Erin Aitken's blog

Temporary Child Safety tattoos – Just in case peace of mind!! 

WOW! I found these great temporary tattoos that just might give you a little peace of mind when your kids are out and about with or without you! These temporary tattoos are a fun and practical way to help others see important information about your kiddo in case of an emergency or for general everyday use! These things are perfect for school, field trips, Summer camps, overnight stays, drop off parties, theme parks, shopping trips to the mall, traveling and how about TRICK OR TREATING! The tattoos are waterproof and easy to apply! ~ Stick ‘em on forearms, shoulders and I say right across the forehead! ~

These Quick Stick Temporary Tattoos are great for Lost and Found contact information, medical alerts like Diabetes and Asthma, and warnings for allergic reactions like Peanuts or Bee stings! They also have Special Needs Alerts for Autism and you can customize your own alert! Hey, these aren’t just for kids; make safety tattoo alerts for your elderly with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Safety Tats are available in the Original Quick Stick Write On Tattoos; you can also use the “tat builder” for CUSTOM Tattoos to include contact info, let the kiddos pick them out! BONUS! And NEW SCANNABLE QR Tattoos! Now they have tattoos with scan codes for your phones with QR APPS - you can store up to 100 characters of emergency and contact information! NICE!!

There are several fun options to choose from! 

I’m SUPER excited to share this awesome easy way to get a little peace of mind!

THIS IS GREAT GIFT IDEA too!! Get a gift certificate online - LOVE IT! 

CHECK THEM OUT!

http://www.safetytat.com/

HAVE A SAFE DAY AND HAPPY PARENTING!

Historical SUNKEN GARDENS – St. Pete’s secret garden!

 Looking for a fun family outing or some time to your self? Check out Sunken Gardens!

Sunken Gardens is a Historic St. Petersburg botanical wonder. It’s a labyrinth of shady pathways that wind through the secret gardens. As a child I remember the Extotic Birds, Monkeys and Alligators being there and running around on the winding pathway, playing in the gardens. I am so glad that it is still around to enjoy!

 I take my toddler here and she loves it. She loves to look at all the plants and flowers. We blow bubbles on the wedding lawn, there is plenty of room to run around and play.  We take snacks or have a picnic lunch.

 There are several Koi ponds throughout the gardens so make sure you get a bag, if not two of the Koi fish food pellets located in the lobby. They are $1.00 a bag and totally worth it. It’s always a lot of fun to watch how thrilled my tot is to feed the fish. You can almost reach out and touch them. SO MUCH FUN!

My little explorer is always so excited to be close to the Macaws and Flamingos. She loves to hear the Kookaburra birds laugh wildly.

If you’re looking for a photo spot, this is a great place! All the lush foliage, exotic trees and flowers, Lily ponds, little shady corners and pathways, the Butterfly, Cactus, and Japanese gardens. There are several mini waterfalls and an arched bridge. ALL make the perfect backdrops for photos. JUST BEAUTIFUL! LOVE IT!!

A Classic Photo MUST is putting your face through the SUNKEN GARDENS RING located by the Wedding Lawn.

In addition to being a great place to get lost in for a couple of hours, SUNKEN GARDENS offers a variety of Horticultural Educational Workshops/Programs and Special Events. They also have Yoga and Chute Chi Gong classes (ALL FREE FOR MEMBERS!). Definitely worth checking out! Become a member and get GREAT MEMBER BENEFITS! We got the family membership and it is WELL WORTH IT!

GO TAKE A STROLL AT SUNKEN GARDENS FOR A COUPLE HOURS! GET OUT THERE AND ENJOY A LITTLE TRANQUILTY IN ST. PETE!

 SUNKEN GARDENS $$ and HOURS OF OPERATION–

Monday thru Saturday 10AM to 4:30PM

Sunday Noon to 4:30PM

1825 – 4^th Street North - St. Pete

727-551-3102

 Admission is $8 for adults $6 for seniors and $4 for children – NICE!!

Memberships - LOTS of member benefits to check out

FAMILY $50 – INDIVIDUAL $40 –SENIORS $35 – STUDENTS $30

 SOMETHING EXTRA!

Want a Garden Wedding – This is the place! Get married on the Wedding Lawn and have your reception in the Garden Room!

http://www.stpete.org/sunken/sgweddings.asp

Saturday Morning Fun in St. Petersburg! 

We had such a great time in Downtown St. Petersburg!

