This post is sponsored by Stonyfield and prAna – all opinions expressed are my own.
Can you believe it is already May? Last weekend, we spent Sunday soaking up the sunshine at the beach! It is the one time each week where I feel really relaxed and present. It’s nice to slow down, spend time with my family and embrace my authentic self! #TheWholeYou Seriously, I would spend every single day at the beach if I could.
When we hit the beach, we plan to spend the whole day swimming, snorkeling, paddleboarding, beachcombing and soaking up the sunshine. So, we always pack a lunch and snacks. Last weekend, we packed veggie sandwiches, fresh fruit, sparkling water and Stonyfield organic whole milk yogurt. While not the typical beach snack, I find cold yogurt to be really refreshing on a hot Florida summer day! Plus, yogurt is a great snack for keeping my family fueled all day which was perfect because later that afternoon we completed our family volunteer work, a beach clean up! It really was a perfect Sunday!
I was pretty excited to receive a pair of Tess shorts from prAna just in the time for the weekend! They slipped perfectly over my swimsuit and where super comfy to wear to the beach clean up. Plus, who doesn’t love sustainable, organic shorts!
The Tess shorts are super cute and 97% organic! They have a little bit of stretch, making them super comfy and giving then a great fit. I love the color selection, they really are the perfect short for summer. Want a pair of your own? You can get 15% off your entire purchase with the code WHOLES17MSG – you can also find PrAna on social!
NOTE FROM SWEET GREENS:I am a #StonyfieldBlogger  and  I received compensation and product coupons in exchange for sharing information. All opinions are 100% my own. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Thank goodness the rain finally stopped! We were able to visit the Palm Beach Zoo here in Florida yesterday with our AZA SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) tickets.
In case you forgot, as part of a year-long effort, Stonyfield will not only be contributing funds to field work but also to drive kids and their families to see animals and conservation projects first hand at zoos, aquariums, and on the ground where the research is happening.
I have been taking Eben to the Palm Beach Zoo since he was little! We hadn’t been back to visit in quite some time, and it was nice to see how the zoo had grown and changed. Here is a little tour of the Palm Beach Zoo!
Wow! My teenager is almost as tall as the mister – how time flies!
I kind of love the peacock and I might be partial to the capybara! Watch the video of him eating here! Love.
Don’t forget, Stonyfield YoKids is also featuring an on-pack offer to get families out to visit any of the 131 participating AZA accredited member zoos and aquariums in their own communities. Now through the end of September families who buy two specially-marked YoKids yogurt multipacks will receive a FREE kid’s admission to their local AZA-accredited zoo or aquarium when they also buy an adult ticket.
If you are looking for something fun to do with the family this summer, hit the zoo with your family!
NOTE FROM SWEET GREENS:I am a #StonyfieldBlogger  and  I received compensation and product coupons in exchange for sharing information. All opinions are 100% my own. ________________________________________________________________________
Last weekend, we had plans to visit our local zoo to support the Stonyfield YoKids sponsor AZA SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) program. But guess what? It rained all weekend!
As part of a year-long effort, Stonyfield will not only be contributing funds to field work but also to drive kids and their families to see animals and conservation projects first hand at zoos, aquariums, and on the ground where the research is happening.
We have plans to visit on a sunny weekend in the very near future. With today being World Penguin Day, Stonyfield and AZA are hosting a Facebook live for kids and their parents to get a firsthand look at these majestic seabirds, as well as the conservation work being done to save them. Tune in to this Facebook Live broadcast direct from Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT today at 12pm on the Stonyfield Facebook page. How fun is that? I know, we will be tuning in!
Stonyfield YoKids is also featuring an on-pack offer to get families out to visit any of the 131 participating AZA accredited member zoos and aquariums in their own communities. Now through the end of September families who buy two specially-marked YoKids yogurt multipacks will receive a FREE kid’s admission to their local AZA-accredited zoo or aquarium when they also buy an adult ticket.
If you are looking for something fun to do with the family this summer, I think you should jump on this great deal!
Disclosure: I am an ambassador for Stonyfield Farm, all opinions included here are my own.
For many, the holiday season is a time to celebrate and come together with friends and family. However, for many others it can be a painful and difficult time depending on their circumstances. I like to try and do something for others and the planet each holiday season, to give back. I find it makes celebrating with my family all the more special, when we know we’ve done a good deed or donated to a good cause as part of our holiday time together!
As an ambassador for Stonyfield Farm, I’m partnering with them this holiday season for their giving back campaign. Stonyfield wants all of us to take some time with our families this month to spread good fortune in the form of a charitable act—in the hopes that our compassion will inspire others to do the same! I think it’s an admirable idea, and am excited to share with you what I chose to do this year.
Stonyfield gave me a $50 Visa Gift Card to donate towards a good deed or a charitable organization of my choice. I decided to match their donation and added my own $50 too, for a total $100 donation. The charity that I choose was our local wildlife sanctuary, Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, who have done great work that we’ve been privileged to witness firsthand! Since most folks I know choose to make donations to help other humans at this time of year (which is of course a wonderful cause), I worried that the animals would get skipped over! It’s easy to forget that the other creatures we share the planet with need help, too.
Helping animals is a family activity My family is all about animals, and I’ve put effort into saving them for my whole life. Just ask my husband about our bunny rabbit Peanut—While we were dating, I overheard at the pet store that they were going to feed a bunny to a snake because he had an injured leg! Nope – Peanut came home with him. Ha! You’ve probably seen me post about Olive the French Bulldog, who was a rescue, and Noodles the Pug, they are our sweet little snuggle bunnies. They’re important members of the family, too! So we thought it would be great to remind people to help our furry friends at this time of year.
