***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% honest, and have not been influenced in any way.*** Now that school is back in full-swing, it's been a challenge to fall back into a normal routine. We're dealing with kids protested earlier bedtimes, adjusting to new schedules, and of course, there's the dreaded HOMEWORK. Apparently, homework is one of the great evils of the world and must be obliterated from the Earth. Sure, that sounds totally over-dramatic, but that's something my 6 year old daughter actually said. Boy, she's got a creative mind, and sure isn't afraid to express her feelings!
One thing that is blessedly uncomplicated are school day lunches. My oldest son, Kyle, is a Junior in High School. He attends our local, public High School, and rotates between packing a lunch and eating whatever is being offered in the cafeteria. He looks at the menu plan and acts accordingly. My younger kids, Sophie and Xander, are being homeschooled. That doesn't mean we don't pack lunches, though! I pack the kiddos lunches every single day, and we usually enjoy them outdoors, picnic style. Sometimes we eat lunch in the backyard, and sometimes we head to the park or the riverfront. The kids love feeling like they're "big kids" with their own special lunches, and I love seeing their excitement when they discover what Mommy packed for them. The folks at Pirate's Booty are making packing lunches easier than ever with their Limited Edition Back to School packaging. These packages come with 6 bags of snacks, and are in a really cute bag that features back to school graphics. The kids love their Pirate's Booty Snacks, and I do, too!
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***Disclosure: As a Cedar Point Blogger, I receive admission to the park and to special events, as well as information to share. As always, all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** The world’s best amusement park destination is getting bigger with a multi-year investment to further demonstrate Cedar Point as a complete vacation choice for families and thrill seekers. The major highlight of fun to come is an extensive transformation of Soak City to the brand-new, 18-acre Cedar Point Shores Water Park. With a nod to its lakeside surroundings, Cedar Point Shores will feature three completely new water attractions, new and upgraded food and merchandise locations and more. All-new amenities will be added for guests to enjoy the one-of-a-kind setting of beautiful Lake Erie and Cedar Point’s mile-long beach. New attractions for water lovers of all ages are coming ashore in 2017. They include:
The water park’s existing slides and attractions will receive makeovers as well, with most receiving new names highlighting the unique beachside location. For food lovers, the new Crystal Rock Café will cook up delicious food items guests won’t be able to resist. The menu includes items like: fresh-baked flat breads with options such as caprese or buffalo mac & cheese; farm stand salad options like crispy chicken BLT, Asian chicken and chicken Caesar; pesto-glazed grilled chicken sandwiches; fresh-breaded chicken tenders; cheeseburgers; bratwurst; waffle fries; tater tots and more. Cedar Point Shores will also boast a completely new main entrance, a new poolside bar, new family changing/showering areas, more lounge chairs, additional shade, improved landscaping and unobstructed views of Lake Erie. Updated cabanas on either side of the massive 500,000-gallon wave pool will be the perfect place to relax for large groups or families. Upgrades include free Wi-Fi, charging stations, ceiling fans, TVs and dedicated food and beverage service. Guests who want to get the most out of their summer with repeat visits to Cedar Point Shores will want to purchase a 2017 Platinum Pass. The Platinum Pass includes unlimited admission to Cedar Point and Cedar Point Shores, Early Entry, free parking, exclusive ride nights, in-park discounts and more. Guests can purchase their 2017 Platinum Pass beginning Saturday, Aug. 20 at cedarpoint.com. In addition to the exciting new Cedar Point Shores Water Park, Cedar Point also announced several enhancements to its overnight accommodations.
