Beach Fun With Kids!

So we just got back from our first beach vacation with the kids! Wow was it amazing! Thankfully they all absolutely LOVED it! I wanted to share some of the things we did on the beach beyond your typical sandcastle and burying daddy in the sand. Lots of people go to the beach with their kids, and I would love to see other families having as much fun as we did!

1. Night Beach Walk
OK, so I was a little freaked out by the night time beach walk. Keeping 4 kids in my sight in the dark does not seem like it would be fun for me! BUT, we made sure to make it as easy as possible! Of course their were rules and everyone had to have a hand, but there were even better ways for the kids to have a blast and for me to be able to relax a bit...
One of the things we used was glow bracelets! We put them around their ankles (because they can fall off of their wrists since they are so little!). Immediate tracking device! They were of course allowed to have some around their neck and wrist if they wanted, but the ankle was required- and of course they did not complain! They LOVE glow sticks! Then we let them put their feet in the water to see if they could see their glow sticks shine through- which they did as long as they were not deep.
The second thing we used was flashlights. But not just any flashlights- COLORFUL flashlights. The entire flash light lit up on the outside. We bought a different color for each kid. They were from walmart and totally worth it. It made them easy to spot in the dark for sure! And they loved having their own flashlights to look for shells and light the way for our crew! Not to mention, it made Mommy feel much calmer knowing that I could find them easily if they were not right next to me.

2. Boats
Seems simple, but we brought little toy boats that floated. When the tide went out, a bunch of little, shallow pools of water formed all over the beach. The kids loved to float their boats in the little pools and watch the wind take them across the water. Easy and cheap!

3. Pirate Treasure Hunt!
This was by far the most fun for the kids! What a brilliant idea by my older sister! :) We made a treasure map the night before, and when we were ready to head to the beach in the morning, we "found" it. Oh boy was that exciting! We had little paper pirate hats for everyone to wear. I wish we would have had pirate eye patches too... Now my kids are not old enough to read, so I read the directions to them (if your kids were older this would be a great way to give them some participation)- starting from going out the door of our condo, down the stairs, across the parking lot, over the bridge, through the sand to the water, and back out of the water through the sand until they found the big X marks the spot. We filled a little Tupperware tub with cookies for each of them, a pirate note, and some shiny quarters, and my sister ran ahead and buried it. Had I known we were going to do this, I would have totally bought the gold chocolate coins for the treasure! My sister stood by the spot so I knew where to march them to. She put a big X right over the spot it was buried. The kids lit up like you wouldn't believe when they saw the X. I can only imagine how excited they were that they actually found a treasure and anticipating what it was going to be! So we gave them each a shovel and they all helped dig it out. They were so excited when they saw it. That was so much fun- for all of them. And they totally thought it was real. SO CUTE :)

It was so nice to have different activities. The beach is of course fun by itself, but the kids really need different stuff to do to keep them wanting to go every day. Beyond fun activities- there are a couple of tips I would love to share.

1. Definitely pack a cooler- even if just a small one. Kids get overheated very easily- and a drink, or even just a piece of ice can help them cool down and hydrate- and keep them from getting cranky. Packing a few snacks is of course very helpful with kids too.

2. Bring at least one bottled water (NOT in the cooler). Use this for if and when sand gets on their face or in their eyes. Also if the salt water is bothering their eyes. They will not want ice cold water on their face! And the towels will be sandy and useless. We used this several times throughout the week.

3. My cousin shared with me a trick to get sand off so you don't have to track it everywhere once you get inside. Baby powder! We tried it out- and it definitely works on all parts of the body that are completely dry- but on the damp parts around the bathing suits- you should just forget it. So if this seems to be useful, then use the baby powder to wipe away the dry sand from their bodies before taking them inside.

Hopefully these tips will be helpful if you are taking your family to the beach!

Check out their flashlights!

They were really bright!

You could see them from pretty far away!

Follow Up- Filippo Berio Olive Oil versus the store brand...

