Header Link Map

Image Map

Friday, July 27, 2012

Craft Time:Olympic Torch

The Olympics begin tonight and, needless to say, the girls and I are pretty excited about it.  B can't wait to see the gymnastics girls perform!  The girls made their own Olympic torches this morning...
 
Please excuse the poor lighting.  I really don't like to use my flash and the kitchen is the only room that has poor natural lighting.   Well, except for the bathroom, but I don't take any pictures in there, which I'm sure you are very grateful for.  When we renovate our kitchen it will have natural light galore!

Glue a piece of construction paper to a paper towel roll.  I used hot glue so it would dry quicker, but you could also use Elmer's glue.
Then I let the girls decorate it with stars and markers... 


B even wrote "USA" on hers as well as the Olympic rings and the American Flag.  The close up of her torch is at the top of the post... 
This is Mel's.  One lonely star... 
Photobucket

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Going To the Lodge...A Family Vacay...

Last week Brad, the girls, and I took a mini vacation to Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio.  We had talked about going to Michigan, but let's face it, we are just too busy around here in the summer to be gone for a whole week.  Our destination was only 1.5 hours from home and once we arrived at The Lodge, we never had to leave...well, except for the last night of our stay when Brad was going stir crazy so we all hopped in the car and drove down the road to Wendy's for supper!
I didn't take very many pictures of the water park because I didn't want to have to worry about my camera.  If you know me, then you probably know I am notorious for dropping electronics in water, so it was probably best.  B packed her little camera which made it nice to snap a couple.  It is sometimes more convenient to tote around than my big camera.

They keep the indoor water park at a "balmy 84 degrees" year round which makes it feel pretty dang good in the water.  They also have an outdoor pool which we finally got to try out on Thursday thanks to Mother Nature.  That was Mel's (and mine) favorite!... 
The girls thought the wolf statues in front of The Lodge were pretty cool... 








Wouldn't you know that it rained most of the time we were there. It didn't effect our stay at all because everything was inside...except for the outdoor pool....but we wish the great state of Ohio would have shared some of that fabulous rainfall with good ole Indiana.
It did actually rain at our house while we were gone.  We kind of wish we would have been home to see one of the only rainfalls we have had this summer.

Just look at how saturated this grass is... 
And then two hours later the lawn sprinklers turned on!  Guess they thought it should have rained some more! 
 The clock tower in the grand lobby.  Every night the characters come to life and after that they have story time.  One night, while Brad and B were swimming, Mel and I managed to catch the characters come to life.  She loved it!  B wanted to see it the next night since she missed it, she wasn't as impressed as Mel, but still liked it.


One picture of me with the girls just for proof that I was on this vacation... 
Ready to go swimming... 

This was a favorite of B's... 
She did it over and over and over and over... 
Look who else was there!.... 
BFF Margaret.  I knew that her family was going to be at King's Island, which is right next door,  the same time we were staying at The Lodge.  Her mom called me a couple days before and said that they ended up getting the "packaged deal" for Great Wolf Lodge and King's Island.  So they stayed at King's Island until it got hot/started raining, then came to The Lodge to swim and stay the night.  B was beyond excited as I kept this a secret from her!  I'm good at doing stuff like that.
The Lodge is obviously very kid oriented so they have tons of activities to keep the kids entertained.  I never once heard the famous phrase, "I'm bored."... 
B and Oliver after story time... 
Our room faced King's Island and they let off fireworks every night at close.  The girls enjoyed watching them and the smiley face one was a personal fave.  I was so surprised B actually captured it with her camera!... 
On Friday, as sad as we were to leave, we packed up and hit the road, but didn't tell the girls where we were going.  B thought we were going to see Ice Age.

We ended up at the great Cincinnati Zoo... 
B took a picture of every.single.animal at the zoo .  I won't bore you with those pictures, but did want to throw this giraffe picture in here.  He...or she....was eating some nice looking alfalfa...
Brad wants to be the alfalfa supplier for the zoo.  Just in case there is anyone from the zoo that is reading this, which I highly doubt, but it's worth a shot!

B also had to have her picture taken with every.single.statue at the zoo... 
Mel had to sit on each one also, but didn't really want her picture taken.  I had to sneak one in every once in a while... 
Brad and I both read what type of animal this was, but now can't remember.  It was toward the end of the day and we were hot and tired and hot.  All I know is I would love to have one for my backyard... 
Seriously!  I want one!  Maybe if that person from the zoo is reading this, they can contact Brad about the alfalfa and tell me what type of animal this is and I can start finding one to put in my yard!;0) 

We really enjoyed Great Wolf Lodge and The Cincinnati Zoo.  I highly recommend both places and there are tons of other fun things to do in the great city!  If you don't live close to Cincinnati, check Great Wolf Lodge's site because they are all over the United States.

All links are affiliate links only.  Great Wolf Lodge and The Cincinnati Zoo have no idea who I am nor do they care.  All photos and opinions are mine, of course!
Photobucket

Monday, July 23, 2012

Family Fun Weekend...

Last weekend was the annual "sisters weekend" for my MIL and her sisters.  She is one of six girls.  I was a little lazy with my camera over the weekend and I copied this one from Facebook....
On Friday we spent the day at one of the aunt's homes and enjoyed a day of swimming, eating and visiting.  Brad's cousin, Stuart hijacked my camera and snapped away.  Once again, I was being lazy, but I'm thankful he took some pictures for me.  All complaints go to Stuart by the way ;0)....




Our little fish...

Our other fish, but she is only good for about an hour.  Then she is ready to get out and dry off.  She is a little bit like me...

Silly face...








Brad's sister on the left...

A lot of people think that we are sisters.  We were at a concert a couple weeks ago and two people asked within five minutes of one another if we were sisters.




As always the weekend went by entirely too fast, but we are looking forward to next year!

Photobucket
Web Statistics