Planning a Week in Scandinavia with Young Kids

I mentioned in my previous post that I spent a lot of time planning our week-long holiday in Scandinavia. While I read a lot of great blog posts about individual attractions in each location (see my Pinterest board about Scandinavia with Kids), I couldn't find much information on how to put it all together into one trip (particularly because we weren't interested in seeing the area via cruise ship, as many do). So I thought I'd share our itinerary, what I'd do differently and what I loved the most. Here are more detailed itineraries and info for Copenhagen and Oslo.

Our 1-Week Scandinavia Itinerary:

Day 1: Travel from London to Copenhagen, Denmark.

Days 2-4: Explore Copenhagen.

Day 5: Drive from Copenhagen to Gothenburg, Sweden, with a stop in Helsingborg, Sweden (via the bridge to Malmo in Sweden, not the car ferry in Helsingor, Denmark).

Day 6: Morning in Gothenburg, then drive from Gothenburg to Oslo, Norway.

Day 7-8: Explore Oslo.

Day 9: Travel from Oslo to London.

Nyhavn area of Copenhagen

Go on a Leaf Hunt

While I spend an absurd amount of time pinning fun projects, recipes, travel ideas, etc., on Pinterest, I spend an extremely small amount of time executing fun crafts with Big Arrow. Yet I know he loves and craves special projects, what he calls "missions."

Equally as problematic for me these days is his lack of desire to sit in the stroller and go for a walk. But Little Arrow needs that quiet time spent outdoor relaxing and enjoying what remains of the reasonable, sunny weather. And so do I.

Inspired by tons of leaf-related fall projects, I challenged Big Arrow to go on a leaf hunt with me one beautiful afternoon. He was excited to have a special mission.

I was excited to enjoy this beautiful view.

And it was quite simple. Here's what you need to go on a successful Leaf Hunt:

• a pail or basket or box or container of some kind

That's it.

He happily rode in the stroller for 30 minutes while we sought out special leaves to add to our bucket. Then came the dreaded question. "Mom, what are we going to do with these leaves?"

I had nothing planned. No cool, Pinterest-worthy crafts. So I said, "Well, what do you want to do with them?"

He responded, "Let's go back home and set them free in our yard."

Pinterest, schminterest. Nothing beats the imagination of a 3-year-old.

Want to do something a little more fun with the leaves you collect? Last year we made these turkeys.

This post is a part of Travel Tips Tuesday at Suitcases and Sippy Cups / Walking on Travels. While we went on a leaf hunt around the neighborhood, you could easily go on a leaf hunt while traveling. In fact, it would be a great way to entice a stroller-averse toddler or preschooler to sit still for a bit!

Tips for Making Backyard Play More Fun

I'm excited to share that next week I'm the featured ambassador for the Nature Rocks organization. Nature Rocks is a wonderful movement that encourages families to spend more time outdoors, connecting with nature. It's an idea that my family tries to live out each and every day. So for the next two weeks, I'll be posting some of my tips for enjoying time outside with kids. Be sure to like Nature Rocks on Facebook and follow them on Twitter, where they'll start sharing my tips beginning next week. If you're new to Arrows Sent Forth, you can read more about my family and I here.

Today's tip is to make backyard play more fun.

Seems pretty obvious. Yet I see far too many families (many of whom line my own street) that get stuck in a rut of boring playtime outside. And by July they never venture past their air conditioned doors. So remember to mix it up! Here are a few ideas:

1. Bring your favorite inside toys outside! Big Arrow loves to bring Lightening McQueen outside and together we play hide and go seek with him. Or he shoots him down our little slide. We've had outdoor picnics with play food. We sometimes color on our patio table. And our paintbrushes and a cup of water often join us in the driveway for some summer time "painting."

2. Make natural elements toys! Big Arrow often digs with shovels and tractors in a small patch of gravel we have along our house. Instant (and cheap) sandbox. We have pretended to fish with sticks, made towers with rocks, and sprinkled grass like fairy dust.

3. Get crafty! With the popularity of sites like Pinterest, it's very easy to discover nature-inspired crafts. Not only can you find many of the supplies you'll need right in your own backyard, but you can often assemble your crafts outside as well. That sure makes clean up a lot easier!

       A few I want to try with Big Arrow:

• Leaving brightly colored rocks around town to brighten a stranger's day.