As I mentioned last, I am trying out the Filippo Berio olive oil free thanks to BZZAGENT. In follow up to my previous post- I still totally think it is awesome that you can use olive oil as a healthier substitute for butter! But as I have mentioned several times- I love to save money. So I decided to put this name brand to the test in a taste test against the Kroger brand. For Father's Day, my husband and I made an awesome steak dinner. We decided to compliment it with a great oil dipping sauce for the bread- you know, like they do at Bravo. We thought it would give it a more formal touch. So what better way to have a taste test? We used the Filippo Berio olive oil and the Kroger brand olive oil. We used the same pre-mixture of herbs for a garlic rosemary flavor- so the only difference between the two bowls was the olive oil. I knew which bowl contained each brand, but no one else did. All 6 people unanimously picked the Kroger brand immediately! The olive oil flavor was not quite as strong in the Kroger brand- so maybe if you like a stronger flavor, then Filippo Berio is for you. But I will stick with saving money and better taste in the Kroger brand olive oil. However- in Filippo Berio's defense- both of them were eaten, and we probably would not have thought twice about it if there wasn't anything to compare it to. It was still delicious!

Make a healthier choice with olive oil!

Thanks to BzzAgent, I got to try out Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil for free! It was when I received my kit that I also received this brilliant information! I always knew you could substitute olive oil for any other kind of oil in a recipe by using the same amount. However, I had NO IDEA you could use 3/4 the amount of olive oil in place of the full amount of butter in most recipes! What a great thing to know! Now, we have already established that I am by no means a health nut, BUT if I can make a healthier choice without sacrificing flavor- I am all for it! And here is such an easy way to do that!

Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil has many benefits over other oils and butter:

• it is 100% natural
• it can help reduce the risk of heart disease
• it can help control blood pressure and blood sugar levels
• it contains no trans fat or cholesterol
• it is high in monounsaturated fats (aka the good fats)
• it contains no sugar, salt or gluten

You can see why this is a healthier alternative!  And it is simple. For a printable conversion chart for the substitution and more information on the health provided by olive oil, visit the product's website link below.

Filippo Berio

So of course after reading about this, I had to put it to the test. I was a little skeptical on how it would affect the flavor and texture of different dishes.  So I tried substituting for butter in Riceroni and Mac N Cheese. It did not change the flavor AT ALL. It was not more oily. My family didn't even notice a difference at all! So it made me feel good making the dishes a little bit healthier for everyone.

Then I tried substituting this olive oil for butter in homemade chocolate chip cookies. This was a bit of a different story. The cookie dough was thick and extremely sticky. The cookie dough flavor was a bit odd but still decent, but after seeing the consistency I was convinced that this was going to be a total failure. However, the dough was already made- I figured I should just finish it and see. So I did, and I tried one while it was still warm. It was terrible. The flavor was disgusting. But I still finished the batch and let them all cool. Somehow, after all that, I decided to taste it again after they cooled down. It was probably my inability to resist chocolate when I see it! But I am glad I did because once they cooled down the cookies were actually really good! There was a little difference in flavor... maybe just not quite as sweet, slightly like shortbread cookies, but just in an aftertaste. I couldn't quite put my finger on it... my husband thought it almost tasted like there was peanut butter in it. But they were moist and still delicious! My mom, my kids, and my husband all ate them and loved them! The cookies were actually a little bit fluffier than my typical cookies, which was surprising! All in all- they looked and tasted really good! (See the pic below.) Needless to say, they did not last very long. I was impressed. I would definitely make it this way again.

You can also use this as dressing and drizzle it on salad. However, I am totally a ranch girl, so that would not be even remotely close to compare for me. But I plan on trying it on some pasta and vegetables. Now, I have to be honest- I have no idea if the flavor would be any different with another brand of olive oil. However, I plan on trying out an oil dip recipe for bread in about a week, and I am going to compare another brand. So I will update on the difference in flavor. But overall I am absolutely pleased with the Filippo Berio brand, and I will definitely be using olive oil as a substitute for butter more often now- as much as I can in cooking hot dishes, and I would like to try out some baking dishes like this again too! Why not be healthier when it's so easy?! (and of course still tastes good!)

Kroger Low Fat Yogurt Smoothie Bars (Review)- Update

After my husband and I became somewhat addicted to the Strawberry Banana Kroger Yogurt Smoothie Bars that I got free for being a BzzAgent, I just had to venture out and try the other flavor! Triple berry- strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. Honestly, they should just call it blueberry- because that is what it tastes like. I couldn't really taste the raspberry or strawberry- and my husband agreed. They are definitely not as good as the strawberry banana, so we will probably not buy this flavor again. The triple berry does not taste as much like a smoothie to me, but it is still cool and refreshing on a hot day- and yes it is still only 50 calories! I will say when I first started eating it, I didn't think I liked it. However, as I kept eating it, it kept getting better. Still not anything I would rave about, but they were okay. But- I still definitely suggest the Strawberry Banana- especially for people who are counting calories or dieting. You can't really beat a treat like this for 50 calories!