If you are looking for a fun thing to do, try going to different restaurants starting with the letter A going all the way to Z. It's a fun thing to do for a date night or with a group of friends. We like to find locally owned restaurants to try. 

What is a vision board? A vision board is a collage of pictures and/or words representing a person's wishes, dreams or goals. They are intended to serve as inspiration or motivation.

You can get as creative as you want making your vision board. We used poster board and printed photos, words and sayings off of the computer and we loved how they came out. Other things you can use are magazine clips, photos, and stickers. You can leave them black and white or add color with markers, crayons or paint. If you’re not into the craft aspect of the vision boards, you might like to create a digital board on websites such as Pinterest.

It’s a great activity to do together and it is fun to see all the different things everyone wants to achieve. I had no idea my kids were interested in some of the things they put on their vision boards. Last year was the first year we did this, and we were surprised how many things actually happened that were on our vision boards. Now we have turned this into a New Year’s tradition. It’s fun to look ahead for the new year and close out the old year reflecting on what we’ve accomplished.

Vision boards can be done for all kinds of things in your life. They can be visions for what you see over the coming year, or for years to come. You can make a vision board of what you hope your wedding will be like, what your future house will look like or what exciting places you want to visit. The choice is yours… it’s your vision. Just make sure you put it somewhere that you can look at it to make your visions come true. 

I love this program! You can buy homemade dog treats and support a great cause at the same time! We bought these for our dogs, and they love them! They even do a fun photography contest where your dog can be featured on the packages. You won't catch my dogs on the packaging because they eat them to fast to get a picture! 

Pieces of Imagination is the Deepwood Industries JCR Imagine Program’s dog treat business. The JCR Imagine program is a work program for adults with Autism. The dog treat business was started in 2016 so that program participants could participate in a collaborative work task-making dog treats! The steps of the process include measuring and adding the ingredients, mixing the dough, rolling out the dough, cutting out the treats, baking the treats, weighing and bagging the treats, and finally, labeling the bags. Program participants have also taken part in selling the treats so in turn this helps them to work on their social skills and money skills.

The whole process is just amazing to see! The program participants all work together in contributing their part of making the dog treats, whether it be making the treats themselves or placing the labels on the bags for packaging. It is a collaborative effort producing a final product that they can all be proud of!
We currently sell Pumpkin Peanut Butter treats (bone shapes) in 4 oz bags and Peanut Butter Banana treats (hearts and puzzle piece shapes) in 5 oz bags. The treats are $4.00 per bag. They are made with all natural ingredients, so they are healthy but very delicious for your furry friends! Keep the treats refrigerated so as to prolong the shelf life of the treats as they have no preservatives.
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Anyone who is interested in purchasing treats can call Rachael Urbanek at 440-918-0707 (office) or
440-728-7396 (work mobile). You can also fill out an order form and email to rachael.urbanek@lakebdd.org

Order forms are below. 

If you are looking for a great place to shop, check out The Helicopter Daughter! This is one of my favorite wellness shops and they are right in the Matchworks Building by our studio! Karen is the owner and she does a great job of making you feel welcome and answering all your questions. She has the place decorated so cute and quaint and she has a great selection of items to choose from.

The Helicopter Daughter was created out of a desire to help others focus on finding ways to implement self-care moments into their daily lives. At The Helicopters Daughter, they believe that self-care isn’t selfish. It’s about finding ways to keep life in balance and giving others the best of you, instead of what is left of you.

They offer all kinds of products for mind, body and spirit…

• Teas can aid in digestion, fight off free radicals, increase antioxidants and help to relax.
• Journals help you connect to your values, emotions and goals and can help to reduce anxiety.
• Faith-Oriented and spiritually inspiring products.
• Fun and inspirational t-shirts and accessories.
• Natural soaps, lotions, facial creams, cleansers as well as items to help you feel special.
• Shower and Bath products including bombs, Epsom salts, candles and many wonderful items to create that much needed down time.

​1 Go pumpkin picking- walk through a pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin. Then take it home to carve it or paint it. If you carve them don’t forget to save the seeds so you can roast them.

2 Have a bonfire. Fall is the perfect time to sit around a fire. Roast some hot dogs over the fire for dinner and smores for dessert. As a special treat when we have kids over, we get the magical flames packets to change the campfire different colors.

3 Rake leaves and jump in them. We used to do this with the kids and now the dogs love to do it!
4 Take a walk in the park. Grab a sweater and head out to look at all the leaves changing, acorns falling, and animals getting ready for winter. You might see a chipmunk with his cheeks filled!

