The San Diego International Children’s Film Festival is coming up on August 13, 2022. There will be short films from around the world in several categories: animation, narrative, & documentary.
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Tea Collection is making summer wardrobe stock up easy peasy! Tees, shorts, and skirts start at just $10 now through Friday, June 17, 2022.
I love the Tea Collection for kid’s clothes! They are sturdy, well-made, and last through several rounds of hand-me-downs!
Summer break is here! We’ve got all sorts of adventures planned, you can check out some of our adventures here.
We’re headed to the library in Santee today to get started on our summer reading journey.
I did some meal prep yesterday (cooking veggies and chopping up fruit). This week we’re taking a hiatus from our CSA box to use up all of the produce that we have in the fridge/freezer.
Our veggies and fruit are delivered by Yasukochi Family Farms CSA. For $28, it’s a great deal. I don’t have to pick anything, go to the store, or carry it upstairs. I can’t go to the store and get the same amount we get weekly for $28. Seriously. It’s a deal. They email a preview of what will be in the boxes over the weekend, so I can start thinking about what I’d like to make.
With the increase in food costs, we are leaning more and more on our CSA box each week as the base of most of our meals.
We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods. On Friday night I ran to Sprouts and picked up the monthly freebies, and redeemed all of the Social Nature Coupons I had in my wallet. We’ve got all kinds of yummy snacks and treats!
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind.
Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. This is really helpful for the summer when for some reason, kids are starving all the time. We’ll be hitting up the free lunch sites several times a week over the sum
Dinner: We’re still working our way through our Dream Dinners order for the month, and I’ve got two meals ready for this week.
We’ve been participating in Tryazon events for three+ years. We’ve gotten to try all sorts of fun toys, games, and food. You can learn more about Tryazon here.
It’s fashion. It’s designer. It’s a Tryazon Featured Party opportunity featuring P.Lushes Pets from Spin Master! This stylish squad of fabulously fashionable friends serves up chic looks with a sprinkle of attitude and a whole lot of sparkle. Luxe, premium fabric, and a sparkling collar enhance their fashion-inspired looks! Everywhere is your personal runway with P.Lushes Pets!
Tryazon has 250 hosting spots open for this opportunity! Those selected get to receive a party pack with a variety of P.Lushes Pets to sample and share with friends and family, valued at $160+ in total!
It’s time for kids to finish up school, and be let loose on the world. But, instead of hours of screen time and endless whining, let’s fill the summer with some fun stuff!
If you are looking to beat the heat and need something free, check out the Waterfront Park downtown. They have a great splash pad area for kids, a really fun playground, and a big grassy area for picnics. Only downside- no shade trees.
Info on Free Summer lunches is rolling in very slowly. A lot of the sources for information (211 and the USDA) sites have not been updated with summer information. I’ll keep updating this post as new info is available on more sites throughout the county.
Y’all know I love to secret shop!
I learned about Amusement Advantage from Brooke and Christine. They have all sorts of fun shops: movie theatres, amusement parks, museums, and more!
From their website: “We only evaluate attractions, amusement locations, and entertainment facilities. Our shops give you the opportunity to have fun with friendly and family and include reimbursement for you some of your guests expenses and in most cases a little extra cash profit or extra free tickets for your time and efforts. Click here to see a list of locations we are currently shopping. Curious what others shoppers say about our company? Click here to see reviews from other shoppers just like you!”
If you want to Check out Amusement Advantage and see if there are opportunities near you, click here. If you decide to sign up, use my email akeen02037@gmail.com as a referral. We’ll each get a little something extra.
One of the kid’s favorite summer activities is to hit up the local theater for a showing of one of their favorite movies.
Big buckets of popcorn, snuck in candy (shhhh), and a drink and they are ready for 2 hours of fun in the Air Conditioning.
In my search for theater chains offering this fun this summer, several of our old friends are not participating as of the writing of this post.
Select Reading Cinemas will have the Reel Kids program, where throughout the summer (June 21-August 9) there will be kid-approved movies for the reduced price of $2/ticket!
And perhaps my kids’ favorite, 2022 Regal Summer Movie Express is back! Express tickets are just $2 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays featuring summer movies the whole family will enjoy. Availability varies by location. My kids are excited to see Lego Movie 2, Lego Batman, Scoob, and Shrek.
AMC has information about their $5 Fan Favorites on their site, but no information or schedules for the summer.
