Super Awesome Finds!!

I don't know about you but I just get giddy all over when I stumble across a deal, a freebie, or any absolutely awesome something. Whether it comes from a friend, a blog, or a late night stroll across the world wide web, awesome deals are just....awesome!!

In a previous post I talked about the Miami Children's Museum offering their Free Friday every third Friday of the month, well I had heard rumors that the Miami Art Museum offered the same kind of deal but wasn't too sure when the dates were. Well today I found out!!

I am a part of a Meetup Group for "Natural Mamas" and we mainly discuss things through e-mail threads. One of these wonderful ladies sent us the e-mail on free events in and around Miami and lo and behold the Miami Art Museum was on the List!! And the best part of all?? Free weekend is this comming weekend!! YAYAYAYAY!!

I am so excited, I love to go and experience art and just get wrapped up in it. My son loves it too as the bright colors and abstract paintings lead to wild imaginations and long discussions. He is my artsy guy. My daughter however could care less. Give her dirt she's happy. But we are off this Saturday to Check it out!! But look for yourself online at http://www.miamiartmuseum.org/

Score #2 TODAY was for Bank Of America customers. BOA has partnered with a few museums around the nation and allow their customers in free on certain weekends! And boy oh boy there are listings in Miami!!! It ranges from the Miami Art Museum to the Miami Science Museum and all around. There are locations in Ft Lauderdale and beyond!! Check it out to see if there is anything cool and FREE near you at http://museums.bankofamerica.com/

With all these freebies around here my social calendar is getting full... well my kids social calendar anyways lol!!!

A wonderful Free place to visit in South Florida

One of the first things that we did when moving to South Florida was to look for things to do as a family. Since we had no idea what my husband's work schedule was going to be, I wanted to find as many fun things to do together for the times that he wasn't on the boat. By a lovely accident we happened upon Pinecrest Gardens. http://www.pinecrest-fl.gov/gardens.htm

This is a lovely Botanical Garden that is free to the public and offers walking trails, a petting zoo, a playground, and a splash pad. The Splash Pad costs $3 per child but the rest of the park is free and breathtakingly beautiful. The park also offers different programs for all ages, and of course is available for rental for the perfect wedding location.

I think my favorite park of this amazing place was how wonderful everything smelt. Being a girl who loves the forest, I was beginning to miss the fresh air being in this large city area. But walking into Pinecrest Gardens just smells amazing! Just so clean! Both of my children loved it here, be it the beautiful flowers and awesome greenery, the fun pathways or funky trees to climb in, or the massive amounts of lizards and turtles and all sorts of fun things for little boys to chase after. You definitely have to make this a stop on your list.

Remember to send in your favorite places from where you are stationed to coastiewivescorner@yahoo.com

Food for Thought.....

Ok to be honest I was not the most careful or paranoid person when I was pregnant with my kids. I drank sodas with caffeine, ate whatever it was that I wanted and listened to my body if it said I was doing too much. Basically I did what my mom did so I figured I was safe. Right?

Moving to South Florida has really changed my perspective on looking at the foods I eat and how they are grown and my family and I have begun to focus on purchasing things that are more responsible for our bodies, our planet, and our pocket book. It just seemed like the right thing to do for us because of all the junk they spray and taint foods and things we use with today. I came across this article today on Sparks people so I thought I would share.


Q. Does eating organic foods before and during pregnancy reduce medical issues for the baby?


A.Research has yet to prove an adverse health effect from consuming the low levels of pesticides commonly found in U.S. food. But for the most vulnerable groups -- children and pregnant women -- going organic whenever possible for fruits and vegetables that carry the heaviest pesticide load makes sense. For organic meat, poultry, eggs, and milk, the direct health benefit is less clear.

Pesticide contaminants pose the biggest risk to children and fetuses. Pesticides have been shown to cross the placenta during pregnancy, and a study by scientists at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York found a link between pesticide use in New York apartments and impaired fetal growth. Another study, from the University of Washington in Seattle, found that preschoolers fed conventional diets had six times the level of certain pesticides in their urine as those who ate organic foods. A 2003 report from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention detected twice the level of some pesticides in the urine of children as in that of adults.

Few doubt that high doses of pesticides can cause neurological or reproductive damage. With infant reproductive organs still forming and the brain developing through age 12, and with young livers and immune systems less able to rid bodies of contaminants, eating organic is more important for children and pregnant or breast-feeding women.

