13 Outdoor Toddler Activities

The other night I fell into the Pinterest rabbit hole (pregnancy insomnia strikes again!) and I totally lost track of time while reading all about other parent's creative ways to keep their kids entertained outdoors. Since I figure I could use a little arsenal of activities that will keep Ez entertained for upwards of half an hour without actually having to pack everyone into the car, I put together a little list of some backyard fun that I hope will allow me to play with Ez and watch a newborn at the same time. Or at the very least, allow me to relax in the shade while he burns off some energy. Fingers crossed!

1. Colored Ice Sensory Play from Learn Play Imagine
2. Easter Egg Water Play from Things to Share and Remember
3. Trucks and Shaving Foam from Creative Playhouse
4. Shapes & Colors Hopscotch from The Cow Jumping Over the Moon
5. Construction Site Gravel Pit from Imagination Tree
6. Sponges & Soapy Water from Things to Share and Remember
7. Nature Scavenger Hunt from No Wooden Spoons
8. Color Hunt & Sort from Toddler Approved
9. Soapy Seafoam Sensory Play from Two-Daloo
10. Fizzy Car Rescue from Fun at Home With Kids
11. Water Balloon Basketball from Learn Play Imagine
12. Toddler Gardening - This is pretty self-explanatory, but I figure Ez will enjoy digging in soil and planting a few seeds. Bonus points if we actually manage to grow anything!
13. Outdoor Fingerpainting - Again, self-explanatory, but I prefer to do all painting activities outdoors where the mess doesn't give me a heart attack.

What are some of your favorite low-key backyard activities that I can add to my list? Anything that keeps your toddler endlessly entertained (ie - a miracle!) would be greatly appreciated :)

Summer Bucket List

This summer will be our first season as a family of four! When I imagine our ideal summer I see lots of fun in the sun, but also lots of relaxation and just going with the flow. Normally I'd throw a camping trip or some kind of vacation into the mix, but with a newborn that may be a little ambitious. Instead I'm seeing lots of time in the backyard splashing in the water table or running through the sprinklers. Plenty of beach days and picnics. Ice cream dates and way too much strawberry shortcake. Family movie nights and Fridays at the farmer's market. Bubbles and evening walks. And, of course, some birthday margaritas!

What's on your agenda this summer? Any family traditions that you're looking forward to? For the past two years we've gotten caricatures drawn at the state fair, and I'm so excited to get our first one with all four of us.

And just for fun, here's a look back at how we did with last year's summer bucket list. Spoiler alert: plenty of margaritas made an appearance ;)

My 5 Favorite Face Masks

I already mentioned in my 37 week bump update that I'm obsessed with cleaning products and that obsession has officially crossed over into skincare as well. Specifically anything that promises to "detox" "unclog" or "brighten" instantly catches my attention. As a teenager I had oily skin, and now that I'm older it's balanced out to normal, but since I've never really had a problem with dry skin I tend to stay away from anything that's overly moisturizing because it makes my skin feel greasy and sometimes causes me to break out. Instead, I'm loving clay, mud, or charcoal-based masks.

Lately I've been using masks about twice a week, and switching it up between these five. My skin hasn't been too problematic this pregnancy, so I'm not specifically trying to correct anything, it's just an overall obsession with cleaning that has spurred this routine. Aside from the Biore mask (which I talk about later), I start all my face masks by either holding my face over steaming water or placing a warm, wet wash cloth over my face to open the pores. Then I let my skin dry for about a minute before putting a thick layer of the mask on. I usually leave it on for about an hour (or an episode of Chopped), and then take it off by placing a warm, wet wash cloth on my face and letting it sit for a minute before rubbing it all off. I follow up with my normal nightly moisturizer (Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturizer). 

