® is a children’s symptom reliever specially formulated to ease the symptoms of hay fever and upper respiratory allergies. The convenient chew form makes dosing easy with no measuring or messes.

BornFree Eco Classic bottle: BornFree leak proof BPA-Free baby bottles come in plastic or glass and feature an innovative venting system designed to promote ActiveFlow™ and help minimize the painful symptoms of colic. After use, the bottles can be returned to BornFree where they will be recycled into other products such as toys and furniture.

Medifast Parmesan Cheese Puffs: Provides just the right balance of fiber and high-quality protein to keep you feeling full and satisfied, plus your daily requirement of 24 vitamins and minerals!
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Giveaway:
How would you like to win all of these *items? All you have to do is tell us what top five beach essentials you would pack for baby. Please leave your list of five products in the comment section as your mandatory entry.

If you would like additional entries you can do any or all of the following:

~ Follow Momfiles via Google Friend Connect
~ "like" Momfiles, Medifast, StarRock for Kids, Smart for Life, Kid-EEZE, BornFree, USANA
(each one counts as a separate entry)
~ Follow Momfiles, USANA, BornFree, Medifast, Smart for Life, StarRock for Kids, Kid-EEZE on Twitter (each one counts as a separate entry)
~ Tweet this giveaway (once daily):

Win some great goodies from @momfiles to put in your #beach bag http://tinyurl.com/3wmjhfd #giveaway

Note: Prize quantity or variety may vary from what is pictured.

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on August 3, 2011 at 9:00 pm EST. One winner will will be chosen at random and contacted via email. Please leave your email address in your comment if you do not have a Blogger Profile. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this post