In 2017, Breakers Express will transform into Cedar Point’s Express Hotel, adding 69 new rooms to the popular overnight haven. All guest rooms feature two queen beds and will be completely renovated with new bathrooms and bedding, mini fridges, microwaves and connecting family suites for additional time to spend together. In the center of the property, a new splash pad and an outdoor courtyard featuring conversational living spaces will join the whimsical swimming pool and relaxing deck area. Construction on Cedar Point’s Express Hotel is already in progress and will last throughout the winter. The Hotel Breakers, Cedar Point’s signature hotel located right next to Cedar Point Shores, is also growing. Fresh off of a complete renovation in 2015, an additional six-story tower will be added to the classic beachfront property. The new tower will match the beautiful exterior of the existing hotel and will house 158 guest rooms with many of them configured as connecting family suites. A new outdoor pool area will also make its debut alongside the tower. Construction on the addition will begin after Labor Day and will continue through the 2017 season. It will open to new guests in time for the summer of 2018. With the new tower, Hotel Breakers will have a total of 669 rooms, making it one of the largest hotels on the Great Lakes – and the love for the property keeps growing. Hotel Breakers has been voted one of the “Top 25 Hotels for Families” by readers of TripAdvisor and is just steps away from both Cedar Point and the new Cedar Point Shores Water Park. Guests who stay at Cedar Point’s Express Hotel, Hotel Breakers and the park’s three additional properties receive the best benefits – Early Entry, allowing access to Cedar Point one hour before the general public to ride some of the biggest attractions, the best deal on park admission tickets (tickets that include free admission to Cedar Point Shores for the length of their chosen 1-day, 2-day or 3-day ticket) and of course, the closest rooms to the world’s greatest collection of rides. “There’s so much more to Cedar Point than most realize,” said Jason McClure, Cedar Point’s vice president and general manager. “No other amusement park can claim a mile-long beach and fresh water lake just steps away from the largest collection of rides on Earth. With the transformation of our water park and investment in our hotel properties, we invite families and friends to make Cedar Point their choice for thrills next summer and beyond.” Also making its debut in 2017 will be the previously-announced Sports Force Parks at Cedar Point Sports Center. Located approximately three miles from Cedar Point, the state-of-the-art youth sporting complex will feature multiple fields for soccer, baseball and lacrosse. It will also provide fun for families who attend tournaments, like miniature golf, a ropes challenge course, trampoline structures, food & merchandise options and more. Sports Force Parks at Cedar Point Sports Center is now accepting tournament booking for its inaugural season. Teams interested in playing can call 844-737-2757 or visit sportsforceparkssandusky.com. To dive into more information on Cedar Point Shores, Cedar Point’s Express Hotel, Hotel Breakers and Sports Force Parks at Cedar Point Sports Center, guests can visit cedarpoint.com for up-to-the-minute construction updates, photos and more. Take the @RoyalCanin Curiosity Saved the Cat Pledge and Help Shelter Animals #Cat2VetDay #Ad8/21/2016 ***Disclosure:This post is sponsored by Royal Canin® and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer Network™ . I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Royal Canin® and National Take Your Cat to the Vet Day, but Newly Crunchy Mama Of 3 only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Royal Canin® is not responsible for the content of this article.*** As many of you know, we are a very pet-friendly household. Okay. I'll keep it completely real with you here. We have a zoo. Six cats and a dog keep us on our toes and shower us with affection every single day. Yes. I just said SIX CATS. We have Noodles, Pringles, Truffles, Havarti, Cheeseball, and Mary Jane. We got our first kitty, Noodles, after noticing mice were trying to come in out of the cold one fall. I wasn't having any of that, and didn't want to use poison since we had small kids and a dog at the time. So naturally, a cat was our most logical choice for combatting our little mouse issue. It worked like a charm. After Noodles, we ended up stumbling onto a few rescue kitties. Pringles was on Death Row at a high-kill shelter in NYC. She was sick with a URI, scared to death, and listed as a New Hope Only rescue. Thankfully, we were able to scramble and apply with a rescue, and she was pulled in time to save her. We drove all the way to the Pennsylvania mountains to get her, and now she's Queen of the Castle. After that, we rescued the others. We're done now. No more cats for us, as six is certainly quite the responsibility, and it's one we take seriously. After all, our four-legged family members deserve all the love and care we can give them. They love us back unconditionally, making them very valued members of our family. Since all of our cats were rescues, we learned right away how important it is for cats to see the veterinarian on a regular basis. Most of our rescue kitties had some sort of underlying health issue that needed to be resolved upon their rescue, so we formed a very good relationship with our vet early on. She stressed to us from our first visit how cat health relies very much on preventative care and early addressing of any issues. Many pet owners don't realize the importance of regular vet visits and preventative care, and only take their cats to the vet when they're seriously ill or aging. This is a mistake that's commonly made. Half of all cats do not see a veterinarian on a regular basis. In fact, only one cat is seen by a veterinarian for every five dogs, despite the fact that 10 million more cats are owned in the U.S. Royal Canin® , a leader in pet nutrition, recently commissioned a survey to better understand how pet owners feel about cat health, especially compared to dogs and learned some interesting things: • Compared to dog owners, six times as many cat owners have not taken their cat to the vet this year and don’t plan to. • Two-thirds of cat owners simply believe cats have fewer health issues than dogs. • The older a cat gets, the more likely the owner is to take her to the vet only when she is sick. Thirtyone percent of those with a senior cat only take her to the vet when she is sick, compared to 20% for adult cats, 18% for adolescents and 17% for kittens.
Curiosity Saved the Cat.....Get it? I thought that was quite clever! It gave me a smile, since I know just how curious my cats tend to be, especially if it's 3:00AM and I'm trying to sleep. I can't tell you how many times I've heard scurrying, jumping and climbing, or even the crash of some inanimate object in the middle of the night.
But I digress.
Joining Royal Canin in urging more attention to preventative veterinary care for cats are the American Association of Feline Practitioners, the CATalyst Council, The International Cat Association and the Cat Fanciers’ Association. Like I said, this is important stuff here. Even the experts agree!