Cinemark (No locations near us) has 8 weeks of Movie Fun planned. More Details can be found here.
Talk Back: What summer movies are you looking forward to seeing?
It’s Monday Morning, and that means Meal Plan time! Can you tell I’ve had my coffee already?
I shopped over the weekend and did some meal prep as well. We should be set for the week!
School is over on Wednesday, and we’ve got two weeks off before summer school starts. I’ve got two lazy days planned for the end of this week, but after that, we are starting fun activities and we’ll be out and about!
Saturday is Bitty’s Birthday Party and we are having a fairy themed affair. Snacks, wands, and wings (fairy wings that is).
Our veggies and fruit are delivered by Yasukochi Family Farms CSA. For $28, it’s a great deal. I don’t have to pick anything, go to the store, or carry it upstairs. I can’t go to the store and get the same amount we get weekly for $28. Seriously. It’s a deal. They email a preview of what will be in the boxes over the weekend, so I can start thinking about what I’d like to make.
With the increase in food costs, we are leaning more and more on our CSA box each week as the base of most of our meals.
We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods. On Friday night I ran to Sprouts and picked up the monthly freebies, and redeemed all of the Social Nature Coupons I had in my wallet. We’ve got all kinds of yummy snacks and treats!
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind.
Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I’m back to packing lunches again. However, school lunches are free this year- Little Bit has been buying her lunch and expanding her palate. The big kid still brings lunch from home.
Dinner: We’re still working our way through our Dream Dinners order for the month, and I’ve got two meals ready for this week.
Wednesday is the last day of school for us. And we’ve got two weeks of fun and frolic before summer school starts, so that means it’s time to bulk up our craft supplies and try out some new crafts.
Dollar Tree does not disappoint. Since they’ve increased prices to $1.25 per item, I’ve seen a huge increase in the quality and variety of craft items, including cotton fat quarters, which are great for all sorts of sewing and crafts.
If you are looking for some ideas for fun, inexpensive summer crafts, check out the Dollar Tree Blog here.
I picked up one of their bottles of dye for tie-dying, and I took pics for Instagram. I’ll post a final pic this morning. Overall I’d give it 5/10. I chose dark purple, and it came out more of a wisteria color. There is a lot of fading, but if you use some of my tie-dye tips here (especially the washing soda pre-soak), you may have greater success. Colors available include Green, Pink, Purple, Red, Turquoise, Yellow.
And I made this cute sign the other night. All the supplies came from Dollar Tree!
The wooden sign, The butterfly stickers, one of the colors of paint (white), and the black permanent marker I used to outline the leaves.
All told, this craft cost less than $6 and I have a cute welcome sign for the front door.
There are all sorts of fun crafts available at Dollar Tree! I’ll be posting more of our crafting adventures on Instagram this summer, if you see a craft that interests you, please comment and I can do a tutorial!
Woo! A new month means a reminder about all of the free food options there is here in San Diego County.
Keep in mind there are still supply chain issues, so there may not be a lot of food at some distributions, especially those that serve a large portion of the community.
I recommend showing up a little early with a bottle of water and a book and waiting in line. Time passes quickly in these lines, and it’s a great time to learn from others about community food options. Remember to socially distance and follow local masking regulations.
You can find resources here for Central and East County, and Here for North County.
Our friends at Faith Chapel are super ahead of the game and sent out information regarding their 2022 food distributions early on in the year.
If you are located outside San Diego County, call 211. If you are not familiar with 211, here is their website and it can point you in the right direction.
San Diego Food Bank Distributions for June 2022 can be found here. Enter your address (or just your zip code) and the map will show you all of the distributions in your area or closest to you. You can filter by the days of the week to find food when you are available. If there is an income requirement/limit to participate, each location/listing will say such. You can learn more here about the Feeding San Diego Together Tour.
Neighbor distributions are intermixed with the San Diego Food Bank Distributions, however, they have no income requirements, and you come as you are. These Distributions are primarily fruits & veg, however, some locations may also distribute canned goods, dairy, and bread.
Super Pantry Locations can be found here (this listing is countywide). The San Diego Foodbank website also has resources for Diaper banks, free food resources for seniors, and more.
All kids in public school K-12 in the State of California are eligible for free breakfasts and lunches at school. More information can be found here. I’ll have more information on 2022 summer feeding programs as soon as they are available.
If you know of other resources, please leave a comment! And feel free to share this post with anyone you may know in need.
Hewes Family Fun 