family | Family Fun | fun | holidays | kids activities

Easy DIY Advent Calendar for Christmas

By on December 6, 2018
Easy DIY Advent Calendar | sunshineandholly.com | christmas crafts

Last month I was taking my monthly stroll around Hobby Lobby when I saw this cool easy DIY advent calendar box listed at half off. I thought to myself, “That craft looks pretty easy! I could totally do that!” So I tossed it in my cart along with some red letter stickers and some Christmas paper that was also half off – score!

Easy DIY Advent Calendar | sunshineandholly.com | christmas crafts

Fast forward to a couple of days ago when I found the Hobby Lobby bag in the dining room with the supplies still in it, unopened. Whoops! Totally forgot about this! (And that’s when you know you go shopping too much – when you forget that you bought stuff.) 😂 Anyway, I got to work and managed to almost finish the project in one sitting. Until I realized I didn’t have enough red number stickers to finish… (This is why I’m not good at crafting!)

Easy DIY Advent Calendar for Christmas

Here’s how I made it: 

Continue Reading

Disney | family | Family Fun | fun | kids activities | motherhood | parenting | Travel | vacation

Review of the Pixar Play Zone at Disney World’s Contemporary Resort

By on December 4, 2018
Review of the Pixar Play Zone at Disney World's Contemporary Resort | sunshineandholly.com

Edit – the Pixar Play Zone is no longer open at Disney World as of April 2019.

Josh and I have always loved Disney. In fact, we honeymooned at Disney back in 2007 when we were first married. So we definitely know how fun Disney can be without kids! During our most recent trip to Disney, we wanted to recreate that kid-free fun, so we booked our kids a night at the Pixar Play Zone – Disney’s kids-only experience located at the Contemporary Resort right next to the Magic Kingdom.

Review of the Pixar Play Zone at Disney World's Contemporary Resort | sunshineandholly.com

Review of the Pixar Play Zone at Disney World’s Contemporary Resort

For $65 per child, your kids (ages 4-12) can play from 5pm to 10:30pm at the Play Zone. They’ll eat dinner, meet characters, do crafts, play games, and even end the night with a dance party! I know the price may seem high, but for five and a half hours of childcare, plus dinner, crafts, and character meet and greets, it really isn’t bad. It comes out to around $12 an hour per child, which seems reasonable for all that’s included. And for us, after almost a week with our kids 24/7, it was totally worth it to get a few hours to ourselves!

 

Continue Reading

food | fun | husband | love | Travel

Chateau Elan Wine Tasting and Tour

By on November 14, 2018
Chateau Elan Wine Tasting and Tour | sunshineandholly.com | explore georgia | weekend trips atlanta | anniversary trip ideas

For our 11th anniversary, we did a fun (and tasty) wine tour at the Chateau Elan Winery and Resort in Braselton, Georgia.

We had a blast and love all the wines we tried! Want to check it out yourself? Tours are offered at the winery Tuesday through Sunday for just $5.00 a person, and add on an additional wine tasting of 5-7 wines for $25 per person. There are 3 different flights to choose from – the Southern Fox, the American, and the Old World. They also offer the “Château Grandeur” for $63 a person that includes the tour and chef selected cheeses and seasonal snacks. We saw another group enjoying the cheese platter and wished we had splurged for that because it looked delish!

The best part of the wine tasting is that you can take your time and enjoy the wine at your own pace. Once you’ve paid for the tasting at the front of the winery, you’ll receive your own tasting menu. You’ll take this up to the bar and choose which wine you’d like to try first. After the bartender pours your glass, you can walk around the winery and explore. Then just head back to the bar when you’re ready for your next wine!

Chateau Elan Wine Tasting and Tour | sunshineandholly.com | explore georgia | weekend trips atlanta | anniversary trip ideas

Continue Reading

fall | family | Family Fun | food | fun | holidays | kids activities | motherhood | parenting | Travel

3 Reasons to Visit Jaemor Farms’ Pumpkin Patch

By on October 26, 2018
3 Reasons to Visit Jaemor Farms' Pumpkin Patch | sunshineandholly.com | Jaemore Farm | Atlanta fall fun | best pumpkin patches in Georgia | explore Georgia | best Atlanta pumpkin

3 Reasons to Visit Jaemor Farms' Pumpkin Patch | sunshineandholly.com | Jaemore Farm | Atlanta fall fun | best pumpkin patches in Georgia | explore Georgia | best Atlanta pumpkinIf you don’t take pictures of your family in a pumpkin patch each fall, are you even a mom?! Seriously though – it seems like it’s a requirement these days. We’ve visited a bunch of different pumpkin patches over the years, but my favorites are outside of the city. For me, a sprawling farm of pumpkin fields and a quaint little country store with freshly picked mountain apples, country jams, and homemade apple-cider donuts give me more “fall-feels” than the pumpkin patches that pop up in parking lots here in Atlanta. This year, we visited Jaemor Farms‘ patch and were able to get some really awesome obligatory pumpkin patch pictures, a decently priced pumpkin, and some other tasty treats!

Here are 3 reasons to visit Jaemor Farms’ pumpkin patch:

1. It’s free!

There’s no entry fee for the pumpkin patch at Jaemor. Feel free to roam around the fields at your leisure, taking all of those obligatory family pictures. The pumpkins aren’t super expensive, and the prices vary by size. You can also skip the field altogether and choose a pumpkin from their farm market store.

Continue Reading

fall | family | Family Fun | fun | holidays | kids activities | parenting

Quick and Easy DIY Halloween Sensory Jars

By on October 16, 2018
Quick and Easy DIY Halloween Sensory Jars | sunshineandholly.com | kids crafts | sensory bottles | fun Halloween activity

This post may contain affiliate links. Purchasing through them helps support this website. 

During our beach trip this summer, my mom made some really neat beach sensory jars with my kids. They loved the project and the jars turned out really cool! I had so many friends ask for directions so they could make some with their kiddos. It’s actually a super simple project! You can customize them any way you want with different color glitter or food coloring. My kids have been begging to make more, so last week we made a couple of Halloween themed ones.

Quick and Easy DIY Halloween Sensory Jars

Here’s what you’ll need:
Plastic sensory bottles
Glitter
Clear liquid hand soap
Food coloring (optional)
Small Halloween themed toys or figurines

Quick and Easy DIY Halloween Sensory Jars | sunshineandholly.com | kids crafts | sensory bottles | fun Halloween activity

Continue Reading