Our Visit to Schwallier's Country Basket

Here is yet another excellent family trip idea! If you have been reading my blog, you know that our family loves visiting the local farms throughout the Autumn season. We cannot resist the cute farm animals and all the homemade goods.

Miss A (and I!) love feeding the goats. The horns on these baby goats were slightly creepy but they were still irresistibly cute. 

They had the perfect, lovable Halloween kitten roaming around the farm. We were able to hold and pet him.

They had a caged area for extremely tame rabbits to roam. We were able to go inside and hold them!

There were so many activities set up for kids to enjoy. Instead of a sand pit, they had a pit of shelled corn to play around in. I went in and felt the corn between my toes. Miss A rolled around in it!

They had a big slide that went from the top of a small barn to the ground. I showed Miss A how to go down... and ended up sliding my pregnant body down too!

They had a several stacks of hay to climb around on too.

There are so many free activities available that you don't have to spend a dime on your visit. They were even handing out free Gala apples to everybody who walked into their farm market. However, we could not resist buying some homemade pumpkin butter and fresh pumpkin and apple cinnamon donuts! I added the pumpkin butter to my pancake batter this morning... DELICIOUS. 

So if you are in the area, I definitely recommend that you check out this farm!

Schwallier's Country Basket

1185 9 Mile Rd NW, Sparta MI 49345

:)

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My Two Year Old Can Fold Laundry

Instead of finishing the laundry, I decided to leave the basket of clean clothes in my bedroom and watch television. I heard Miss A rummaging through things in my bedroom. (I assumed she was playing with toys). It never even cross my mind that she might be in there folding laundry!

She runs out of the room and proudly shows me a big pile of washcloths she folded all by herself. 

I could not believe it. She set the pile down and ran back into the room to grab more towels to fold. I followed her and helped her find some more towels. I set them in a pile in the living room in order to watch her fold it. I was still in shock. She taught herself to fold just by watching me previously.

She is such a talented little girl! She is only two years old (and a couple months). I do not know if this is an amazing talent for a young girl or not, but I was so shocked that I had to write about it. I love watching her learn new skills. It blows my mind!

70 Activities To Do With Your Toddler

This is a list compiled from actual activities that we have done with our toddler girl. She loved doing almost everything on this list. And when I say loved, I really mean love... as in she continued to ask to do these ideas day after day... week after week! Toddlers are so easy to please, as long as they are not tired or hungry! Many of these ideas are free or fairly cheap activities. Enjoy!

Outdoor Summer/Fall Activities

1. Go Camping, even if it is only in your backyard!
2. Go Swimming in pools, lakes, oceans, etc.
3. Go to the Beach & bring the sand and water toys!
4. Go to the Playground. 
5. Play in the Sprinkler. I set up a little slide under the water for even more fun!
6. Catch Butterflies and Bugs.
7. Pick fruit at your local farms. Apples, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, anythinggg!
8. Grow a garden. Similar idea to the one above but I grew tomatoes specifically for my daughter and she loved picking them all summer long. No one in our house eats them besides her. 
9. Go to the Pumpkin Patch. Pick out a pumpkin, go on a hayride, walk through a corn maze...
10. Visit the Farm Animals. Feed the goats and sheep. Pet the pigs, cows, even wandering farm dogs.
11. Visit the Zoo. 
12. Draw with Sidewalk Chalk. 
13. Go Kayaking. I never took my daughter, but my mom did it successfully using a tandem kayak. 
14. Go on a Bike Ride. We have an InStep bike trailer that holds up to two children weighing 100 lbs. 
15. Go Boating. We are fortunate to have family with boats. It is always a good time for toddlers. 
16. Go Hiking. Nothing too fancy. A little stroll down a nature trail next to the park will do. 
17. Go Fishing. Help them hold the fish. They will think it is cool! 
18. Blow Bubbles.
19. Jump in Leaves! Have your toddler help you pile up the leaves and then have fun. 
20. Go Garage Sale Shopping. Let your child pick out a book or stuffed animal to take home. 
21. Play Ball! Simply kick or roll a ball around outside. 
22. Walk a Dog.
23. Jump on a Trampoline. 
24. Rollerskate or Rollerblade. They made toddler sizes. 
25. Take them on a Wagon Ride.
26. Bird Watch. Teach them how to use binoculars. 
27. Have a Water Gun Fight. 
28. Stargaze. On a warm summer night lay a blanket out and point out the stars and moon. Find the man on the moon. 
29. Fly a Kite.
30. Watch Fireworks. There are fireworks on other days besides Independence Day too. 

