Archive for April, 2010

Picnic at the Park

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

Well everyone, the weather is starting to warm up. Spring is on its way in, and you know what that means… picnic weather! So this weekend, my family is going to have a picnic at the park.

We love to go all out for weekend picnics. Multiple picnic baskets, picnic blankets, and lots of fun games and picnic accessories. Sometimes it’s just the four of us, but my favorite picnics are the big ones – we get a bunch of friends or extended family together, and we all meet up at the park with our picnic blankets and picnic baskets in tow. We always get a great variety of food and drinks, the kids have a blast together, and everyone brings their picnic accessories – games, umbrellas, picnic furniture, and BBQ tools.

We’re having a big picnic this weekend, with both sets of grandparents and my sisters family. I’m leaving my picnic baskets for 2 at home, and opting for picnic baskets for 4 (or more!). The food is family style – we’ll have potato salad, coleslaw, sandwiches, barbeque, watermelon, and ice cold drinks. Everybody pitches in to create a beautiful, delicious spread!

We usually let the kids sit on the picnic blankets. While we ladies sit sipping wine and chatting, the guys always end up gathered around the grill. Last year, I got my husband a great picnic accessory for his birthday: the BBQ Apron Tote with Chef’s Hat – he loves to wear the apron because it’s got handy pockets for his utensils, but I’ve only gotten him to wear the hat once. :)

Two other picnic accessories I’ll be bringing with me this weekend are the Melody MP3 Case with Speaker and a Brunello Insulated Neoprene Two-Bottle Wine Tote. The MP3 player fits easily inside picnic baskets, so it’s super easy to bring along.

What picnic accessories would you bring to a picnic at the park?

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Picnic at the Zoo

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

My kids love to go to the zoo, and this is one of our favorite outings during the spring, summer, and fall. My sister and I spend many summer days at the zoo with our kids, and it just never seems to get old – the animals are always up to something interesting! The one thing I don’t like about the zoo is the price of food. Talk about outrageous!

That’s why we always bring our own food and picnic blankets to the zoo and have a picnic, and save our money for more important things. When it’s just me and the girls, I bring a picnic backpack for 2 – it’s the perfect size for a lunch and some snacks for one grown up and two children. And there’s no reason to be uncomfortable – picnic backpacks for two are easy to carry, and most are insulated to keep your food from spoiling in the heat.

Picnic backpacks for 4 are much more practical for larger family outings to the zoo, so that’s what I grab when my sister and I go together. We load up our picnic backpacks with apples, crackers, cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a picnic blanket, and whatever else we want. I always pack water bottles in my picnic backpack, so we can stay hydrated without paying exorbitant zoo prices for bottled water.

Now, come lunch time at the zoo, you’re going to have to find a place to sit. Of course they probably won’t like you bringing your own food into zoo restaurant, so it’s best to find a shady place to sit outside. If you’re like me, there’s no way you’re going to sit on the ground – who knows how many feet have walked there? So we bring our picnic blankets and spread them out on the ground – just don’t forget your sunscreen!

What about you, readers? Do you like to bring a picnic to the zoo?

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