5 Go on a hay ride. When our kids were younger, my dad used to turn the trailer of the tractor into a hayride. They loved it!

6 Go apple picking and make all kinds of apple treats. We love going to pick tons of apples. Then we come home and make all our favorite apple treats, from apple pie to apple dumplings.

7 Go to the farmers markets. Fall is when all the squash are ready. We love to eat spaghetti squash, butternut squash, zucchini, and pattypan squash!
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8 Take fall family photos. Fall is a great time to take family photos. The colors are beautiful and you can take some fun ones in the pumpkin patches or in the leaves. 

One of our favorite things to do in the fall is taking a walk in the park. A great way to get the kids to do this with you is to have them do a scavenger hunt. It makes taking a walk fun and it gives them exercise and fresh air!   

​Click below to download my free printable fall scavenger hunt and have fun walking in the park!

Looking for a great vacation to just get away from it all?

Check out Letchfield State Park in New York. The park is nicknamed “The Grand Canyon Of The East” and is one of the most beautiful parks we’ve ever been to.

There are three waterfalls, gorgeous hiking trails overlooking the gorge, a nature center with a beautiful butterfly garden, and coming soon an Autism trail. There are playgrounds scattered throughout the park for the kids and several places to grab a snack or get an ice cream. When the sun is out, look for the most beautiful rainbows by the waterfalls.

For more information check out the park website at Letchworth State Park (ny.gov)

The park has plenty of places to camp, but we stayed at the Brickinn in Mount Morris, New York. It’s a beautiful bed and breakfast not far from the park. The rooms were top notch with comfortable beds, a fireplace and walk-in shower. Everyday started with a gourmet breakfast and ended with a special hand made treat delivered to your room. We also enjoyed playing cards on the huge porch while drinking homemade lemonade and ice tea.  
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For more information on the Brickinn check out their website at Letchworth State Park - BrickInn, Mt Morris NY

If you are looking for something fun and heartfelt to do this fall, go to the Prayers from Maria Field of Hope Sunflower Fields. The sunflower fields of hope are inspired by the memory and spirit of Maria McNamara and planted as a way to love and honor the courageous children battling cancer and those lost too soon. There are two fields: one in Cedar Point, OH and the other in Avon, OH.
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These fields of sunflowers are truly a labor of love to be enjoyed by all. Here are a couple ideas of things to do while you are there…

1. Take your time strolling through the fields reading all the prayer cards on the sunflowers. If you want to purchase your own prayer card for someone special, they just ask for a $10 donation.
2. Take photos or selfies with the sunflowers. They each seem to have their own personality.
3. Pose by the giant hope sign.
4. Don’t forget to stop at the shop to purchase some of the Prayers from Maria gifts or to donate to keep this beautiful tradition going.

For more information, visit their website at Field of Hope | Prayers From Maria
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​One of my favorite things to do in the fall is apple picking. There is just something about eating an apple fresh off the tree that says it’s fall to me.
Here are my 3 favorite things to do in the orchard:

1. I love to take fall photos in the orchard. My favorite ones are the photos of the kids actually picking the apples or showing off the huge bag of apples they just picked. We’ve even got great shots of the dogs munching on apples and of course, there are the ever popular selfie shots.
2. Another fun idea is to do an apple taste testing. So many of the local orchards have all different kinds of apples that you can buy one of each and have a taste testing. The funny thing is that our favorites change year to year.
3. Although my favorite thing is loading the giant bags of apples in the car to take home to start baking! Every year we try a new apple recipe to add to all the old favorites. We’ve made apple pies, apple dumplings, apple crisps, apple cobbler, apple sauce, and caramel apples. And I love them all! 

When my kids were little, I wanted them to try new food. So every Saturday, when we would walk to the farmers market, we would pick a new food to try. It was fun to look for different things to eat rather than always staying with the stuff we knew we liked. We found some really good foods that we still eat today like sunflower shoots, cheese curds, poblano peppers, ground cherries, moon grapes, and patty pan squash. We also found some that we didn’t like, but that was part of the fun.

We also like to do this when we go out to eat. It is fun to get something on the menu that you wouldn’t normally eat. You might surprise yourself on the different foods that you like. Try going to a Chinese, Mexican, or Indian restaurant and ordering several dishes for the table to share. This is a great way to try new food that you wouldn’t order on your own.
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Another fun thing to do is buy different ingredients on vacation and take them home to cook with. It is a great reminder of your trip. We’ve tried different jams and jellies, fruits, popcorn, mustards, and different sauces. Great souvenir idea without adding more stuff to your house!