Just some food for thought on the matter. I would say 97% of our produce is organic or grown out of out little garden in our backyard. When we first started buying organic I panicked at the cost. But then we found organic co-ops and buying clubs. I have been involved in two since being down here and they are great! It's a wonderful way to meet similar minded people and get organic foods at lower costs than in the grocery store.

Like I said I have been involved in 2 organic co-ops since moving down here the first one being K-N-D Organics co-op http://groups.yahoo.com/group/K-N-DOrganicCo-op/ which is founded by a friend and a really sweet deal.

The othe that I have been involved with is Annie's Buying Club http://anniesbuyingclub.com/ this one is a bit bigger of a group but just as yummy food.

So if you are n South Florida check these out for yourselves and your families. And if you are not check yahoo for local organics groups or just google your area to see what comes up! Because who cares if your kids eat their veggies if they are coated in poison!!

Ok that may be a bit harsh, but you get the idea! Remember the old saying, "You are what you eat!" It doesn't just apply to pizza and icecream anymore!!!

Ever been to the Everglades?

If you are ever stationed in South Florida or Florida period you must visit the Everglades. There are various locations to hit up but we personally like the one with the most guranteed wildlife sighting. And by wildlife I mean GATORS!!! No there are no cages keeping these large lizards at bay, and if you come out at night you may come across one a bit closer than you want, but the experience is to die for. Close to our house in Homestead, Fl is the Anaghina Trail. I know I have not spelled it correctly but oh well! LOL It is amazing!!



I suggest if you are living down here for any period of time you buy the year pass for $25 since it's $10 a car to get in. That way you can go back anytime, plus it's always great to take your family to and completely freak them out! Also NEVER go during the summer/rainny season unless you want to be carried away by the mosquitos. The wildlife doesn't come out as much anyways because it is so darn hot. But here is a tantalizing shot!!! (BTW no zoom was used in this picture!!)

Fabulous South Florida

There are so many things to do in South Florida, the unfortunate side of that is that most of them cost. There are ways though to get around such things if you just know where to look. A friend of Mine turned me on the The Parents Academy, which is a website filled with all sorts of family friendly information from classes, to support groups, to the inside scoop on the free events at the local Museums. One of my favorite is The Children's Museum. Here they have created a child's dominion of real life businesses, places, and events all down to "little people size".

Every 3rd Friday of the month starting at 3:30 they allow anyone to come in and experience this awesome "kid world" absolutely FREE!!! It's well worth the trip and right near the Coast Guard Station in Miami so it's a really great reason to swing by and say hi to my honey (if the boat's in). Check out the website at http://www.miamichildrensmuseum.com/

Let's begin at the beginning...

It was about this time last year when I was completely pulling my hair out. We were moving down here to Sunny Miami Florida. It wasn't the move or the fact that I had not even set foot in our house that we rented already, but the fact that we had not been contacted yet by ANYONE at our new duty station. Since North Carolina had been my home for well.. all my life I had had no trouble picking up and moving when my hubby and I had gotten married because he was stationed IN North Carolina (lucky me!!)

Anyways we arrived in Homestead in the middle of June and spent the majority of the time doing what you do when you move and live on the economy... set up utilities, unpack, test out the gps to see how accurate it is (or isn't), and find a grocery store. After all of the housekeeping items had been accomplished we gingerly went out exploring and knowing no one it was a bit intimidating.

Heaven shined down on us in the form of the YMCA. Being a "Y" kid growing up I figured it would be a good start for the kids and I to make some friends over the summer and for me to continue my fight against the bulge (which I lose more oftern than I win these days)!!! On the counter in the lobby was a flier for a new Charter School starting up, and since I literally cried when I went and picked up my son's "welcome kit" from the public school he was to attend, I immediately jumped on that opportunity.

The biggest relief came when I visited my son's school and the daycare center next door. The director was really helpful and showed me around and told me all about their toddler/pre-k program. I wasn't really ready to put my daughter into daycare, but I was afraid that she would have no one around her other than myself to talk with and I was overly paranoid of speech delays. That's when the director asked me if I had heard of the Meetup group in the area. Meetup?? What's that? And do they speak any english? Some of you are laughing... you should I am a dork.

www.meetup.com is a group hosting site where people of like areas and interests come together and get together!! I found the Happy Homestead Kids group and the Natural Parenting group and immediately we were transitioned to Florida!! We have made tons of friends and explored all sorts of things down here together, so if you are stuck as to how to meet new people, check out Meetup!!!