Richmond Summer Free Favorites

The warm weather has arrived and we are thrilled.  It is our mission to spend our days outdoors and playing as much as possible! We are so lucky that Richmond has so many great outdoor parks and splash pads that are free.  I’m thankful to be raising kids in such a family friendly city.  Here are a few of our favorite places to go, when it’s hot, hot, hot!

1. Twin Hickory Splash Pad– This place is a blast! It’s mostly fenced in.  There is a toddler playground, big kid playground, picnic tables, an amazing splash pad area and thankfully they have added shade in the center where Momma sits and watches it all go down.
2. Short Pump Splash Pad – Another great place to play.  They have a great pavillion and tables so plan to bring your lunch and stay all day.  My one year old loves the splash area here because the water pressure is more her speed.  My older boys are huge fans on the playground area.  They like to get wet and then go as fast as they can down the warm slides!
3. The ARC Park – This park is amazing! So much for the kids to do and accessible to people of all ability levels.  They have water misting and a water play table so everyone can stay cool.  We love it.
4. Stony Point Splash Pad– If you are a southsider this is probably your closest free water play option.  The great thing about there splash pad are the shaded benches for you to watch your kids from.
5. Westover Hills Tot Lot– This is the best park if you have preschool aged kids…especially if you have more than one to look after at a time.  This park is small, full of toys and stays pretty shaded all summer long.  This is my four year olds absolute favorite park.  Extra perk is the same crew tends to frequent it, so it’s an easy place to make friends too.

I hope you soak up the summer!

Originally published on Richmond Macaroni Kid Here

5 Family Friendly Audio Books for the Summer

We have three kids and have officially hit the stage in which there is competition over who gets to talk first when in the car! This conflict can be maddening for me as a parent.  One great solution I’ve found to this new problem is to always have a audio book on loan from the library to listen to in the car. This has been great for us all. My kids aren’t yet into listening to me read chapter books at home so this is a great way I can expose them to longer books and keep our car rides calm. Here are some our favorites that we have come across thus far.

1. The BFG by Roald Dahl – The narrator  that read this book did a great job making the characters come to life! My kids loved the silly language the BFG uses.  The story was fun and kept them engaged the whole way through. I enjoyed it too, which is a huge factor on if a book makes it onto our list.  
2. Stuart Little by E.B White – The whole book takes less than 2 hours to listen to, so the kids were able to easily follow the storyline.  Who wouldn’t love a tiny mouse facing the world of humans? Stuart’s world is a great mix between something that feels real but is also totally magical.  We loved it.
3. Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder – Oh my, I just love all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. I would keep listening to this one even when the kids were not in the car.  We all learned so much about how farmers lived during this time period. My boys asked so many questions about the animals and lifestyle she describes in the book.  It’s wholesome and engaging. You should definitely take a listen!
4. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder – We loved this too! We learned a lot about Native Americans and how western expansion worked in this time period.  It’s a great way to teach your kids about past vs. present. The whole series of books are so good.
5. The Eloise Audio Collection: Four Complete Eloise Tales: Eloise, Eloise in Paris, Eloise at Christmas Time and Eloise in Moscow by Kay Thompson –My kids think Eloise is hilarious.  She is full of silly antics. The narrator does a great job bringing her character to life.  The great thing about this set is the stories change so it’s easy for younger kids to stay tuned to what’s going one.  

Originally published here.