The Beach, Putt-putt, and Mermaids!

The last couple of days have been so much fun with the kids, my hubby, and some sand between our toes.
Yesterday we set up camp on the beach in front of our house and settled in. I'm not sure if it's a compliment or if it's the fact that our kids just can't do anything without us, but they want to be with us ALL the time. They always seem to "need" us to play or do anything. I know I should feel flattered, and a lot of the times I do, but at times it gets a bit frustrating and we wish they'd spread their wings a little bit. So, Eric and I decided to take a seat and encourage (or force) them to play with each other in the sand and water. Dallas took off towards the ocean and started jumping in the waves, but she was quick to come back up "needing" someone to go down with her. Hunter was perched on his daddy's lap and he was not moving. I went to play a little with her and then went back for a rest.

After A LOT of coaxing and encouraging, and pretty much refusing to go back with them, Hunter got bored and went to meet his sister. Halleluiah....they were playing together and not needing us. We were elated and quickly grabbed the camera. They were having a ball; jumping and riding the waves, and even running from the waves. They were cackling with laughter and we were sitting, relaxing...for once!

We went back to the house for lunch and Dallas was pretty much done with the beach. She was exhausted and decided she wanted to watch TV and not go back to the water. Fine with me, I curled up with my book and laid on the deck reading while she curled up in her daddy's lap and took a nap....that NEVER happens. Eric and Hunter then wanted to go back to the ocean, so Dallas and I stayed behind and took showers and I started dinner.
After an early dinner, we took the kids to play putt-putt. The air was hazy, hot, and stagnent, but by granny we were going to play some putt-putt. Hunter even had to wear his "putt-putt" shirt.

Dallas aiming for a good shot.

Hunter taking a stop to pose with Mommy.

Mommy showing them how it's done.

Hunter was a bit confused when his ball went down the shoot on hole 18.

Let's just say Mommy was on fire. I got the only hole in one, and out of 18 holes shot a 39...yep I'm bragging a little because I won...that just.doesn't.happen. Ok, so the course was pretty easy, but hey I still won and I will take a win anyway I can get it.

We finished up the game and then went for ice cream at a local homemade ice cream joint that was right across the street. I love ice cream, but having acid reflux hinders me from eating it that much, but last night I didn't care, I got a cone with my favorite...strawberry! It was so delicious.

What a fun day!!!
Today we decided to break the week up and head down to Myrtle Beach and go to Broadway on the Beach. Thanks to our good friends, Amy and Alan who gave us so many things to do, see, and places to eat, sent us there for some "good family fun". What a great place. It's like a huge boardwalk with games, shops, and restaurants. Only problem...it was H.O.T. When I say hot, I mean Florida hot...hot, humid, and very sticky. Thank goodness I decided to wear a visor today b/c there would be no good hairday out there today.
We ate lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, and it was delicious!

We let the kids ride some rides, and I must admit that walking around out there brought back so many memories of the traveling fair that would come to my home town every year. The smell of the funnel cakes and the screeching sounds of the brakes on the rides, just took me right back to being a kid...love those memories.

Beep-Beep

A little boat ride

Daddy and Hunter on the carousel ride



The kids loved the upside-down house



Love the tea cups

We all got really hot and decided to visit the Ripley's Aquarium. We were told it was worth the money and boy was it ever. We were there for over two hours. They have a brand new shark exhibit which is very hands-on for the kids. Hunter was in awe...he's our shark lover (just like his daddy).

Watching the diver

We saw a scuba diver feed some fish, and walked around looking at all the fish and sharks.

Our beautiful pearl

But the highlight of the trip...mermaids. Dallas got to meet a "real" mermaid (no, we didn't buy the picture for $15.00 - I know, terrible mommy and daddy). Then we got to watch two mermaids swim in the sting ray tank. It was really cool and both kids were in awe! I have to admit that since Eric and I just saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, I look at mermaids in a whole new light...to say the least.

Mermaids putting on a performance.

The trip back to the beach house went well. We thought the kids would pass out, but after making the mistake of buying them "Roo Juice" - which I found out later that it contains 0% juice...oops - the kids just got really giddy and were acting insane in the backseat. Then I had to be the crazy person keeping them awake as we got closer to "home".