Outdoor Winter Activities

1. Play in the Snow. Throw it in the air. Pack it. Roll in it. 
2. Build a Snow Man. 
3. Go Sledding. My daughter went sledding at 1.5 years old and held her hands sky high riding down the hills! 
4. Roll Down a Hill. 
5. Make a Snow Angel. 
6. Go Skiing. You should probably wait until you have an older, more stable toddler but I have permanent plans to take my daughter skiing next winter when she is 3 years old. There are always tiny skiers on the hills! They are never too young to start learning. 
7. Go Outside During a Snow Storm. It doesn't have to be longer than 5 minutes, but let them feel the snow fall down on their face. 
8. Eat Snow... if you dare. 
9. Snowmobiling. Bundle up your little one and take a ride on the snowmobile trails. 
10. Go Ice Skating. If they do well with skis or skates, try ice skating. They are available in toddler sizes too!

Indoor Activities

1. Buy Stickers. My daughter spends countless hours playing with stickers. Teach them to put the stickers on their clothing or paper only. 
2. Buy Temporary Tattoos. Same concept as above, except your toddler will just be showing them off to everyone they see! It is definitely entertaining for them.
3. Color with Crayons and Colored Pencils. Start with the crayons and then introduce the pencils when or if your child gets bored with them. My daughter never gets tired of coloring. Never. Ever.
4. Play with Play Dough. Get out your cookie cutters and old silverware!
5. Read Books. 
6. Dance to Music. 
7. Sing to Music. Suffer through toddler songs or simply sing to the radio. 
8. Clean House. My daughter genuinely enjoys helping me sweep, vacuum, empty the dishwasher, and just tiding up toys and clutter. She has also helped me scrubbed the floor voluntarily! 
9. Paint Pictures. Lay down the newspapers, strip your toddler's clothes, and use washable paints.
10. Play with Alphabet Magnets. Sit them in front of the fridge and bam! Fun activity. 
11. Draw with Chalk. 
12. Watch Educational Cartoons. 
13. Bake Something. They can attempt to stir or simply add the chocolate chips. 
14. Visit the Local Library. My library has a toddler section filled with books (duh), toys, stuffed animals, and puzzles. 
15. Visit the Local Humane Society. Look at and possibly pet all the cats and dogs. 
16. Yoga Workouts. It might not entertain them for long, but at least they will be amused. Any workout will do! My daughter pulls out a second yoga mat and tries to do the weird, balancing poses. It is adorable. 
17. Build Towers. Use legos, blocks, anything. 
18. Carve or Paint a Pumpkin. Your toddler will simply enjoy scooping out the seeds and playing with the pumpkin guts!
19. Tickle Time. Bring on the giggles. They beg you to stop and beg you to keep tickling!
20. Dress Up. Cowboy hats, daddy's baseball cap, bracelets, necklaces, sunglasses, funny masks
21. Dress Up the House Pets. Dogs generally tolerate this more than cats... but since we only have cats, they are the ones stuck playing dress up! 
22. Bubble Bath with Bath Paints. They are painting with colored soap so the walls get cleaned too! 
23. Visit an Aquarium. 
24. Story Time (without books). Use really big hand motions and funny voices. Make it simple. Our stories usually include a really big pink piggy that loooovvveess to meow like a kitty cat or a tiny little bug that loves to go boating... 
25. Play Hide and Seek. Mommy. Daddy. Toddler(s). Fun times. 
26. Play Musical Instruments. We have an electronic keyboard, but there are plenty of cheap kid pianos and xylophones to have fun with. 
27. Play Puzzles.
28. Do a Puppet Show.
29. Count Things. Count books, toys, stuffed animals, blankets, kitchen chairs, pets, people, etc... 
30. Build a Fort. Hang blankets in the hallways by shutting them in doors.