My dad is super passionate about helping animals, too. When I was a kid, we had a Great Horned Owl and a Bat, both of whom my dad found injured, and brought home to nurse back to health. This was before there were places that would help with injured wildlife. He instilled in me a strong sense of care and responsibility for the other species on our planet. As a teenager, I was driving home from visiting my parents, and at the end of my hour-long car ride, I saw an injured duck in traffic. His wing was broken and he wasn’t looking too good. I scooped him into a box and called my dad, who told me to bring him right back to their house. My dad set his wing and built a pond for him in the backyard. He nursed him back to health, and then when spring come around, a flock of ducks flew by and my duck joined them. Hooray!
Our great experience with Busch Wildlife Sanctuary Just recently, Eben and I found a juvenile Cooper’s Hawk, injured in the bike lane of a major road outside our neighborhood. He was so hurt he couldn’t move, but an injured animal can be dangerous when they’re scared. I called my favorite local wildlife rescue group, and they came out to pick up the hawk. I wasn’t going near those talons! The great people from Busch Wildlife Sanctuary rushed out at 10:30 at night to rescue him. They rushed him into surgery, and he was later released to the wild.
I found that the experience with the hawk was a great chance to teach Eben about how to handle a situation involving an injured wild animal. It’s so important to teach our kids how to help injured wildlife, and what the best practices are when you find a hurt animal. If you want to talk to your kids about this, try using these points for discussion:
You really shouldn’t try to touch the animal. They can lash out when they feel threatened and are hurting. You could get an infection from them if you aren’t careful with how you handle them and wild animals have sharp teeth and claws.
It’s best to call for help. Always get an adult who can assist you with helping the animal and keep your distant.
Let the professional rescue organizations take over whenever possible. Look up your local wildlife sanctuary and contact them when you find an injured animal. They’ll know what to do and give you instructions.
Another thing I love about Busch Wildlife Sanctuary is that they offer a bunch of educational programs, weekly activities, and special events that are fun for the whole family! If you’re located in South Florida, definitely check out their programs and see if there’s one or two that would be good to take your kids to. They offer everything from wildlife encounters, large animal feeding shows, story time, snake and bird of prey introductions, exhibits, to nature tours and nighttime walks at the sanctuary. We have been visiting the sanctuary since Eben was little, it’s fun for the whole family!
I hope that your family gets the chance to do something charitable this holiday season. It’s a great bonding experience and I think it’s so great to impress upon our kids the importance of helping others and the planet. Plus, doing acts of generosity or good deeds really helps you get into the holiday spirit of giving! So whether you choose an organization to make a financial donation to, or one to volunteer some of your time with, try giving back this holiday season. I guarantee it’ll make you feel as jolly as Santa himself!
Are you getting excited for the holidays? I know my family is! We all love the extra time we get to spend together, the fun seasonal activities, and delicious foods that come along with the holiday season. Of course, there are some additional stresses at this time of year—party planning, attending events or taking your kids on various outings, finishing end-of-year tasks, preparing to host family, and gift shopping, to name a few.
If you’re anything like me, coming up with gift ideas ahead of time takes away some of the pressure surrounding the holidays and makes everything more enjoyable. With that in mind, I thought I’d share a great gift idea for the kids or other families in your life! You may have seen me talking about Blue Orange Games before, because they’re a great company and their games are always a hit with Eben and Mr. Sweet Greens. With a chance to win a game from them in this blog post, hopefully they’ll become a favorite with your family, too!
Why Blue Orange Games Make Great Gifts These games get my seal of approval for gift giving for many reasons. The games produced by Blue Orange are heirloom quality, so you can pass them on to younger generations in the family when your own kids outgrow them. These games are also eco-friendly, made from high-quality materials that gets replenished by the Blue Orange Games commitment to plant 2 trees for each one used in creating their products. That kind of commitment to sustainability and keeping the planet green for our kids and grandkids makes you feel good about buying their games as gifts.
Beyond the basic facts of sustainability and good design, these games are my favorite ones to play with my family. They’re fun, they make you think, and they’re a convenient length to squeeze in between homework and dinner, or in between activities on the weekend. Many of the Blue Orange Games are also designed with families in mind, being fun to play with a small but flexible number of people; often 2-4 makes for a great gameplay experience (it’s great too because Eben and I can play together when Mr. Sweet Greens is at work!) Plus, they work on your cognitive skills, memory, creativity, fine motor skills, and more, so you’re getting some real benefits from playing!
I purchase a handful of these games every year to gift to Eben and Mr. Sweet Greens as our family gift. I always pair it with some of our favorite organic snacks and hot cocoa. It gives us something new and fun to play as a family during winter break, and is a really positive way to spend some of the extra time we have together. This year, I am also giving Blue Orange Games as gifts to my sister’s family, I’m hoping that her and her family will love them as much as we do!
Enter the Giveaway Want a chance to win your very own game from Blue Orange Games? I’m happy to be able to give away a copy of Flash! to one lucky winner. Flash! is a super quick and exciting dice game with multiple play variations and 8 challenges to complete. It has a fun element of competition and is great for all ages, from 7 to 97! It is a huge hit in our home and it will make a great holiday gift for your family.
Leave a comment below to enter. Tell me which game you’re most interested in, or what your family enjoys doing together over the holiday break.
For extra entries, follow Sweet Greens and Blue Orange Games via your favorite social media platforms and leave a separate comment for each!