Source: colormekatie.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

• Grow some plants.

Source: mistyhorizon2003.hubpages.com via Nicole on Pinterest

• Make a nature-inspired collage.

Source: adventuretykes.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I pin a lot of nature-inspired craft ideas on my Toddler Activities board on Pinterest. If you need more inspiration, you'll find lots of ideas on the Nature Rocks website.

4. Let them be. Big Arrow tends to have the most fun outdoors when I just let him wander around the yard and use his own imagination. Not only does this mean I get to relax, but it is truly a delight to see what he dreams up to fill his time outdoors. He has dug for buried treasures, gone on "hikes" along our back fence, and pranced along the sidewalk to the music that plays inside every 2-year-old's head.

About a year ago, I wrote another post about Nature in our Backyard that expands upon some of my thoughts. I'd love to know how you make backyard play more fun. Please leave a comment!


Next up: On Tuesday I'll be posting about exploring the natural elements in your yard and neighborhood more deeply.

Do Bloggers Take Maternity Leave?

Other than a quick, kid-free trip to Wisconsin this past weekend for a wedding (shhh! don't tell my OB!), we've mostly been sticking close to home these last few weeks. But The Arrow and I have still been having lots of fun. A couple of weeks ago, we made a return trip to Kidscommons, the children's museum here in Columbus, Indiana.

It was a great spot to let The Arrow run around and play, while I could just venture from seat to seat and rest. I know he'll feel cooped up once we bring the baby home and can't get out as much, so I've made an effort to take him on some fun "field trips."

Apparently I've really worn him out!

Speaking of rest, I'll be taking a bit of a breather from regular blogging for the next couple of months. I hope to get a post up once a week or so, but don't expect much more than a photo or two. I really want to focus on my last two weeks as a family of three, and then obviously on the needs of a newborn and a toddler through the remainder of 2011. I hope to write a bit more frequently in January and beyond.

I do have two more posts scheduled for this week, including a Pinterest-inspired list of gift ideas for family travelers and more cute photos of The Arrow from our visit to Kidscommons. I'll also still be writing posts for Visit Indiana on a regular basis.

We have absolutely no set travel plans for 2012, other than that we WILL travel. We want to feel out our lifestyle and the baby's temperament before we commit to anything specific. But I'm sure I'll be sharing lots of Monday Dreams once we do start thinking about our fun adventures as a family of four. And I'll certainly still be trekking around Indiana and sharing those outings with you, I'm far too antsy to sit around at home for too long!

You can also "like" Arrows Sent Forth on Facebook for more regular updates from our family.

This post is a part of Mondays are for Dreaming at The Mother of All Trips.

A Week in My Life: Wednesday

GRANDPARENTS, CHIPOTLE, AND PUMPKINS

Today was an improvement over our sick day hibernation yesterday. I had a commitment in the morning, so my mom came down to watch The Arrow for a couple of hours. Even though he was feeling better, there's nothing more comforting to a worried mom than leaving him in such great hands when I have to be away. We're so lucky to have both sets of grandparents only an hour away.

Don't you love how The Arrow is holding her arm? He always does that when someone reads to him! 

Ordinarily on Wednesdays, we go to storytime at our library. The Arrow absolutely loves it. He hangs on Miss Jody's every word, sings the songs, and lives for the little stamp he gets on his hand after it's over. We often spend at least another 30-45 minutes there checking out new books and playing with toys. I recently read this post: Ten Reasons I Hate the Library over at The Stir blog. I guess I can relate to some of her concerns, like bringing home germs. But the library is still one of our favorite things to do. I'm able to indulge The Arrow on all his latest interests (like his current obsession with Blue's Clues) without spending a dime on new books. Someday I'll write a post all about our love for this great place.

When I got home, we headed out to lunch at Chipotle. We sat outside on their patio and it was nice to catch up with my mom. I typically eat lunch out about once a week, just as a little treat to myself. I always enjoyed that aspect of my working life, and so I enjoy continuing it, even if it's on a greatly reduced scale. I like the idea of The Arrow learning to behave in restaurants, and practice makes perfect.