Beware of Roo Juice...it makes your kids crazy!

I love vacation. It's a time to relax and enjoy family, and the cackling of kids makes the memories burn into my brain...and mermaids, no one can have a good vacation without mermaids.

The Beach, The Family, and Father's Day

Yesterday we packed up the Jeep, (yes, the kids insisted that we take Eric's new Jeep Wrangler to the beach...and I must admit, we didn't put up much of a fight) and headed for a week at the beach - vacay time. We were a tad bit cramped - to say the least. But to pack up four people, groceries, and beach items, and cram them into a 4-door jeep wrangler, let's just say it's not as roomy as the van. But we fit everything in and off we went.


We were a bit cramped, but pumped to head to the beach.



We had a great afternoon on the beach, a quick dinner here at the house, and put the kids to bed. Eric and I then enjoyed some time on the deck with the sound of the waves crashing, a drink in hand, and good conversation.
The kids actually slept later than we had expected especially with them sharing a room. I made Eric's favorite breakfast for Father's day - well partly all of it.  After breakfast we got ready to hit the beach.
We played in the sand, rode the waves, and built tunnels and sandcastles all morning. It was such a great time.

Hunter really loves jumping the waves.

Dallas loves riding the waves.

You can't see it, but her toes are sticking through the tunnel.

We came in for lunch and to re-apply sunscreen. By the time we got back outside, we saw that the clouds were moving in. Within a few minutes, we saw lightning and then the thunder began to roll. A storm came up and ran us inside. Unfortunately the storms kind of lingered and made us stay in the rest of the afternoon. It was kind of nice though. The kids played a little, Eric watched golf, and I read some of my new book, Summer Rentals by Mary Kay Andrews (I just love her).

The kids began to get ansty, and we knew it was time for showers. We then went to dinner at a Marina and it was delicious.

The kids were so tired that they crashed as soon as we got home. And now, I'm uploading today's pictures and writing this blog :o).

I'm sure tomorrow will bring the same adventures as today, but I wouldn't want anything more. Time with my family on the beach makes for such a wonderful day, I couldn't ask for anything better.

BLT Roll-ups

I also made these for my summer fun party. They were really good and a huge hit. I fould this one in the latest Kraft Food and Family magazine as well. Here's the recipe:

4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Mayonnaise
8 slices bacon, cooked, and crumbled
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
2-3 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup shredded lettuce

Mix cream cheese and mayo in a medium bowl. Add bacon and tomatoes, mix well.

Spread onto tortillas; top with lettuce. Roll up tightly.

Put in fridge for 30 minutes to cool and set. Cut into 7 diagonal slices.

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Lemon-Blueberry Crumb bars

I made these for my summer fun party and they were a huge hit. I found the recipe in the latest edtion of the Kraft Food & Family Magazine. Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1 pkg (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
2 eggs, divided
2 tsp. zest and 3 Tbsp. juice form 1 lemon, divided
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line 13X9 pan with foil, with ends extending over the sides. Spray with Pam.

3. Microwave butter in large microwaveable bowl on high 1 minute or until melted. Add cake mix, 1 egg, and 1 Tbsp. lemon juice. Beat with mixer until well blended. Press 2/3 of the mixture onto bottom of prepared pan.

4. Beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer until well blended. Add remaining egg, lemon juice, and zest; mix well. Pour over crust; top with berries.

5. Pinch small amounts of the remaining cake mixture and press lightly into the cream cheese layer.

6. Bake 48-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 1 hour. Use foil handles to lift from pan before cutting into bars. Keep refrigerated.

Summer Fun Party

I've been having an itch recently to host a party. We all know how much I love hosting parties. I love the planning, the food, the decorating, and of course the actual event. I love all kinds of parties: birthday parties, showers, adult parties, parties for no reason...I love them all. My kids have birthdays in back to back months, and as much as I love planning their parties, I feel like I get them done at Christmas time, which is the craziest time of the year, and then there's nothing. So, I decided to throw a Summer Party. School's out and what better way to enjoy summer than with a slip-n-slide and some friends, right?
I had so much fun planning this party. I quickly went to one of my favorite websites, http://www.polkadotmarket.com/, and started looking around for inspiration. I came across their cute ice cream cone napkins that had, "take a break....splish splash...kick back" written at the bottom. Perfect. I ordered them. Then I decided on my colors, orange and light blue (great summer colors), and I ordered some of their polkadot balloons - love them.
I started picking things up along the way for the party and settled on a menu. I guess I should rewind a little and tell you that one of my inspirations for having this "themed" party was a friend of mine telling me she made aquarium jell-o cups for her son's end of year party. How clever I thought, and what a great thing to make for a summer party. Yeah, they didn't get made. I ended up making beachy themed cupcakes instead.

