At the Lake

We are checking off activities on our summer fun list. We went to the lake this weekend and tried out Caitlin's water proof camera.


Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Diary of a Church Lady. You won't regret it. This is photo 10/52 for me.

A Walk in the Woods

A walk may not be describing this event accurately. It was more of a run and then stop to look at leaves and other interesting things.The kids love running through the serenity maze. Not actually how they intended that to be done but the kids enjoyed it.

The kids love dropping leaves into the stream to see how they float and move down the stream.

The kids like collecting leaves on our walks.

Caitlin spotted this pretty little flower.

We also spotted some ducks.

Go to Living and Learning for more posts on Nature Connections.

Typical Dinner Out With Us

Eating with a walrus.And ice cream with a princess.

Be sure to head over to see who else is wearing their crowns at Feet Off the Table. Check out more wordless at 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, A Beautiful Mess and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Sandcastle in the Sky

What are we standing in front of?A giant sand castle of course!

We saw some giant sandcastle and had a great day at the lake. That makes me happy.

Go see Leigh vs. Laundry to see more photos that will make you happy. This is 14 out of 52 for me.

Multi Media Butterflies

I've wanted to make these for a while. The kids needed to make thank you cards so it was the perfect reason for a little craft. I cut up tissue paper into small pieces. Caitlin drew her own butterfly. I helped Davey. I mixed glue with water to make a thin glue to paint with. The kids placed the tissue paper on the butterflies and painted them on.Caitlin decided to add paint to hers to make it multi media.

I think this craft would work well with chameleon and fish drawings too. The best part of the craft (besides getting cool thank you cards) was the kids stopped fighting for a whole 15 minutes.

True Blood Date Night

I love True Blood. So I was really looking forward to the new season that started yesterday. We ordered HBO just for this show. Dave also likes the show just not nearly as much as I do.I made us snacks that they would have at Merlotte's. We had nachos and red drinks (ours was fruit punch and not true blood.)
I love that Dave watches my favorite show with me and let's me do corny things like make fake true blood. The show was good and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.

We have finished our project 52 for date nights. This was date 52 out 52 for us. It took us more than a year to accomplish this but it was well worth it. I'm going to continue dating my husband because it helps us stay connected. I also plan of joining Leigh vs Laundry with her Friday Night Dates. You should join too.

Flying High

I'm entering this photo in The Paper Mama's best shot in June photo challenge. I love the look of determination on Caitlin's face as she flies in the air.

10 Favorite Disney Memories

1. We may have misjudged if Davey was ready to ride on Test Drive.

2. We brought Caitlin a new Cinderella dress when our luggage was lost. She was so happy with it. Bonus: The luggage was returned quickly.

3. Dave's shrimp coma

4. Davey busting a move with Disney Channel Rocks show.

5. Caitlin's best fish impression.

6. Davey battled Darth Vader and won!

7. Cooling off with the sprinkler hydrant.

8. Hugging characters.

9. Pretending to be a princess with Caitlin.

10. A girl and her gun.

There is a photo of me in there so I'm using it for the Shoot Me challenge. Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Diary of a Church Lady. You won't regret it. This is photo 9/52 for me.

Stripes and Polka Dots

I love the stripes and polka dots together. She has style. But now that school is almost out, I wish the sweater were not necessary. Weird New England weather. (This was last week. We are back to summer weather...for now anyway.)

Be sure to head over to see what all the other cool kids are wearing at Feet Off the Table. Check out more wordless at 5 Minutes for Mom, Momspective, A Beautiful Mess and Wordless Wednesday for more wordless photos.

Summer Fun List

Today is the first official day of summer. We have made our annual summer fun list and already checked a couple of things off. I love making the list of activities to look forward to each summer. I can already check off bomb pop off. We got some from the ice cream truck yesterday.
Most activities are simple activities but definitely are fun too. We are taking advantage of Kids Bowl Free this summer. They can bowl 2 games for free each week. We were inspired by Family Fun magazine and are planning on building our own sprinkler. We are also going to build our own fairy house after seeing all the great ones at Disney World.
You can also see 2010's summer list here.

Go see Leigh vs. Laundry to see more photos that will make you happy. This is 13 out of 52 for me.

10 Things I Learned in Disney

1. When they say you might get soaked on the Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom, they are not joking. Davey was not amused.

Also bring a change of clothes or you will be buying a new set.

2. Even princesses scrap their knees.

3. If your kids love the characters and must meet them, then do the character meals. We had a meal plan, so it didn't cost us any more money to have a character meal each day. It will save you from standing in long lines. The characters spend more time talking to them too. The princesses gave us the most interaction because they can actually talk. Goofy was very animated at the two meals we had with him, too.

Our favorite dinner was at Cinderella's Royal Table (in the castle.) The food and the princesses was great. Second favorite meal was breakfast at Cape May. Goofy, Minnie, and Daisy were the characters there. We celebrated the kids' birthday there. Minnie came to the table to help sing to the kids. When the kids didn't eat their cupcakes, the waiter brought us over to go cups.

Now Disney just needs to add a Toy Story character meal and another princess meal with the newer princesses like Rapunzel and Tatiana. They would definitely sell out too.4. There are two lines at the Haunted Mansion. If you go to the left, you get the enhanced experience. There are lots of fun sculptures to pose with and interactive toys. The regular line at The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh also has an enhanced experience that definitely helps the line go by quicker.

5. Anything can be a light saber. Crayons, french fries, sticks, and if nothing else is available ones own fingers work.6. The characters really go out of their way to involve the crowd and make them feel special. Caitlin wore a Cinderella dress when we watched the Wishes Nighttime Spectacular parade. Cinderella's evil step sisters told Caitlin that she looked better than Cinderella in her dress. Caitlin was in shock that they were talking to her. The step sisters were not the only characters to talk to her either. When Cinderella talked to Caitlin she was so happy. We were in the second row watching the parade too. So my tip is let your princess wear a princess dress. She will feel special. I couldn't get Caitlin out of the princess dresses despite the heat after that.7. The Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground was cool but maybe a tad dangerous too. It was pretty crowded the day we went. It is the type of place that is hard to keep track of your kids with all the obstacles. There were also caves to go through but they were pretty dark even with the lighting. We left after we saw a little blonde boy with blood matted hair. It could be cool but be cautious.

8. A hot day + face paint = a hot mess9. Tom Sawyer Island is a great place to take a break. My kids loved this place. You take a short boat ride to the island and then you are free to explore all the caves, bridges, and forts. We spent an hour there on two different days. The kids would have stayed there even longer if we let them.

10. Disney brings out the kids in everyone.