We started out with a great breakfast at The Hangar Restaurant. This is a fun place to take the kiddos; we like to sit on the back patio overlooking the airport runway. Our little flight attendant loves to watch the planes fly in and take off, it’s a great distraction for her and provides a little conversation time for us parental units!! They have great coffee and reasonable prices with nice portions of food. Its always a good time!

On the way home we decided to stop at the Saturday Morning Market in the Al Lang Stadium parking lot. We got a perfect parking spot right up close and headed into the crowd. We found some yummy Honey by Eden’s Nectar – They make seasonal Honey flavors so of course we got the new Summer blend, it’s nice and smooth. I found a GREAT summer hat at the “It’s Our Nature” booth, it has a very wide brim, and it’s a hand woven Palm hat, complete sun coverage and I LOVE IT! Perfect for St. Pete fun in the sun!

We looked at all the fresh veggies, stopped to pet the dogs, looked at all the fun stuff, we had some fresh cut to order juicy pineapple and as we walked around all the food and spices smelled incredible! Our kiddo picked out some blue and green silver dollar sized glass stones for $1.00 a piece, they are now in our fish aquarium and add a nice splash of color!

It was a really HOT sunny day and on the way out we stopped and got some homemade icee cream that was D-licious!

As we were walking back to the car we noticed some floats cruising by, The Taste of Pinellas parade!

YAY!! CHANGE IN PLANS, we headed towards the flying necklaces! Our little sweaty pink faced tot got her first BEADS!! Woohoo! We then took a stroll past the Museum of Fine Arts into Vinoy Park! After a quick stop for some bottled water from the hot dog stand we found a bench on the water and had a much needed hydration break.

 WOW! GOOD TIMES!

It was a beautiful fun filled Saturday morning right in our downtown!  

We LOVE where we live -  ALWAYS something to see and do!

MAYBE WE’LL SEE YOU AT THE HANGAR OR THE SATURDAY MARKET

 I’ll be the one in the palm hat chasing the two year old!! 

CHECK OUT THESE LINKS-

We had such a great time at the Saturday Morning Market!

http://www.saturdaymorningmarket.com/

CHECK OUT THE NEW SUMMER LOCATION=

Saturday Morning Market will be at Williams Park located between 3^rd and 4^th Streets and 1^st and 2^nd Avenues

Starting June 4^th thru August 27th

Hours are 9:00 – 2:00

THE HANGAR RESTAURANT-

http://www.thehangarstpete.com/

 

Painting fun with ROCKS!

Looking for something creative to do?

Try this! It’s really different and fun to do!

ROCK PAINTING!! 

Pull out your Acrylic paint and small paintbrushes, a cup of water for brush rinsing and something to mix your paints on, a paper plate works perfect! Set up your painting area and get ready to have some fun!

Go on a ROCK HUNT in your yard! Collect some rocks ~ try to find ones with smooth surfaces.  I had some left over garden rocks that I had picked up at Home Depot; these are a dark gray and have an all around smooth surface.

Smooth rocks work great for painting on especially if you want to paint little animals, flowers, letters or numbers!

This time we painted numbers 1 ~ 10 for counting and number practice! The alphabet is next! Perfect for creative learning! 

Let your little Picasso get to painting and join in on the fun!

These make for adorable keepsakes, paperweights or a cute addition to any potted plant or garden! YAY!

 PAINTING ROCK TIPS ~

~We experimented a little bit and found that on darker rocks if you prime the surface with a layer of white first the other colors will stand out a little more.

~~When you are all finished let the PAINTED ROCKS dry overnight ~ THEN you can finish them off by added a CLEAR COAT of Acrylic to seal the paint on the rocks ~ it helps keep the paint from fading and chipping! For smaller rocks clear nail polish works great!

HAVE FUN AND HAPPY PARENTING!

DOLPHINS and WHALES BLOW BUBBLE RINGS FOR FUN !?! WHO KNEW!! 

WOW! This is pretty neat! I think it’s amazing how intelligent and self-aware these animals really are. The bubble ring phenomenon is solely done for the purpose of CREATIVE play! The older dolphins teach the babies how to blow and spin the bubble rings, pretty interesting stuff! 

 Upon further investigation I found out Dolphins aren’t the only Ceteceans (Dolphins, Whales, and Porpoises) that know this little trick!  Check out the great video links below!! 

BELUGA WHALES making BUBBLE RINGS at the Japan Aquarium–

Click here -  http://youtu.be/eXqjMvGcrns

HUMPBACK WHALE blows HUGE BUBBLE RINGS!!

You gotta check this out !

Click Here - http://youtu.be/fcdSsNF21Po

Bubble Bubble Splash!

VERY COOL!

