Backyard Discovery Fall Sweepstakes – Enter to Win a Woodridge Playset!!!

As an Ambassador of Backyard Play, I wanted to let you know about Backyard Discovery’s Cool Fall Sweepstakes.

Summer may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean an end to outdoor play time! Families can continue their backyard adventures with Backyard Discovery’s Cool Fall Sweepstakes.

In honor of the cooler and more comfortable seasonal weather, Backyard Discovery wants to encourage families to keep on exploring throughout the coming months by offering the chance to win a brand new Woodridge playset! While equipped with the essentials like a slide, swings and fort, the Woodridge boasts more than just your average playset. With a rock wall, crow’s nest, tunnel, trapeze bar and more, this playset is the ultimate adventure tool, ready to take little explorers to exciting new worlds.

The contest is open now and goes through September 30, 2010. Participants need only become a fan of Backyard Discovery on Facebook and visit http://www.swingsetonline.com/cool_fall to enter!

DIY Summer Camp… Chesco Mom Style

I have not signed my kids up for Summer Camp this year. KA–RAZY, I know.
I have decided to come up with my own Summer Camp…Chesco Mom style! Here are a few of the “sessions” that I have come up with….so far.

Week 1 – Water Camp
This week is shaping up to be a scorcher so we are jumping into DIY Chesco Mom Summer Camp and our handy dandy $15 Walmart inflatable kiddy pool. I am also bringing out the slip and slide, sprinkler and the grand finale water balloons.

Week 2 – We love Animals Camp
My kids LOVE animals so I have a few super fun field trips planned.

We are visiting one of our very favorite places in the world – Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines.

Ryerss Farm is open to visitors daily between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m and visitors are welcome to bring baby carrots and slided apples to feed to the horses. There is no cost to visit Ryerss. My daughter’s favorite horse is “Matisse” so if you visit with your family please give him an extra little pet for us…

Springton Manor Farm – We are also taking a trip to visit Farmer Jim at Springton Manor Farm in Glenmoore. Springton Manor offers a FREE “Farm Passport” for little visitors. They are invited to visit the animals in the barn and stamp their “passport” after stopping at each animal pen. Also FREE at Springton Manor is the Butterfly House. Just opened for the season, The Butterfly House is home to many different species of butterflies, both native to Pennsylvania and exotic species. Butterfly House hosts guide you through the butterfly habitat, sharing all sources for water, food and shelter during each of the life stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis/pupa and butterfly.

Field trips to visit to both the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown and the Philadelphia Zoo are on the schedule. The Elmwood Park Zoo is not too big,not too small – it is just perfect for young children. Our favorite exhibit at EPZ is the prairie dog habitat located at the back of the zoo. They are so cute and active. We also enjoy the walk thru barn and we LOVE the HUGE play ground area. Mommy Tip: Parking at The Elmwood Zoo is FREE!

A favorite of ours at The Philadelphia Zoo is the brand new all-wooden, hand-carved and hand-painted carousel featuring endangered species found within the Amazon Rainforest. The Amazon Rainforest Carousel includes 30 bird, reptile, mammal and amphibian “seats,” as well as two spinning snake chariots. The cost for a ride on the carousel is $3.00.

Last but not least on “We love Animals Week”….Wild Safari at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. Wild Safari at Six Flags, is is a drive-thru safari only 1 HOUR away from our house, a straight shot up the NJ Turnpike. This is a PERFECT field trip for a hot day. Enjoy the animals from the comfort of your air conditioned car. The animals are behind electric fences and low to the ground barb wire in designated open air, free range enclosures and some behind moats but from the car it looks as if they are only a few feet away. The lions & tigers are caged. They both have really big enclosures. Much like the zoo. The first time we went we were told that the monkeys jump on your car and fling poo.. NOT TRUE! They are no where near your car. I think that is a Philly urban legend… unless someone has a recent monkey poo story.. do share.

Week 3 – Backyard Discovery
This weeks theme is a shout out to my “Backyard Discovery Mom Ambassador-ship“.

