Amanda's Books and More: outings

Showing posts with label outings. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Going Out More Often with #Linky

Welcome to my Picture Perfect

Party Linky #214!

Eventbrite is rallying people together to promote #GOMO (Going Out More Often). They asked me if I would spread the word to my readers to think of ways to get out of the house without needing to spend any money. The photos I chose to share today will hopefully inspire you and your family to go out more often too!

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Click on my photos to see them at their best!

Walk the Dog!

Grab Your Camera and Photograph Nature!

These flowers were outside of Amanda's school.

Have a Picnic!

Go Swimming or

Do Another Sport!

And a poem that will hopefully inspire you -

"Dust if You Must"

Eventbrite is a global marketplace that supports ticket sales and a variety of other features, including discounted options for non-profits. They make it possible for people to find and create events in 190 countries (you can check it out here).

Disclosure: I received nothing for this post. I did it for the fun of it.

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Below is my latest post

on 1camera1mom:

With Samantha's 16th birthday earlier this month, she planned a family outing to Cape Town. Be sure to check out the photos, which I'll be posting in three parts over three weeks.

A Day in Cape Town - Part 2

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My Latest Book Reviews:

The SockKids Stop a Bully

Elphie Goes Trick or Treating

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Now on to my blog hop...

Come link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!

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Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

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Visit my Blog Hops page to see the hops that I often link up to.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Picture Perfect Party Linky #62

One of my favorite pastimes is getting out and going for a drive. Amanda is the same. In fact, she often instigates our outings. The one I'm sharing with you today was one of her ideas. We went for a beautiful drive, visiting wine estates and seeing what they had to offer in terms of natural beauty, good wines, farm stalls and more. We live in the wine country here in South Africa and South Africans produce really good wines.

Click on the images to make them larger.

Amanda at Aan De Doorns

Amanda and me at Rooiberg

Amanda and the Red Chair wines
at Rooiberg (Afrikaans for Red Mountain)

I posted many more photos on 1camera1mom.

Come check it out and see the fabulous shot that

Amanda took of Hubby and me.

This is the first photo in my Robertson Wine Region
series. We had just driven onto the property of
the Aan De Doorns wine estate.

Now on to my blog hop...

Here's your chance to link up your Wordless Wednesday

(with or without words) or any picture post

at this Picture Perfect Party Linky.

Come join me on this fun and easy blog hop!

If you host your own blog hop(s), then feel free
to link them on my Blog Hops page!

I would love for you to follow me on

Google+

Twitter

Facebook

and

Here are the easy rules:

Follow me. Please leave a comment so that I can follow back (as long as your blog is family friendly).
Link-up your post with a picture and follow as many new blogs as you like.
Grab the button below and add it on your post or side-bar.
Tell others about this hop on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.

The Button Code:

This is a Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Guest Post - Preventing Type 2 Diabetes

Guest post by Carolyn at Full-On Fit:
How You can Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Your Family

Family Unit

This past November was American Diabetes Month, and it was a special time for me. See, my young cousin was recently diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I didn't think it was something that could hit so close to home, especially because she is so young (only 13!) I thought the doctors must have been wrong, but after many doctor visits, I found out that Type 2 Diabetes, formally called adult-onset diabetes, is now affecting many young people. What’s even scarier is what Diabetes could lead to; according to St. Joseph’s Cardiac Hospital of Syracuse, if diabetes is left untreated, it can lead to such things as heart disease, neurological problems, and even amputation.

In order to be able to help my little cousin, and prevent my other family members from developing this disease, we decided as a family to learn more about the disease and what we could do to prevent/manage it. Here are some tips that you and your family can use as well:

Blood Test

Early detection
Something we did not do…It’s important to schedule frequent doctor visits to help detect early signs of Type 2 Diabetes. It can be hard for doctors to diagnose this condition in children because kids usually don't display any signs or symptoms, so doctors don't think to do the proper blood tests that can detect Type 2 Diabetes – so stay on them!!

Nutrition
For the most part, Type 2 Diabetes is directly correlated with obesity. Therefore, the healthier your diet is, better the chance you have of preventing Type 2. One thing that we noticed that was very helpful for us was to decide as a family to start eating healthier. Deciding to change our lifestyle habits as a unit made people more likely to accept it and stay with it for the long-term.

One of the first steps is to get the junk food and unhealthy foods out of the house. Clean out the cupboards and the refrigerator – donate the unused foods if you choose, but it’s important to get the bad stuff out of the house so it isn’t a temptation.

There are many great foods that can be eaten and cooked so that children can [grow to} like eating healthy. Here are some basic foods/principles my cousin has to stick to, and that our family is also sticking to as wells:

Mashed Cauliflower

- whole wheat products: bread, rice, pasta, etc.
- lean meats: chicken, turkey, salmon, and lean cuts of pork
- no white sugar or salty snacks
- baked meat and “French fires” instead of fried
- lots of fruits and vegetables

A few favorite recipes:
- low-carb chicken pizza
- Italian ranch turkey burger
- cauliflower mashed “potatoes”
- maple scrambled eggs with turkey-bacon

Exercise
Exercise is very important to help prevent diabetes. The great thing is that it’s still the beginning of the New Year, so what better time than now to make resolutions as a family to start exercising more?! You don't have to go to the gym and perform strenuous exercises with your kids; there are plenty of fun exercises you can do right in your own neighborhood! Here are a few of our favorite activities:

Toddler Yoga

- bike rides and nature hikes in the neighborhood and neighboring forest
- neighborhood games of soccer, kickball, tag, capture-the-flag, etc.
- swimming at the pool at the local college
- practicing Zumba and Yoga
- having silly dance competitions with my nieces
- going sledding, skiing and ice skating now that it’s snowing

More than ever before, it is extremely important to stay healthy as a family. Making healthy activities and foods a normal part of your family this year will ensure that your kids are less likely to develop Type 2, and are also being taught how to make healthy habits that can last them a lifetime!

Carolyn is a 20-something year old with a passion for life, fitness and overall well-being. She is an avid cycler, golfer and has been known to bust some serious moves on the dance floor. Check out Carolyn’s blog at Full-On Fit!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Family Outings

I have four kids who are at different stages of their lives and who have different likes and dislikes. They are individuals and I treat them as such. They are also part of a family unit and as a family we do things together whether they all feel like it or not. They don't always want to come along on family outings, but when I see them all enjoying themselves then I’m satisfied that my husband and I insisted the unwilling one (or ones) join us.

There’s also wisdom in not always insisting that everyone comes along on one of our outings. I also want to enjoy myself and there’s nothing worse than having a sour participant at my side. One outing that I knew wouldn’t suit my kids was a tour of privately owned gardens in the area. It was a fundraiser for the Deaf Institute.

Not too many kids would want to give up their Saturday or Sunday looking at other people’s gardens. However, we have one child that we knew would enjoy herself… Amanda. She loves outings. We brought her along without hesitation. All three of us had a wonderful day of it. Rob and I especially enjoyed watching Amanda take pleasure exploring the beauty around her.

Photo Above: My husband, Rob, took this photo of the kids and me during a holiday on South Africa’s west coast.

Photo Below: Amanda is being a garden nymph on our tour of privately owned gardens.