Nutrition Explorers - Kids Night In

Nutrition Explorers - Kids Night In Review

*This post does contain affiliate links. I do make commission when any purchases are made using these links.

Another month, another Kids Night In box! This time, learning about nutrition and staying healthy was the theme. And we found out that we're doing a pretty good job already.

As always, you cannot order this particular box, but you can go ahead and set yourself up to get October’s box here: Community Helpers

What's Included:

Night In Itinerary

Included book - Good Enough to Eat by Lizzy Rockwell
Recipe card
Activity sheets/stickers
Canvas
Foam Binoculars kit
Pencil
Magnifying glass
Fidget spinner for game
Pastels
Snack
Glue
Googly eyes
Healthy Journal

Nutrition Explorers Recipe:

Broccoli & Parmesan Farro - This sounded pretty tasty and my boys both love broccoli, but I wasn't able to find Farro..it's possible I looked right passed it considering the pasta and rice aisle is extreme! But this recipe was a good way of incorporating some good foods into a meal.

All Kids Night In boxes come with a snack as well, this time was Veggie Straws, which there is never a shortage of in our house. We love these, they're convenient and are a great alternative to regular potato chips.

Activities:

The book in this month's Kids Night In box was called Good Enough to Eat. It talked about the different food groups and why each is good for us. The book was a little too detailed to hold my 5.5 year old's complete attention, but he still walked away with some good knowledge on staying healthy.

The art activity in this month's Kids Night In box was a canvas to showcase the different fruits and vegetables that keep our bodies happy and healthy. This is where the pastels and googly eyes came into play. I really love that Kids Night In has started making step by step videos for their art projects, it makes it so easy for kids to follow along and create their masterpiece. We usually just head to the website on my son's tablet, and he pauses the video when he needs to but he does a great job.

A couple other activities were using stickers to create a plate that had the right amount of each food group, Health Hunt - finding the food groups in your own home using the binoculars we made, Eat a Rainbow - discussing the colors of the foods we eat, Exercise Exploration....which we had to skip because I cannot tell you where the fidget spinner ran off to after we unboxed, ha! Healthy Snacking - using the magnifying glass to look at food labels and spot things that are good for us, a Mission Nutrition 10 Day Challenge, and a Healthy Journal to track the foods we eat.

Kids Night In also includes a few little extra activity ideas on the back of the itinerary to keep your learning going.

Luckily for me, both of my kids pretty much live off of fruit and aren't into things like sugary sodas. That's not to say that they don't get sweets (which Kids Night In makes sure you know is ok in moderation!) and the occasional taste of Cream Soda, but overall they are healthy kids. They also enjoy playing outside and running around, so exercise is a definite every day occurrence here.

If you haven't jumped in yet, now is your chance! You have until the 13th to get the next box in time, and this theme is something kids love learning about so much! Click my affiliate link here: Community Helpers

*This post does contain affiliate links. I do make commission when any purchases are made using these links.

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Upstairs Jack and Jill Kid's Bathroom Renovation

We did it! We have officially, and finally, completed our first large in home renovation. We have a laundry list of spaces we want to renovate, but we decided to start in our kid's Jack and Jill upstairs bathroom.

The biggest reason we wanted to renovate this room was how inconvenient it was to give my kids a bath. The room with the tub was tight, I was smushed between the door and the toilet..and who wants to be up close and personal with a toilet that 2 little boys use?! NOT ME. When we first moved in, there was also a sliding door on the tub that we removed because it was a struggle to reach both kids in the tub through such a small opening.

We left the room with the sinks the same size, just replacing the cabinet, counter top, faucets, sink, and light fixture. But the tub room was expanded into our oldest son's room, which was quite large to begin with. In that room, we replaced the tub and toilet. Other upgrades include floor tile, shower tile, towel bars, paint, and we changed the swinging door into the tub room to a pocket door which has really helped keep the space open and usable.

I am really happy with our choices and love the colors!

We had a custom cabinet built and installed. Underneath is a pull out step so that we could get rid of the stool and free up space. In hindsight, I would have liked to have taken some space form the cabinets, making a larger step because while my oldest reaches ok, my youngest still can't.

My son's room before:

My son's room after:

Don't pay attention to the mismatching colors. We are adding white shiplap below the chair rail in a couple of weeks!

Tub area before/during:

Tub area after:

Sink area before:

Sink area after:

Floor before and after:

Swinging door to pocket door:

We are slowly adding in the little details like towel holders, etc.

And I LOOOOVE all of the fixtures we picked! The faucets were purchased from Kingston Brass, towel bars from Amazon, and the light fixture I found on Houzz but have also seen it on many online shops. I am loving this bright space!

Eventually we will frame in the mirror (which is the original mirror we were able to save) and build in some built ins where the hamper now sits. But I definitely think this was a good investment and will serve the boys for years to come.

Have you done any in home renovations? Did they go as planned? I'm ready to tackle the kitchen next but that's a pretty big job and a long ways up the road after completing this job!

Our Last Walt Disney World Hoorah

It has officially been one year since we have taken a step into our favorite Walt Disney World Parks. After being Annual Passholders for years and being just a quick skip to the parks, we have had some withdrawals...especially our oldest son who is always ready to ride Pirates. Our last family trip was in August of 2018, and we made sure to do ALL the things. Ride the rides, eat the eats, and hug all our favorite friends. It was a quick weekend as we had to get back to finish packing for the big move, but it was totally bittersweet.

Some favorites that we made sure to hit at Magic Kingdom were the Country Bear Jamboree. I mean, it's a must do always, but definitely a must do when saying goodbye. Peter Pan, never worth the 75 minute wait, but when you somehow score FastPass+ tickets that aren't at 8 PM, you know it was meant to be. Mine Train, the smoothest ride in the wilderness, one of our favorites in the Magic Kingdom Park, and yes, I 100% made up that nickname for it because after riding Big Thunder Mountain this ride feels like you're just gliding through a mine. It's A Small Word is our youngest's favorite ride so we couldn't miss that!

At Animal Kingdom, we rode the Na'vi River Journey one last night, banged on the drums to call the Na'vi people, enjoyed a seriously delicious Night Blossom beverage, and adopted a couple banshees. I am sure we did a few more attractions, but it was such a whirlwind I can really only recall the highlights.

Epcot is my favorite park, and not because of the alcohol! I just love the feeling and "quietness" of this park. Our oldest LOVES Soarin', while our youngest was all about The Sea with Nemo and Friends. We ate at The Garden Grill for the first time to get some good character interaction, and although it wasn't our favorite meal that we have had in the parks, it was a fun experience for the kids. We also watched Illuminations Reflections of Earth for the final time.

Our last day was spent at Hollywood Studios, because of course we had to say goodbye to all 4 parks. This day was short as we were heading back home, so we hit the new rides in Toy Story Land..Slinky Dog Dash, and Alien Swirling Saucers. Our youngest who is now very into Toy Story, had a meet up with Buzz Lightyear before he even realized his love for these characters. We also rode Star Tours a few times, and most likely saw the Frozen Sing Along show one last time.

I am glad we were able to squeeze in one last Disney run before we moved to Texas, and I do miss being able to wake up and say "Hey! Let's go to Disney!" because goodness knows I was beginning to take my boys weekly. We always had the best times on our random solo days!

Many people have asked when we plan to go back, and the answer is eventually. We don't have plans set in stone, and with so many new attractions and lands opening we're really better off waiting a bit. When we do head back, you better believe it'll be our biggest, best kept secret...from our kids at least! ;-)