To start the week off we are going on a nature scavenger hunt. I “Google” image searched lots of bugs, critters and nature-y type things that you would find in the typical Chester County back yard and copy/pasted the images into a word doc. My little ones will spend the afternoon running through our yard scratching items off their lists.

Picnic in the woods– We have a large wooded area behind our house, separating the two phases of our neighborhood. My kids call it “the forest”. To explore the forest we are packing up our picnic basket and taking a hike in the woods and having a picnic – deep in the “forest”.










Walk in The Jungle – The woods on the other side of street, from our house – we call “the jungle”. Last year I hosted a playgroup ” Walk in the Jungle”. I purchased goodies for the kids from Oriental Trading Company. I LOVE that catalog/website. It is a Mommy playgroup, party, crafty must have!
I bought inflatable animals to hang in the trees and misc. and trinkets for them to collect as they journey through the jungle. This year.. to kick it up a notch, I am working on a map for the kids.. Dora style. Rock, Tree… Our house….! I hung bananas in the trees for a mid-walk snack.

Late Night “Light Bugs” – One of the best things about summer is late nights with even later mornings. The kids think they are getting the special treat of staying up late when actually I am the one getting the treat when the kids sleep late the next morning! One of my favorite summer family activities is letting the minis stay up late and run around to catch “light bugs” as my daughter calls them. I watch them from the comfort of my deck surrounded by my beloved citronella candles. For the record when it comes to the “light bugs” we are catch & releasers!

Well .. that is all I have scheduled so far. Stay tuned for more DIY Summer Camp – Chesco Mom Style and if you have any ideas on how I can keep my no camp attending toddlers busy…PLEASE SHARE! Seriously PLEASE share! Click here to contact me!

DIY Summer….Chesco Mom Style

My family is swinging and sliding the summer away on our new Highlander Play set from Backyard Discovery. The Highlander is a pre-stained, cedar play set with tons of play features. It has a raised fort with four levels that start with a picnic table on the bottom and end up top with a dual roof clubhouse and porch! There are two belt swings and a two-person glider and my kids are having fun zipping down the super speedy 10′ slide.

We recently invited a few friends over for a “break in the swing set” par-tay. My kids love to play pirates with the telescope, wheel and glider on the play set so we decided our par-tay would have a pirate theme. I had big hopes for our pirate party! Pre-party I hit the party store and bought skull & cross bone plates, cups & napkins and lots of gold coins, necklaces and eye patches. I was really comitted to the pirate theme. The kids loved all of the pirate stuff for the first few minutes then somehow the party turned into playing house with the different levels of the play set being different rooms in the house. Before I knew it baby dolls, books and a tea set were thrown into the mix and the gold pirate treasure coins turned into money to pay the lady at the make believe grocery store.

During the party the adults hung out on the deck, reminiscing about their childhoods and swing sets of the past. I remembered my swing that my grandfather had hung between two of the tallest trees in his backyard. At full swing I was probably 10 feet off the ground. 10 feet! What was I thinking?!? I would swing the day away then peddle back down Memory Lane to the house on my hot pink big wheel with pink and purple steamers.

One of the things I love the most about our new swing set is watching my children use their imaginations and play with each other. We live in a world of instant gratification. Instead of peddling a bike, kids press a button and zoom around in mini electric vehicles. Instead of blowing bubbles with a wand that inevitably will spill and get them all sticky – they press a button and on an automatic bubble blower and wah-lah instant bubble with no fuss or mess. Even board games and books have gone digital. Now don’t get me wrong I own five electric kiddo play cars, have gone through multiple bubble blowers and love our Xbox and Wii… I thank the good, good people at Leapster just about every day for our Leapster 2. It is my go to child entertainer. There is place for all of the gadgets and gizmos, but I really feel there is a NEED for kids to use their imaginations and reconnect with an “UN-connected” way to play…you know no batteries, no power cords, no controllers, no headphones…. Just good old fashion make your own fun.

This summer as a way to have my kids “power down” I have lots of backyard, outdoor “summer adventures planned”….stay tuned for more posts on DIY Summer,Chesco Mom Style….

Enter to Win a Backyard Discovery Highlander Playset

Register to Win starting May 1st!