“Curiosity Saved the Cat” asks cat owners to pledge to see the vet this year and visit www.royalcanin.com/Cat2VetDay to ‘scratch’ their name on the pledge list. For every pledge taken through August 26, Royal Canin will donate a bowl of food to animal shelters across the country.
How cool is that?! Simply pledge to take your own feline companions for a check-up this year, and you'll be helping provide food to shelter cats around the United States. I feel really good about that, don't you?
Will you join me in taking the Curiosity Saved the Cat Pledge? Not only will you learn a lot more about cat health and how to keep your kitties happy and healthy, if you take the pledge between now and August 26, you'll be helping shelter animals, too!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Royal Canin®. The opinions and text are all mine. ***Disclosure: As an official Peppa Pig Parent, I receive product and information to share with you all. As always, all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** Wow, it's been a busy week here in NE Ohio! My little ones, Sophie and Xander, started school on Monday. We're doing the K12 program, so their learning is at home. Still, there's LOTS to do with 2 kids attending. Lesson plans, advance prep, teacher conferences, and just getting into the swing of things can really be exhausting after a fun-filled summer vacation.
My oldest child is back at school as well, but he attends the public high school. My baby is a JUNIOR. How did that happen? It seems like it was only yesterday that I headed to school with him for his first day of Kindergarten. Anyway, this year, my kids are extra excited about back to school. Sure, we homeschool, but we go on tons of educational field trips and outings, so they're always thrilled to get new school supplies to help them learn on the go. Eating better is, without a doubt, one of the simplest ways to get yourself in better shape. Since your health is important, you want to make sure that you actually follow through on the promises that you make to yourself about your well-being. The problem, sadly, is that it is difficult for most people to commit to big changes. This is human nature, and most people falter in this regard. On the brighter side, it is totally possible to make simple changes to your diet that will actually last and help you to prep yourself for bigger switches later down the line.
Reduce Animal Products Perhaps you have been thinking about becoming a vegetarian or a vegan because you have heard many positive benefits that are associated with a diet that relies more heavily on plants. You might also find it incredibly challenging to cut meat out of your system. Instead of going cold turkey with your meat consumption, pun intended, you might want to think about taking small steps. Hampton Creek, for example, makes their tasty “Just Mayo” condiment by substituting eggs with plant protein. Look into similar products that do not rely on animal byproducts and you will start making the right steps towards the diet that works best for your body. Veggies Really are Your Friends Vegetables are incredibly good for you. This is not going to come as a surprising fact, as most people are told this from their earliest years. Sadly, statistics on health state that most people, on average, eat less than the daily recommended amount of vegetables. This probably means that you are also not eating as many veggies as you should be. Unless you are someone that really indulges in the salad life and consistently munches on carrots and celery throughout the day, you should work on incorporating more vegetables into your daily routine. This is a very easy choice that will wind up making a world of difference to your overall health. Fibers of Life Another easy change that you can make to your diet to get into a more healthy place is by incorporating more fiber. Eating items rich in fiber helps your body in many ways. When you decide to eat whole wheat bread, which has tons of fiber, instead of white bread you are making an easy choice that can actually lower your risk for some cancers. That is only the tip of the iceberg, as a diet that consists of the right amount of fiber can help you to lose weight, reduce the risk of heart disease and lots more. Depending on your age, doctors and other nutritional experts suggest a different daily intake level. Generally speaking, the amount of fiber that you should eat on a daily basis goes up as you get older. The best way for you to know how much fiber you should be ingesting is by doing some research or consulting with your physician or nutritionist. The Junkyard Junk food is good. It is so good. Sadly, it is also so incredibly bad. While you might feel immediately gratified by reaching for unhealthy snacks when you get a craving, you are paying for the choice in the long run. There is nothing wrong with having a little snack every now and then, but you have to make sure that it is not the norm. Instead of dropping all of your guilty pleasures and making the empty promise to yourself of only eating vegetables from now on, try to tackle the problem in a more productive way. If you have a craving for a snack, and you have already had junk food or something unhealthy at some point during the day, eat fruit or a veggie instead. The more that you allow yourself to eat both junk food and healthy options alternatingly, the easier it will be for you to introduce more fruits and veggies into your snacking habits while phasing out the junk. When it comes to your health, you want to make sure that you find a diet that works for you and stick with it. Remember, you are only human. You are able to do whatever you set your mind to, but you can’t expect to change everything about yourself overnight. Look into companies that rely less on animal byproducts, such as Hampton Creek, start incorporating veggies into your snacking routine and load up on the fiber and you will find yourself getting used to these new choices. The more you commit to the little switches, the easier you will find it to make more radical changes later. In time, you will feel better about your health and your future. Sizzling Summertime Eats at #MyCharleysAkron Plus $25 GC GIVEAWAY #MyCharleys #Sponsored 8/228/7/2016 ***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.***
Summer is almost over, and a lot of parents are scrambling to get all those back to school purchases made. Books, notebooks, clothes, shoes...The list goes on and on. For many of us, myself included, back to school shopping often takes place at the mall. This is particularly true if, like me, you have a teenager who thinks Hot Topic is the coolest store in the whole wide world...In the UNIVERSE, maybe!