Obviously, I'm not a beauty blogger or a skincare expert, but here's my amateur reviews on these 5 masks:

1. Formula 10.0.6 Deep Down Detox Mud Mask - This orange and bergamot mud mask promises to "cleanse impurities for a clearer, brighter complexion." It goes on orange, and Joe called me Salmon Face the entire time I was wearing it, but once it dried it was an almost normalish skin color. I usually leave it on for at least an hour, even though it only says to leave on for 10-15 minutes. It feels tingly at first, which I think is because of the vitamin C. One of my favorite things about this mask is the scent. Some mud and clay masks can smell a little funky, so I felt very pampered with the citrusy scent. When I took it off my skin felt clean and smooth but not dry, so definitely worth the $6.
2. Freeman Charcoal & Black Sugar Mask - This is both the cheapest mask I own, and also my favorite. What it promises to do: "Activated charcoal locks onto oils and toxins and lifts them away without over-drying. Black sugar helps skin hold onto hydration, which helps smooth out roughness and fine lines." Like I've said, I'm obsessed with the idea of getting all that gunk out of my pores, and after leaving this on for awhile, I could actually see it sunk into my pores. As Joe said while it was on, my pores were very "pronounced." I was really fascinated staring at all that black charcoal sitting in my pores, and it gave me the same kind of satisfaction you get from staring at all the blackheads on a just-used Biore strip. As gross as it is, it's nice to get visual confirmation that it's working. When I washed it off everything felt clean and tight, and not at all dry. At $4, I'd buy this over and over again.
3. Biore One Minute Self-Heating Charcoal Mask - What it promises to do: "Unique formula heats on contact with water to open pores and draw out pore-clogging dirt and oil, then cools leaving skin tightly smooth and refreshed." I have to admit that I'm a huge fan of the heating sensation when I put this on. It makes you feel like it's instantly working. I usually put on half or a third of the little packet at a time, massage it in my face for about a minute until it cools down, then I put on another layer and repeat. I'm also a huge fan of being able to do this right in the shower in a short amount of time. The only con to this is that my skin does feel dryer than with the other masks, but after a good coating of moisturizer my skin is back to normal.
4. Origins Charcoal Mask - At $25 for a full size bottle, this is the most expensive mask I've tried (I just got the sample 4 pack), so I'm slightly more critical of it. What it promises to do: "Activated charcoal acts like a magnet to draw out deep-dwelling pore cloggers." I do think that it worked as far as drawing stuff out of my pores, but I don't think it worked better than the Freeman $4 version, so I wouldn't splurge on this again.
5. Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask - This is my original go-to face mask from high school. Whenever I feel myself getting a zit I put this on (sometimes overnight, although it gets a little crumbly) and it dries it right up. Something to keep in mind is that if you are getting a zit, it sometimes takes a few applications of this stuff, because your skin will look worse as it pulls everything to the surface, and then after one or two more times it dries everything up. What it promises to do: "a natural home treatment to help dry up pimples, rinse away blackheads, and shrink enlarged pores." This mask definitely does as it promises, but it's only downside is that smells like sulphur covered up with mint. Not the most pleasant smell, which is why I eventually branched out trying different mud and clay masks. Still, at $4 for a large bottle, this does make a cheap, very effective spot treatment as well.
* This post contains some affiliate links for the products mentioned.

Don't you feel pampered just looking at these?

Any other mask junkies out there? What's your go-to favorite? Or maybe some DIY recipes I should try out? I tell myself my collection is big enough, but let's be honest, I'll probably add a few more before the year's up ;)

37 Week Bump Update

I am both so ready to meet our lil guy and kinda hoping he stays in there another week or two (or three!). The fact that we're so close to meeting him is surreal to me. I'm soaking up our last days as a family of three, and also really excited to start this new chapter as a family of four. I've been looking through our hospital and newborn pictures from Ez's birth, and I get so emotional to see how small he was, and to think that any day we'll be holding another newborn in our arms. 