Backyard Discovery® and Women’s World Magazine have teamed up to bring you a Hot Spring Swingin’ Sweepstakes! We’re giving away one of our all-cedar Highlander playsets and you can register to win right here starting May 1st, 2010.

The Highlander is a huge playset with tons of play features. It has a raised fort with four levels that start with a picnic table on the bottom and end up top with a dual roof clubhouse and porch! A solid rock wall and standard ladder are both there for climbing up and you can also climb the levels inside the fort. There are two belt swings and a two-person glider. The 10’ Super Safe Speedy Slide is loads of fun! The Highlander is made from 100% cedar wood and is pre-stained. The Highlander will give your kids years of healthy fun and imaginative play.

Don’t miss your chance! Starting May 1st, 2010 you can register (one entry per person per day) and the drawing time will be here before you know it. One winner will be selected and that winner will receive one Highlander playset including shipping to their home – an approximate $1200 value. Please see the Rules for more important information about this sweepstakes.

* This is not a contest organized by chester County Moms. This contest is organized by Backyard Discovery.

Backyard Discovery and The Swing Set Man!

Recently I was selected to be a Brand Ambassador for Backyard Discovery. This was the best news…EVER as my kids have wanted a swing set for the past few years. In full disclosure I received our swing set as part of the Ambassador partnership, but all of the opinions and statements regarding the play set are mine. I have not been financially compensated for any of the swing set related posts you will see from me over the course of the summer.

So formality out of the way…

If you ask any of my neighbors they will all tell you, I am not a big fan of the outside. Well not as much the outside as the running after two kids going in two different directions full steam throughout the neighborhood, bouncing from play set to play set. Not so much fun and totally exhausting! When the opportunity to have a play set in our very own backyard came across my email inbox I could have cried tears of joy! Seriously one of the happiest days ever! I knew my kids would be thrilled beyond compare to have their own swing set and more importantly my days of swing set crashing at my neighbors houses were over! Bring on the back yard fun…in my own back yard! Yay! I am so excited about spending time in our own backyard that I have even bought plants and planters to pretty it up.

My family is swinging and sliding the day away on a Highlander Playset from Backyard Discovery. The Highlander is a pre-stained, cedar play set with tons of play features. It has a raised fort with four levels that start with a picnic table on the bottom and end up top with a dual roof clubhouse and porch! There are two belt swings and a two-person glider and my kids are having fun zipping down the super speedy 10′ slide.

Our play set was packaged in four pretty big boxes. My husband and I are seriously the least handy people YOU WILL EVER MEET. Thankfully I live next to a super handy tool salesman who kindly guides us through our home renovation projects. This project though.. not so much. Since he is aware of our lack -o -handiness, he suggested us calling in a professional installer. He strongly suggested us calling a professional. (Thank You J.W!)

Me being me.. I took to “the book”….you know Facebook. A tech savvy moms best friend.
I asked my facebook friends if they knew of any professional installation companies and right away got a reply to call….The Swing Set Man! (Thank You Kim!)

The Swing Set Man, AKA, Russ Huber is based out of Delaware County, but travels all over creation installing, leveling and relocating swing sets. I sent him an email requesting a quote for installation and he got back to me within the hour via his handy dandy blackberry. The price was right and we booked the installation appointment that day.

Yesterday was installation day. Russ and his Co-Installer, Mike arrived bright and early, had the boxes apart, pieces layed out and screws lined up like… well, like they had put a hundred swing sets together before. They had our Highlander Play set up in about six hours. I was very impressed by their handy work and attention to detail. The Swing Set Man is a hero in my household! A Hero! Click here to view pictures of The Swing Set Man installing our Highlander Playset.

After Russ and Mike left the kids played on the swing set all afternoon well into the evening. They are in love! I am pretty sure they would have slept on the third tier deck if I let them.

Today lunch was served on the swing set picnic table. My five year old daughter told me that her grilled cheese lunch was “the best ever”. So either my grilled cheese was one for the record books or it was the magic of the swing set. Hmmmm…

Stay tuned for more tales from the backyard….