Family Fun NC

How to have July 4th family fun

July 4, 2011 by Jennifer 3 Comments

Come on down to NC and a fun time is definitely in store for the entire family. We started out our July 4th fun in Blowing Rock, NC where they had their festivities on Saturday. The morning starts with fun games for the kids.

My precious M loves the outdoors as you can see. The girls headed with my Aunt for some water fun at the lake while hubby and I stayed to watch the beautiful hometown parade.

After picnic fun with the cousins in the afternoon, we headed over to the Blowing Rock Country Club for the fireworks show.

M was so excited to see all the fireworks as you can see here:

We then finally headed home after two weeks on the road and took part in our hometown festivities here with our wonderful friends over at Carolina Mama.

We had an absolute blast… take 2 minutes and join in the fun.

It was time to get in from the heat and enjoy some delicious 4th of July treats.

Cherry Yum-Yum that I came up with based off my Aunt’s recipe = 4pts Weight Watchers!

Red, white and blue stuffed strawberries. I changed up the recipe to make it zero points weight watchers. I used fat-free whip cream instead of cream cheese.

We topped off the evening with a Patriotic Mocktail!

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July! Here’s to more fun summer memories to come… :::cheers:::

Make time for your family this summer

June 29, 2011 by Jennifer 1 Comment

Is it me or is summer one of the fastest seasons? It seems we blink our eyes twice and poof summer is gone. Don’t let summer get away from you without creating special family memories. The evenings in the summer are perfect times to create those special memories. The sun goes down which means the temperatures usually go down as well.

In my family, we take nightly walks and have the best conversations. I am giving my kids my undivided attention without any technology around, and the girls just smile ear to ear with this mommy/daddy and daughter time.

Tonight, we took a walk through where we are staying at in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The cool crisp air was so divine tonight. The girls were scoping out different areas and would yell “mommy, mommy, you have to take a picture of this.” The scenery in the mountains is breathtaking. See for yourselves:

We saw deer along our walk which were too fast for my camera, and even a swan on her nest.

Taking the nature walks really gets the girls into some fun conversations. It warms my heart to see how excited they get when seeing certain things. Make sure to take time this summer and do things as a family. Need help with ideas? I have 6 other ideas over on BabyCenter’s blog Momformation this week.

Enjoy your summer and create lots of fun memories!

Great Wolf Lodge Reviews

June 13, 2011 by Jennifer 5 Comments

You see the commercials, you hear the radio segments, you see the pictures, but just what exactly is all the hype about this Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park?

Our family arrived at the great indoor water park for 3 nights over Memorial Day weekend. We were guests of Visit Cabarrus and this trip was extra special as we were actually digging deeper to get past the water park as well. The girls were packed 3 days before time with all their swim gear and before you know it, the time had arrived to be greeted by the big black bear. Welcome sighting for all the guests.

We checked in and headed straight to our room. This is our third trip and the girls are always so eager to check out the rooms each time. They love that they have their own area in our hotel room.

Hubby is just excited to get to stretch out on the couch for a few minutes and see what is on the tube.

But, there is no sitting in the hotel room for long as the girls are dressed in their swimsuits and ready to head out to the water fun. A minute review of our fun time in the water park area.

I am especially in love with this water park as my girls are both on different levels of what they enjoy doing. The water park really does have areas for the small at heart and the big at heart. While M and I are enjoying all the big water slides, Daddy and L can enjoy the wave pool and the little kiddie area. M loves the kiddie area as well and the whole family can enjoy the big bucket splash. Now, that is a must-do for every family. Life guards are all over the water park as well, so that really assures me. You will notice, the life guards are not allowed to stand in one place. They have to constantly be scoping out their entire area the whole time they are on duty. Awesome move by Great Wolf!

The fun just does not stop at the water park though. Expand your options and enjoy spa time, an ice cream cone, a little arcade time, story time, or even try your hand at the magic wand. The fun just keeps going.

