Tuesday, June 29, 2010

4th of July Tees- Linked in Mormon Times Article

I was checking on my site meter where my Scientista blog viewers were coming from and some were coming from Mormon Times. So I clicked the link and sure enough she mentioned my Flag Tee tutorial in her article. Not sure how she found me, but I thought it was so fun to see that! Here is the article.

So if you're looking for a fun activity for your kids this week make some 4th of July tees. The tutorial is on the other blog, The Family Scientista. If you haven't visited lately there are also some great recipes and other tips you might like.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

It's Hot So We Swim

We've had lots of hot weather lately. Mix 100 degree days with terrible humidity and we spend our afternoons at the pool.  It's pretty fun!




Monday, June 21, 2010

We Love Papi

Cole was served breakfast in bed and given homemade cards from the kids for Father's Day. In the afternoon we secretly cleaned up the house and then sang him a song that Macie and I made up. Once they kids were in bed I served him up some homemade ribs. They were amazing! Cole's the greatest dad and we feel so blessed!

We love Papi, yes we do,
Wrestle, dates and playing zoo.
Taking walks out in the sun,
Football, soccer, basketball, fun.

We love Papi
We love Papi
We love Papi
Our dad!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Swimming at Lake Anna

The beach at Lake Anna was amazing. The weather was mid 90's at the campground, but the beach area felt perfect with the breeze. We stayed for 3.5 hours and kids would have stayed longer if we let them.

There were gorgeous butterflies all over the beach. The kids got very good at catching and releasing  them.



The water was perfect. Macie was an absolute fish, loved practing her swimming and stayed in the water at least 3 full hours. Dominic enjoyed making up moster games and playing with Macie in the water. Claire is such a water baby and loved it too.

Tessa would flit about from the chair to the sand to the water. She would sing, run and prance around. Such a little entertainer.

Claire sat under the umbrella playing almost the whole time. She was a angel.


Only being an hour away, we'll be back to enjoy Lake Anna many more times!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Camping at Lake Anna

Last week we had a great time camping for 2 nights at Lake Anna. Come to think of it this is the only overnight vacation that our family has had with only us!! Cole was able to take 3 days off so we went camping midweek. It was so nice because it wasn't crowded at all.


Hot dogs the first night, kabobs the next and nightly marshmallow roasting.











We don't own any camping gear or sleeping bags except for cheap roasting sticks. We really wanted to take the kids camping but obviously we'd need shelter. I found that here in VA at some of the state park campgrounds they have one room cabins with electricity, bunk beds and a table. We just brought our blankets and pillows.  It was the perfect set up for our family and we all loved it so much. Our campground backed up to the woods which were beautiful.  Virginia has more trees than I have ever seen . . . and that's coming from an Oregonian.



The cabins also had 2 rocking chairs. Cole and I would sit out on the deck at night talking and rocking in our chairs. It felt like we were some old married couple at a farm house. I loved it.  

Lake Anna was beautiful. We drove down there on our first afternoon to have a look. There was a beach area and playground. The kids were wading in the water only getting slightly wet at first but before we knew it Dominic was in up to his neck in the lake fully clothed.









Dominic carried around this "staff" the whole time and was our Indian chief. That boy had so much fun and he loved that he could do anything he wanted.


Claire was the best baby on this vacation. This blue blanket was her play place. She would always scoot herself off and eat the dirt but she was quite the happy little camper.






Monday, June 14, 2010

My New Blog - The Family Scientista

I've been playing around with the idea of starting another blog where I can post all my ideas and recipes and I've finally done it. I'll be posting a variety of things from every aspect of homemaking, motherhood and practical tips. I'll be posting 3-4 times a week so add http://thefamilyscientista.blogspot.com to your blog list or become a follower so you can get the lastest posts. I'm excited and think it will be a lot of fun. If you're in need of a great Father's Day gift I've got a great one featured on my new blog for ya!
The Family Scientista So come take a look. I hope you like it!

Monday, June 7, 2010

While Papi Was Away

While Cole was in Italy with his residency group my mom came to visit and keep me and the kids company. As always we had a great time and did lots of projects and she also watched my kids a lot while I got errands done.

Making cinnamon rolls

We took her to the creek where we got eaten by mosquitos and saw a frog in the water.

Went to the preview of the new Children's Museum. They had a train and my kids loved it!

Our swimming pool opened so we went for a swim. This was Claire's first time in the pool and she was thrilled.

Going to Norfolk Beach (20 minutes from Virginia Beach) on Memorial Day was probably my favorite thing that we did. It was a gorgeous 85 degrees and since we were more in a bay the water was warm and you could walk out really far since there was only a tiny wave. The kids all loved it and we spent several hours there. I have never been to the beach when it has been that warm . . . certainly don't get that kind of weather on the Oregon beaches.




We loved having Nani here and look forward to her and my dad coming again in September!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Macie~ Our 7 Year Old

Macie turned 7 yesterday. Wow, she's so grown up! She's a fabulous daughter and sister. She's helpful, sweet, smart, thoughtful, determined, and we love her so much. Happy Birthday Macie.


Cole was traveling back from Italy most of the day yesterday so I took the kids swimming during the day and Macie and I made her American Girl cupcakes. She opened her presents late last night after Cole got home. Yahtzee was one her gifts and in her very first game ever she scored a whopping 572 points!!




American Girl Cupcakes: Samantha, Kirsten, Kit, Addy, Molly, Felicity and Kaya.
We also made one for each family member.