At 37 weeks my brain is a crazy swirl of nesting and wanting to get stuff done but my body is like "um, no." I perk up over cleaning product commercials and words like "foaming" "disinfecting" "cleansing" and "scrubbing" make me way too excited. I've also recently become obsessed with cleaning random things, like the shower curtain and the garbage disposal. But in case you thought my house was all sparkling and spotless, rest assured - the house is pretty much a wreck. Bending over and picking stuff up is way too much effort. Also, sitting on the couch with my feet up is really appealing. So it's like half nesting, half hibernation over here. Or more like a third nesting, two thirds hibernating...you get the idea ;)

Thanks to some pregnancy insomnia I've been spending way too much time reading birth stories in the wee hours of the morning. This is something I normally try not to do while I'm pregnant, but things that usually seem like a bad idea suddenly seem perfectly reasonable at 3 am. On the bright side, the stories are a great reminder that the pain is all worth it as soon as you hold your baby for the first time. I always get teary-eyed reading about the overwhelming love a mama feels for her newborn baby. But reading about labors that take days, and women who had to push for four hours to get an 11 pound baby out isn't something I'd recommend when you're due to give birth any day. (But if you're not pregnant, or you wanna ignore my advice and read a birth story anyway, Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild, wrote about her 43 hour natural birth.)

In other nesting news, after lots of research we finally picked out a double stroller and infant car seat. It came down to the Graco Ready2Grow or the Baby Trend Sit n' Stand. They each have a dozen seating options and are extremely similar, but in the end we weren't that happy with the Graco infant seats we had with Ez, so we went with the Baby Trend. In our experience (with two different Graco car seats) the straps got tangled very easily and were not at all convenient to readjust. I've talked to lots of people who didn't have those problems, so we'll just chalk it up to Joe and I being overly impatient.

* This post contains some affiliate links for some of the products mentioned.

As you can tell, Ez was really into stroller shopping.

Pregnancy symptoms are just all the mild discomforts you'd expect this late in the game: heartburn, lightning crotch (it's a real thing), peeing every two seconds, and an overall lack of energy. My theory is that all this stuff is meant to prep you for labor by making you so ready to not be pregnant that labor doesn't seem as scary. But in all seriousness, I'm so thankful for how healthy both baby and I have been this pregnancy. Feeling him move around like a little acrobat never gets old and I love knowing that he's growing stronger each day, and that at this stage he will be healthy and able to thrive outside of me whenever he decides to come. We can't wait to meet you, lil man!

And in case you're interested, all of this pregnancy's bump updates are here, and all of Ez's bump updates are here.

Favorite Moments Lately

As I was looking through pictures on my phone I realized there are quite a few favorites that never made it onto the ol' blog. So rather than lose them in a pile of techno clutter, I'm opting for a mini photo dump instead:

1. A few weeks back it rained all day, and while I was perfectly content to snuggle up indoors a certain super-fussy boy needed a change of scenery ASAP! So we went on our first (intentional) puddle stomping adventure. Nothing like splashing in water to instantly turn a toddler's mood around. That should really be in the parenting books. Fussy baby? Get them to a body of water and let them go to town. All other problems vanish. Or maybe it already is in the books, because come to think of it I've never read a parenting book all the way through...

2. Park day with the parents to run off some energy before we began our 5 hour roadtrip. Ez fell asleep before we even got on the freeway and stayed asleep close to 3 hours. Mission accomplished. And now of course the grandparents will never believe that he's anything but an angel on these trips. 

3. Nothing says Summer like a game of tag with friends. Ez giggled nonstop and then slept in the next morning. You are welcome to chase my kid around any day, Wyatt! 

Yay, we made it to Friday! Got anything fun planned? I've got some girl time, a playdate, and plenty of family time lined up, all of which I'm excited about :)

Big Brother Gift

When I saw this adorable Big Brother Kit that Lisa, over at From the North to the South put together, I knew I wanted to do something similar for Ez. So for the past few weeks I've been collecting little gifts here and there for his baby bro to give him when they meet for the first time. Here's a little peek at what he's getting:

1. Busy Trucks on the Go - yet another book about trucks to add to the rotation.

2. Since Ez's favorite animal is an elephant ("elba") I got them each a mini stuffed elephant.

3. Somehow Ez is still missing a Lightning McQueen diecast from his ever-growing collection, so baby bro took care of that.