St. Patrick’s Day BLUE? It’s True!

Click here for video ~ http://www.history.com/videos/green

 Who knew the original color of St. Patrick’s Day is BLUE! St. Patrick’s blue applies to two shades of blue considered symbolic of Ireland. Historically it is a lighter shade associated with the Badge of the Order of St. Patrick. In modern usage it is a darker shade like the Ireland’s coat of arms. 

The ‘Wearing of the GREEN’ started with the rebellion of 1798, Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on March 17^th to get public attention. While GREEN is now the national color, St. Patrick BLUES can still be found on some symbols, including a couple Irish soccer jerseys. 

 In Irish legends GREEN was worn by fairies and immortals, and also by people with hopes that their crops would grow.

In Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, people traditionally wear a small bunch of shamrocks on their jackets or hats. Children wear orange, white and green badges, and women and girls wear green ribbons in their hair. Many young people dye their hair green for the special day.

“If you wear GREEN ya won’t get pinched”! It was believed that if you wore GREEN you were invisible to the Leprechauns, who pinched anyone they saw! So the tradition of pinching is to remind ya about the little cranky guys!

On this St. Patrick’s day we will be wearing our traditional GREEN in honor of Ireland and will be adding a smidge of BLUE too!

Happy St. Patty’s day!

Zip A Dee Doo Dah – Zip A Dee DAY!

The weather the last few days has been amazing! Feels like an early spring is heading our way!

On our daily walks my little blue bird and I look and listen for all the neighborhood animals, it helps with keeping her in the stroller. We stop and pet the dogs being walked, we look for sleeping cats under the trees; we count the squirrels running about, the butterflies too! The different birds we usually see are the Ibis, the Egret, Cardinals, Mocking birds, and today there was an especially loud Blue Jay!

My little bird watcher yelled “ LOOK LOOK Blue Jay Bird Mama, Zip dee do dah song! “ She’s a genius I tell ya because with all this SUNSHINE and the animals flittering about it is most definitely a ZIP A DEE DOO DAH DAY!

So with that we broke into song! Singing ZIP A DEE DOO DAH all the way home, I’m sure the neighborhood loved that! HA!

It was so much fun to see my little blue bird so HAPPY that I had to pass the song along to you today. Check out the video and see Lyrics below! Maybe the tune will stick in your head and put a little PEP in your step!

 Here’s to a BEAUTIFUL Zip a dee doo dah day! ENJOY!

It happened on one of those Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah days

Now that’s the kind of day when you can't open your mouth

Without a song jumping right out of it

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

My oh my what a wonderful day

Plenty of sunshine headed my way

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

Mister blue birds on my shoulder

It's the truth

It's actual

Everything is satisfactual

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

Wonderful feeling Wonderful Day

Yes Sir

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

My oh my what a wonderful day

O plenty of sunshine headed my way

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

Mister blue birds on my shoulder

Its the true--------------UH HUH!!!

It’s actual

Everything is satisifactual

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

Wonderful feeling Feeling this way

Mister blue birds on my shoulder

It is the truth

It's action

Huh...Where is that blue bird?

MMMmm MMMmm

Everything is satifaction

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

Wonderful feeling Wonderful Day! 

Swimming and Gymnastic lessons at Tampa Bay Turner’s – Check it out!

Looking for fun classes for kids? Check out Tampa Bay Turners gymnastics and swimming programs!  

We just love the aquatics department and have been going to swimming lessons for almost a year now. We started out with Mommy and Me swim lessons and we really enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun to participate and watch my little jellyfish wiggle and laugh. She especially liked the songs and bubbles during the swim lessons!

When my little splasher was ready to advance to the next level I just couldn’t believe it, the progress she made in such a short amount of time was amazing.  We had taken lessons elsewhere and she didn’t show nearly the enthusiasm or progress until Ms. Diane and Ms. Alyssa! Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!

My little tadpole is now in the advanced beginners class without me! AAAGH!! Should I just hand over the car keys too! I was completely anxiety ridden to have her in the water without me and thought I don’t know if she’s ready, truth is I wasn’t so ready…but with the help of other supportive mothers cheering us on, who no doubt had already gone through the same separation angst, we took the plunge and moved her up. It almost felt like I was throwing her into the great abyss but she just toddled right on over to the edge of the pool and never looked back! I have to say it was a great move for the both of us she gets to be independent and I get a breather!

Now I have to tell you that the first few sessions I stayed on the bench by the pool ready to leap up at the slightest hiccup! Then I finally graduated to the room behind the glass.  Pat on the back! I still find myself occasionally plastered to that window when I’m counting how long she’s been holding her breath but I am getting much better. It helps that I have met some amazing mothers to share ideas, stories and laughs with while we watch our kiddos thrive!