We headed out to Chapel Hill Mall in Akron, Ohio to hit the stores and grab a few things for the kids to make their new school year more successful. Apparently, Steven Universe hoodies are necessary for academic success. Who knew? Anyway, after we worked up an appetite shopping, we decided to grab some delicious Philly Steaks from Charley's Philly Steaks. After all, it was right there in the mall's Food Court, and the aroma of sizzling steaks was too irresistible a call to ignore. ***Disclosure: As a Cedar Point Blogger, I receive admission to the park and to special events, as well as information to share. As always, all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** In the wicked, tumbleweed-filled streets of FrontierTown, a “duel of thrills” never ends peacefully for an outlaw – and the outcome has been settled. Cedar Point announced today that Mean Streak, the park’s colossal wooden roller coaster, will be closing for good in the coming weeks.
When I was a kid, growing up in NE Ohio, the one thing I looked forward to every summer was seeing what new rides would be cropping up at Cedar Point. I vividly remember when the Mean Streak was built, shattering records everywhere. In fact, it was the biggest, tallest wooden coaster my 10 year old eyes had ever seen. (Am I giving away my age here?) I still remember the absolute rush on my first Mean Streak ride, and while the coaster may be shutting down for good, I still have plenty of memories to fall back on. Built by Curtis D. Summers, Inc., Mean Streak opened in 1991 as the world’s tallest (161 feet) and fastest (65 mph) wooden roller coaster. More than 26 million guests have boarded its three trains of green, gold and red with signature storm cloud and lightning bolt graphics, and experienced its 155-foot drop, tall hills and rattling turns over more than 1.7 million board feet of treated Southern yellow pine. ***Disclosure: I received complimentary samples to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.***
As the busy mom of 3 equally busy kids, I am always on the go. Whether it's running errands like grocery shopping, going to the park, or attending events and appointments, my days are rarely dull, bland, or boring. Since I am always headed somewhere, I often have my hands full...Literally! Shopping bags, lunch totes, bags filled with my kids' extra clothing or toys to keep them amused...And the list goes on and on.
Since we try to reduce the amount of waste we produce as a family, I often use reusable bags for shopping, packing snacks and lunches, and more. Recently, I discovered a super-convenient, stylish way to carry everything I could possibly need while reducing our carbon footprint. Goodbye, plastic bags! Urban Market Bags come in sets of 3 and 6. They are extremely portable, and come tucked into a cute little pouch. Keep them in your purse or in your glove box, and you'll always have bags ready to use at a moment's notice. Pretty cool, right? ***Disclosure: As an official Peppa Pig Parent, I receive product and information to share with you all. As always, all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.*** I can hardly believe that the summer is almost over. It really has flown by this year. In just a couple of weeks, my kids will all be heading back to school. Time sure does fly! We're celebrating the last bit of summer with a brand new DVD featuring our favorite pig.... Peppa Pig! Peppa and her family are making a big splash and having fun in the sun in the newest Peppa Pig DVD from Entertainment One and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Peppa Pig: Sunny Vacation! Celebrate the summer along with Peppa, George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig on a sunny vacation abroad. Kids and parents alike will love the four-part sunny special with 8 additional super fun-filled peppasodes! Grab your own copy of Peppa Pig: Sunny Vacation now on Amazon! You can tune in to the awesomeness that is Peppa Pig on Nick, Jr.
You can also find loads of Peppa Pig fun on the Peppa Pig website. There are games to play, cute clips to watch, and even creative activities to make! You can also find Peppa Pig on Facebook! Welcome To The Giveaway!sponsored by True CompanyHosted by Life, Naturally
Co-hosted by Michigan Saving & More
Join us in celebrating summer with a **hot** $250 gift card giveaway to True Company, where you can find high end and high quality beauty and body care products. Read the full review here.
One winner will receive a $250 Gift Card to spend at True-Company.com! Ends August 15. Open to Everyone Worldwide.
a Rafflecopter giveaway Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook Twitter Pinterest or Instagram. Please note that the event host(s) and the participating bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill prize obligations. |
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I'm Brandy, a happily married, proud Mom of 3 amazing kids. If you're interested in building a working relationship, please feel free to e-mail me at: NewlyCrunchyMamaOf3@gmail.com Links We Love :Archives
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