If you want to enjoy a little outdoor time, then take in some family putt-putt time or even dive into the outdoor pool. Your fun options are unlimited as that is what makes Great Wolf more than just an indoor water park. You see why we are so addicted to Great Wolf now right? Special deal right now too if you book by June 30, 2011. Use Promo Code: Fun4All and receive 20% off their best available rates. Get out of the heat and still have water fun with the family.

Great Wolf, until we meet again!

Disclosure: Thank you to Great Wolf Lodge – Concord, NC and Visit Cabarrus for the complimentary nights. All thoughts and opinioins are of our own.

Family Fun With Gold Mining in NC – Reed Mining

June 6, 2011 by Jennifer Leave a Comment

New series starting here at One Moms World. NC has so much to offer from the mountains of NC all the way to the beaches of NC. My family is going on location to different areas in NC to provide a real family fun review and recommend places that you can visit all across the beautiful State of NC. This week we take a trip to Visit Cabarrus County.

We loaded up the family and took a road trip to Cabarrus County which is where racing begins. Before heading to the big race of the year Coca Cola 600, we took a little side road and headed over to Midland, NC to visit the Reed Mine. It was time to get our hands dirty and find some gold. The girls kept asking lots of questions on the drive over, because they were just so confused why we would go hunt gold. I have realized, I must have sheltered my girls a little too much. Never fear, once I said we were going to look through all kinds of rocks, L’s ears perked up and she was counting down the minutes till we got there.

The girls did not realize, that you first get the opportunity to go underground before doing the actual mining. You see back in the 1700’s, a twelve year old boy named Conrad Reed made the first documented discovery of gold right there at the Reed Mine. For three years though, the 17 pound rock just served as a door step until they finally took the rock to a silversmith. The silversmith could not identify the rock and the Reed’s finally made it into the big city to a jeweler. The jeweler said name your price as they found out it was gold. $3.50 was the quoted price. The Reed’s were cheated as the gold was worth about $75,000 in today’s prices. The jeweler eventually did give the Reed’s $1,000 more. All of this is detailed in the great museum at Reed’s Mine and the Underground Tour. The girls were very hesitant at first to go into the underground area, but alas we had fun and was soon off to do a little mining to see if we could find gold.

Did we find gold? Watch and see what indeed we did find!

As you can see, it was a lot of fun for the whole family and let’s you escape to the yesteryears with your kids. Load up the family and go have fun mining. You just never know when you may find gold and get to retire ;).

Family Fun in NC – Natural Science Center Greensboro NC

May 11, 2011 by Jennifer 3 Comments

First Stop – Natural Science Center of Greensboro, NC

We decided to hit the road this past Sunday afternoon and see what the buzz was all about at the Natural Science Center. We were greeted with dinosaurs, monkeys, turtles and….

As you can see in those three short minutes, there is a lot of fun for families at the center. We were not even able to participate in all the activities in one afternoon but the girls were overflowing with smiles and so many stories. Each day there are different events in the center your family can get involved in just as you saw that we were involved in on the video. The center is very family friendly and welcomed us in with open arms.

The center has their own 40 feet dome that houses the Omnisphere. We were so sorry that we did not get to view a show but that just means that we have to go back. It is brand new and very much state of the art. This Friday, they are having a Beatles Show which is a must-see evening laser show featuring songs from the Beatles set to an amazing laser show of light across the 40 foot OmniSphere Dome Theater. Coming up in June is a U2 show. Keep check on their schedule located here as they have some very intriguing shows lined up for all families.

The science activities inside can keep your attention most of the day, but definitely venture outside the the Discovery Zoo. You are getting a 2 for 1 bonus when you arrive at the science center with the zoo they have on-site.

The girls were over the moon excited about seeing all the animals. You all know that L is a huge animal lover so this just made her day. The animals were showing off at their finest too on Sunday. They even have a family farm that you get to walk into and feed the animals and pet them. L exclaimed “Mommy, this is the best day ever!” – Music to a parent’s ears.

Go ahead and add to your must-do list as the kids will not be disappointed. Just allow most of the day and pack a picnic lunch so you can enjoy the center at its fullest.

Family Fun NC

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