Our experience at TBT has been wonderful! They have great instructors who are experienced, patient and very genuine in teaching the little sea monsters how to swim! We love getting stickers for an after class reward and we save all her ribbons as she masters new skills.  My little fishy just loves her swim coach and I feel completely at ease with having my little one in her hands! She slides off the side of the pool and swims back to the wall now so I’m more confident when we are around water which is a huge relief! My little tadpole just loves the water, swimming with her friends and learning how to swim! YIPPEE!! BUBBLE BUBBLE SPLASH!

Now that we are well into a swim lesson routine, I thought I’d check out the gymnastic side of TBT - We just started gymnastics today and again my little Mary Lou LOVED it! There is circle time with songs and dancing and a great guided obstacle course for the kiddos- She had so much fun and it wore her out! YAY!!! Take a moment to check out the links below!

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND HAPPY PARENTING!

Tampa Bay Turner Website –

http://www.tampabayturners.com/

Tampa Bay Turner Testimonials -

http://www.tampabayturners.com/about-us/testimonials.html

Happy NEW Year everyone!

Time to collect your thoughts and dive in to the year ahead! IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR!!

I thought I’d share one of my favorite things I like to do this time of year – It’s a nice down time activity and it’s a lot of fun! I call it my Treasure Map! It’s a wish list slash resolution slash motivational project I like to do for myself! Think of it as a positive reinforcement to do list collage.  Yes it’s time for you to be a little creative for yourself! You can do it, I promise! When your done you’ll have a really cool visual to keep you motivated!

 Here’s what you do:

Get yourself a poster board any color you like, a stack of magazines, scissors and glue or double side tape. Pick a variety of magazines, I like to use a travel, a parenting, health/food and the fashion/entertainment ones are good to.

  Start looking through the magazines cutting out things that appeal to you.  Cut out pictures of things you want to start doing, places you want to travel to, healthy foods, WORDS and phrases that have an impact on you, you can cut out letters and make your own as well. Think about career, relationships, goals, family. Look for things on your wish list and you must pick some pictures just for fun!

I always like to put in things like travel, health, nature, fun, and lots of room for words. Words can sometimes have the most impact. I found a great quote, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. Take that!

After you cut some things out start placing them on your poster board. Section off your board to areas like health, travel, fun or just glue them on randomly, anything goes! I like to cover almost my entire poster leaving a few open spaces to add things when I get some new ideas and revamp my goals!

I always have a travel section, Fiji is on my wish list and makes it to all my posters, found a nice beach picture to represent that.  We can’t wait to take our kiddo to Disney, I found a Mickey Mouse and cut him out and glued him in that corner! I put on the words New York and stuck an airplane next to it! And a beautiful waterfall, I can already feel the mist on my face.  VACATION, Here we come!!

I like to have a healthy section where I put on pictures of yummy foods like fruits and veggies, found a big strawberry frozen treat with a great picture of a cucumber feta salad! I’ve been making smoothies all week for breakfast!! And adding a salad to my dinner every night! One of my favorite pics I found this time is a big glass of bubbly water to remind me to hydrate, hydrate, and HYDRATE!

You want to start a fitness class or manifest some serenity in your life? Find some exercise photos like running or Yoga poses and surround them with positive affirmations and words like strength, endurance, get fit! I always love to find pictures of flowers and animals, my last board had a big lion roaring on it! Yep - Hear me ROAR! Add some comic relief, laughter really is the best medicine. I would love for my toddler to sleep through the night, I put a picture of a moon with stars, a row of pillows and next to that a cute sleeping baby! Crossing my fingers on that one!

Here's a peek at my Treasure Map =

  Make a new Treasure Map as things you have on the poster start to manifest – you made the vacation happen – you’ve been eating better – you got that item on your wish list.

I keep my Treasure Map in my bedroom – It’s one of the first things I see in the morning, off to make my smoothie…and one of the last I see before bed, I look at my moon and stars, the sleeping baby on her pillows and have faith my little dreamer in the next room will sleep for a few consecutive hours.

I love the visual reminder of eating great foods, keeping active, the places I want to visit. The flowers and fun stuff in addition to adding color and prettiness to my map, just reminds me to stop every day and enjoy a moment, share a laugh, and sometimes just to stop and smell the roses!!

  HAVE FUN! BE CREATIVE! MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!