There's the beach ones, ones with teddy grahams swimming, and can't forget the shark fins - Fins Up!

I've been working on things the past couple of nights, because if you know me and know my parties, it's all about detail and the presentation. I love to see it all presented so perfectly...yes I'm a bit of a perfectionist...you can't blame me, I get it from my Daddy.
My kids were so excited this morning and really helped set things up. I got the food together and set it on the table. I was going to have everything outside, but with it being so hot I decided to keep it inside. I loved how everything turned out.

 

Lemon-blueberry Crumb bars (From Kraft Magazine)-will post in recipes

BLT Roll-ups (From Kraft Magazine) - will post in recipes

Popcorn - just the regular microwave kind (I just liked the presentation)

I had to show off the cute napkins I got from Polkadotmarket.com.

We set the sprinkler and the kiddie pool up outside along with some bubbles...because every kid loves bubbles. I also had gotten all the kids beach balls and put their names on them. At one point there were about 5 kids and 16 beach balls in the kiddie pool...boy they were having fun! After playing in the sprinkler for a while we set up the new slip-n-slide. The kids were so good. They all formed a line and took turns so nicely. They had a ball.

Then it was time for a popsicle break.

It was an awesome party. I love to feed people and make them happy, and I can happily say that there wasn't a morsel of food left. Everyone ate until it was gone and then we popped pizzas in the oven...now that is a good summer party!

You know it's a good party when you can sleep on your Mama's chest upright!

New Milestone

 

Today marked a new milestone for me. I've been a runner for years. Well, let me back up. I was a runner in highschool and completely gave it up through college until after my daughter was born in 2006. I've been running since then. I love it. I love putting on my iPod, getting in my groove, and just going. So, do you think I run long distances??? Well, not really. I'm good for about 3 miles. The longest I've ever done was the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta the summer before my Senior year of highschool. It's a 10K (6.2 miles). Let's just say I'm not 17 anymore.
A good friend of mine and I have been running together (mostly on the weekends) for about a year now. I like to tell people that's my adult conversation. We can chat about all kinds of things and get excersice at the same time...win - win. She talked me into signing up for the Rex Hospital Invitational 8K...8K what's that? Exactly, my same thought. It's 5 miles, so I thought it would be doable.
The last couple of weeks we've been meeting at 6 AM to run get ready, so to speak. The humidity was up all last week, but we knew we were ready.
Last night I did what any good runner does...ate pasta.  We had pasta with grilled veggies, chicken, and sweet Italian sausage, and yeast rolls on the side...so yummy.

My yummy pre-race dinner

Today was the big day! It started at 8 AM, so I picked her up at 7:30 and headed over to register; all was good and we were excited. The route was mostly going to be the route that we run all the time. Yes, it's hilly but we're in North Carolina, there's going to be hills.
The gun fired and we were off. We quickly got in our groove and according to her time tracker, did the first mile in 8 1/2 minutes...great huh? It was all downhill...which means to end the race we had to go back up that hill. The humidity set in and it was thick.
She beat me by 30 seconds because I really hit a wall, but I did cross the finish line running, and I've never been so excited to see a finish line before in my life. To make the finish better, our wonderful husbands brought our kids out to greet us at the finish line and cheer us on. A perfect way to end the race.



That's me finishing the race - 51:30 was my time

Yes, it was a hard race with the humidity and the hills, but we finished and we're still standing and that's all that matters. It was a great time. But mark my words, I have no desire to run any more than that. As much as I enjoy running, one thing that is NOT on my bucket list is running a half or full marathon. No siree, I'm happy to run my small distances and enjoy time with my friend.

My running buddy, Jaleh & me

The greatest cheering section in the world