Late afternoon, I got cracking on a special dinner project. We visited a pumpkin patch over the weekend, and I kept telling The Arrow we were going to eat one of the pumpkins we bought. He was totally fascinated by this. This is my Pinterest recipe for the week and it's an Alton Brown pumpkin soup recipe where the soup cooks in the pumpkin itself. It was delicious (of course, I doubled the amount of goat cheese the recipe called for, which always helps). I may have to make it again to freeze before pumpkin season is over.

The Arrow showing off his big boy underwear while watching Curious George on the iPad

The rest of our evening was fairly uneventful. The Arrow was tired and cranky from a short nap this afternoon, and so bedtime came earlier than usual. I'm hoping he'll feel well enough for preschool tomorrow so that I might actually be able to write a blog post about a "typical" Thursday around here. A highlight for me today was the arrival of some great stuff I'll be reviewing on this blog in the next few weeks. I'm excited to try these products out and report back! Here's a sneak peak:

A Week in My Life: Monday

I'm excited to share my first post as a part of Adventuroo's A Week in My Life link-up. You can read more about why I'm doing this here. I won't go into this much detail every day, but as a starting point I wanted to give you a sense of a typical day around here, from beginning to end.

WAL-MART AND CRAFTS, OH MY!

Mondays are typically one of our flexible days during the week (no commitments or set schedule). Today we desperately needed groceries, so we headed to the store mid-morning. I know a lot of parents try to avoid shopping with their toddlers. I can relate... there's nothing worse than a 2-year-old meltdown in aisle 11. I've experienced a few of them, that's for sure. But for the most part, our hour or two at the store is a relatively enjoyable experience.

Making Grocery Shopping with a Toddler Fun:

• Pretend it's a museum. Even Wal-Mart is interesting to a young kid. The Arrow loves fish, so the first thing we do when we walk in the store is to go and see "Dorothy." (The name of Elmo's pet fish, naturally.) Lately we've been swinging by the obnoxious holiday displays so he can see a gigantic inflatable Santa pop out of a Christmas tree (who buys this stuff?!)

• Let them help. I explain to The Arrow what we're looking for and ask for his help. He also gets to drop fruits and veggies in the plastic produce bags. And sometimes if I'm feeling brave, I let him hold my coupons or my list.
• Snacks. Duh. You might need one of these.
• Let them choose. For the last couple of months, I've let The Arrow pick something to get while we're in the produce aisle. He's much more interested in actually eating the food he picks when we get home. Three cheers for broccoli consumption!

Putting Pinterest to Work

I recently got sucked into the big, deep hole that is Pinterest. And while it's been an enormous time-waster (but also so fun and addicting!), I'm determined to make it a more productive use of my time. So my new goal is to do at least one of the kid-friendly activities and cook at least one of the recipes I've "pinned" each week.

(Interested in learning more about Pinterest? You can follow my boards over here.)

If it's one thing that I've taken away from The Arrow's start of preschool this year, it's that he loves little crafty projects (a boy after his mama's heart, that's for sure!) Aside from coloring, we haven't done any type of artwork or crafts at home. I'm hoping some of the ideas I'm finding on Pinterest will help change that. So today after lunch, I decided to make Leaf Finger Puppets with The Arrow. We made turkeys, and our version turned out like this:

I originally found them at a great kiddie craft blog called Make and Takes. We made them a little more low-maintenance and cheap, but same general idea.

Then came naptime and a snack, followed by those two hours when we try to amuse ourselves while waiting for Dad to get home. All the while, we were smelling this Spinach Lasagna cooking in the crockpot. The Arrow woke up from his nap not feeling all that great, so he was particularly cranky and difficult to please today. Ugh.

Then the heavens opened up, choirs of angels sang, and the sound of the garage door opening filled the room. DAD'S HOME!!!!! We usually eat dinner right away, and then my husband plays with The Arrow upstairs while I clean up and relax amid peace and quiet for 20 minutes or so. Tonight, they capped off their dad and son time with a bike ride. I retired my bike a few weeks ago when it was getting a little too painful (and my thighs were hitting my belly!)

When they got home, we ate popsicles on the front porch. Then, blissful bedtime. Here are a few more photos that captured our day:

Carefully selecting his leaves for his turkey puppets.

Coloring his turkey.

Snuggling with Mom, eating a popsicle

How do you make trips to the grocery store more fun? Any crafts you enjoy doing with young kids? Feel free to leave a comment.

Tomorrow I'll be writing about mom's groups and pumpkins!


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