 CHECK OUT THESE SITES for more Treasure Mapping info!

 http://www.happiness-information.com/treasure-mapping.html

 http://www.innerself.com/Meditation/treasure_11142.htm

 BOOK = GOAL ACHIEVEMENT THROUGH TREASURE MAPPING

 http://www.amazon.com/Goal-Achievement-through-Treasure-Mapping/dp/0976418304

Santa Picture Day Tips!

Happy Holidays! It's that time of year for the traditional picture with Santa Claus! OH…JOY…Time to pick out a super cute outfit that you will cover with bubble wrap till you get to the mall but inevitably will get a spot on it right before the picture! Time to listen to some parents threaten their little angels in line to smile or Santa wont bring them any presents, nothing like creating traumatizing childhood memories! Time to kiss the photographers rosy cheek so they don’t give you a nice shot with your little sugar plums eyes closed! Oh yes.. ‘Tis the season!!

Last year the grand event didn’t go so well for us but we did get the classic terrified crying picture with Santa that someday she’ll laugh over…I know as her loving parents we will! This year we are prepping her for the big day in hopes it will go a little smoother. I thought I’d share some things we are going to do this year that, cross our fingers, make a wish, and pray to the big fat guy in the red suit, will make all the difference and might make your big trip to the center of the mall go a little easier too.

Make sure that your talking a lot about Ole’ St. Nick!  He lives in the North Pole where all year long his elves make toys in the toy factory. He is the patron Saint of Giving so he travels around the world on Christmas Eve in his super sonic speed sleigh with his eight flying reindeer to bring all the nice children gifts for Christmas. Good time to mention to your little carolers they might not want to pull down the Christmas Tree before then or he wont be shoving himself down your chimney! Talk about his outfit, the famous white and red velvet suit with the big buckle to hold in his holly jolly belly (that’s on my list this year) and don’t forget to do his “HO HO HO Merry Christmas” laugh!

  A great bedtime story is “ The Night Before Christmas “. We read it over and over! Our little Cindy Lou loves it!

Go visit Santa a couple days BEFORE picture day on one of your shopping outings! Stand off to the side and let the kids see what’s going on and watch the other children talk to Santa and get their picture taken.  We’ve actually made a couple trips and on the last trip I didn’t leave with claw marks on my shoulder so she does has more recognition now and I’m thinking technically he’s not a stranger anymore, right? geez…

 Write a letter to Santa with your little gumdrops to bring to him on picture day!

On picture day make sure that you’re your little elves are well rested, so plan your trip first thing in the morning or after a rest. Feed your hungry little reindeer first or bring a snack and water for the line. Take them to the bathroom before you get in line! Primp them when you’re a couple people away don’t try to brush their hair on Santa’s lap. When you get up to the big guy let the photographers and his elves do their job. Yelling “LOOK HERE, SMILE FOR MOMMY, SAY CHEESE” isn’t going to help your stressed out little snowman! And distracts them from the lens so relax!

This year I’m just gonna go with the snow and if we can at least get her in the picture frame - I’ll be decking the halls! So with all that said, If the big day turns out to be a complete nightmare and not candy cane dreams – LET IT GO, LET IT GO, LET IT GO!!! 

 GOOD LUCK AND MERRY PHOTO SHOOT!

Below see some spots you’ll see the big guy!!

North Straub Park – Downtown St. Petersburg = Fifth Avenue NE and Bayshore Drive (727) 893-7441

Santa will be there on Dec. 4-5, 8-12, and 16-23! From 6-9PM BRING YOUR OWN CAMERA!!

Also here you’ll find the “GLICE” Skating rink – 6-9 nightly=Don’t forget your socks!

Tyrone Square Mall = Santa Pictures thru December 24^th, Santa Hours are Mon to Sat 10:00am – 8:00pm Sun 11-6pm; (727) 345-0126

6901 Tyrone Square, St. Petersburg, FL

International Mall = West Shore and Boy Scout Blvd 2223

N. West Shore Blvd. (813) 342-3790

Santa pictures are available to be taken during regular Mall Hours

With breaks Mon-Sat at 12:30, 3:30 and 6:30 for a half hour

Sun at 2:00 he gets an hour break

Westshore Mall – 250 Westshore Plaza, Tampa, Fl  (813) – 286-0792

Santa hours 11-8 Mon to Sat with one-hour breaks at 1:00 and 5:00

Sun 12-6 with a ½ hour break from 2:30 -3:00

Florida Aquarium – 701- Channelside drive, Tampa, FL. 33602 (813) 273-4000 Santa will be available 10:30 – 1:30 on December 4^th, 11^th, and 18^th!