4. We are huge fans of My Busy Books (even though the little toys wind up everywhere) so Ez is getting the Tonka Road Rally one which is full of construction and emergency vehicles, some of his current faves. If you're not familiar with My Busy Books, they are board books that come with a dozen small toys and a playmat. Ez already has the Cars 1 & 2 + Airplanes versions, and they have been consistent favorites for the past six months or so.

5. I picked up this sculpty sand in the dollar section at Target. We haven't ever used it before, but Ez likes playdough so I figure this will be a hit as well.

Some might call this good old fashioned bribery to get Ez to like his baby bro right off the bat, but as a parent I'm not opposed to a little bribery every now and then ;) I feel like seeing Mommy in a hospital plus meeting a new family member can be overwhelming, so I want to do everything possible to make it a celebratory experience for Ez. I'm hoping there's a good balance of quiet activities he can do at the hospital while not making the gifts the main focus of the visit, if that makes sense. I don't want him to overlook the fact that he has a new bro. Also, I tried to stay away from anything too messy or anything too hard or heavy that could be thrown (because I know my kid). 

* This post contains some affiliate links

Spring Bucket List Review

I know it's technically not Summer yet, but it already feels like it. And since I made a short and simple Spring Bucket List, we were actually able to complete it all with a few weeks to spare. I'm already looking forward to putting margaritas on my Summer Bucket List. Not gonna lie, I've missed those a LOT this pregnancy! Here's a little lookback at all our Spring adventures:

• We've actually managed to go to Disneyland four times since March (You can see all our Disney fun here.) Each time we go, we marvel that we'll probably be a family of 4 on our next trip, but then we manage to squeeze one more pre-baby trip in. Who knows if the most recent trip is the last one, or if we'll cram one or two more in??
• Ez dyed Easter eggs for the first time this year, and he loved it! Especially the part where he threw one across the patio and it shattered. Last year Ez wasn't even walking, so this was also his first year participating in not one, but three Easter egg hunts. The first hunt had a soccer ball egg, so he was hooked on egg hunts after that!
• We haven't gone hiking since March, but I'm way too fat pregnant to find that fun right now, so we'll go ahead and cross that off the list. Sidenote: I really admire all the pregnant mamas who are still working out and being super active right up till their due date. All I wanna do is nap. And nest. And eat.
• Somehow Ez and I have managed 4 roadtrips up to Modesto this year. That's 5 hours one way with a toddler, people! Aka approximately 5,763 hours of Mater's Tall Tales and Thomas & Friends. My math might be a little off, but that's what it feels like. My family has also made the trek down here quite a few times, so we've had a good amount of family time already this year. Crazy to think that the next visit will probably be when baby Craig arrives. Eek! (And yes, I know I keep saying that.)
• Joe and I have managed one child-free date night this Spring - a dinner and movie night while my parents took Ez to Disneyland. We saw Avengers 2, which I somehow wound up liking more than Joe. I'm hoping we'll squeeze in one more to see Jurassic World.
• Our last beach trip was in March, but that's definitely going on our Summer Bucket List too, especially since Ez finally decided he loves the ocean. Before that he mainly preferred digging in the sand.
• This Spring we've gone to San Jose, San Francisco (twice), and San Diego. Most of those were also work trips for Joe, but Ez and I are always happy to tag along for company :)
• About six weeks ago we fit in a quick maternity photo shoot with our friend Amber from RMA Photography. Love the photos and still need to work on getting some framed and up on our walls!

A few other Spring highlights that weren't on our Bucket List (but should've been!):

• Ez's first NBA/Clippers game - in box seats no less!
• Our first visit to Travel Town.
• And, last but not least, my first baby turned 2. <sob> Also, he's definitely acting like a 2 year old, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with as being simultaneously the cutest and most annoying age on the planet. (See all my Toddlerville posts for elaboration.)

We crammed in so many family adventures this Spring, I'm excited to see what Summer's got in store for us. Anyone else making a Summer Bucket List? I always enjoy stealing your guys' ideas ;) So far I'm thinking water balloon fights, water parks, beach, and margaritas... What am I forgetting?