This Post Is Sponsored By Zappos
I can’t believe that summer is already winding down. Many of my friends who have kids in school already sent their little ones back to class last week, which to me, is absolutely crazy. But since it is mid August – there is still plenty of time to be outside with your kids.
As you can see from the photos in this post, we have been enjoying all sorts of outside time with the boys lately – especially William. He’s at the age right now, where all he wants to do is be outside. Most of the time he’ll be shoveling sand from his sandbox onto the pavers, or throwing rocks into our flowerpots, or running through the sagebrush picking up golfballs. But once in a while, we’ll plan something special, and we harness all of that amazing energy into something focused… like this picnic.
Usually it is hard to get him to concentrate on anything for very long, but this picnic was such an amazing experience —for all of us. It was a wonderful time for us to bond – and it took up a full morning. First, we started with explaining that we’d be having a picnic. When we told him he’d get to eat outside – actually on the grass – he got SO excited. Then we prepared everything together; William even helped me put the crackers on the plate. And then we assembled the whole picnic outside together. He loved running underneath the blanket as we spread it out over the grass like a parachute… It was truly adorable. It’s amazing how the smallest, littlest things amaze them – and this picnic was no exception. He loved every moment.
That being said, here are my Top 5 Favorite things to do with my kids outside right now!
1.) Have a picnic. These photos really just say it all. Kids LOVE eating outside.
2.) Head to the lake and run around on the beach. William is really loving collecting rocks lately and Tahoe’s beaches provide quite the selection.
3.) Airplane or star watch. We printed out a constellation map and have had fun pointing them out with him.
4.) Pick fruits/Veggies from the garden. We plant our garden every spring, and William is obsessed with picking all the berries that are finally ripe.
5.) Run through the sprinklers – every night when the sprinklers go off – William loves running through them in just his shoes. :/
Speaking of shoes… William is in constant need of footwear that can take him from school, to the lake, to the garden, to running through the sprinklers. And thanks to Zappos, we found Tsukihoshi Kids’ shoes.Tsukihoshi has been around for over 140 years and I am seriously obsessed with them. As a mom, I love how Tsukihoshi shoes look. They’re sporty – but they come in colors that go with dressier clothes – like the adorable navy ones you see in this post. Tsukihoshi’s shoes are machine washable – total score. <<<< I feel like we are always washing William’s shoes – he’s always getting into mud somewhere! They also have green tea extract in the soles – which fights germs and odors. I don’t know why, but William’s feet are always SO stinky, and these really seem to minimize the smell. Last but not least – Tsukihoshi shoes are designed to have ample room in the toe box. This allows the toes to spread more, which enhances grip and balance. Our William has pretty wide feet, so the extra room is SO amazing for him. He even calls these, “his fast shoes”. <<< How cute is that?
Also — this is very random, but I have noticed that these shoes stay on William’s feet in the car – which is a HUGE plus for us. I don’t know if all kids do this, but William is notorious for kicking his shoes off every time we get in the car, and for some reason, he doesn’t when he wears his Tsukihoshi shoes. It is a HUGE timesaver. 🙂
Check them out at Zappos >>> here, I know you will love them too. And what really counts… your little ones will love them… and they’ll love you for making the switch!
