Our Day at Mount Olympus

We decided to make a last minute trip to the Dells to Mount Olympus Water and Theme Park after finding free water park coupons online.  It was great (and cheap!) entertainment and we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather.  It was a bit humid which was perfect for swimming and in the upper 80's all day!  We packed a picnic lunch and spent all day enjoying the water and some rides too!

Our little sun bather!

Dancing in the wave pool

 After a bit too much fun in the sun, we decided to hit up the go carts and kiddie rides before getting some dinner.

Bryleigh did so well without having a nap all day, but the sun finally hit her towards the end of the day and she was out... Perfect timing for the bigger kids to enjoy the rides since I know we would have had one very upset little girl if she couldn't partake in the fun!

 We stopped at Ponderosa for dinner and the kids ate so well!  Now if only they would eat that well at home :) And made a quick stop at the outlet mall to pick up a pair of Crocs for Bryleigh as she was in desperate need for some new summer shoes. She loves them and although she is not color coordinated today, there was no way that I was going to be able to get her in any other shoes!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  We have beautiful weather to enjoy again today!

All good things must come to an end...

Today marked Christian's last day of swimming lessons for his first session (he will be starting another session in late July.)  He was so excited to share with me that he passed Pre-Beginners, so now he is able to sign up for Beginners for next session.  We are so proud of our little man!  I knew that he was doing very well in water since he has been playing Grandma and Grandpa's hot tub for quite a few years but I was surprised with how many tasks need to be mastered before the instructor passes the student.  I know that he will be in the next session for a few years because in order to pass that class, a student will need to swim a lap across the pool.  Quite a big jump between levels, but it will give Christian more of a challenge to work towards now! 

Great Job Bud!

Not only was it Christian's last day of swimming lessons, it was also Christian's last baseball game!  We sure are going to miss our weekly Tuesday/Thursday evenings at the baseball diamond. Christian had so much fun this year in baseball and learned so much over the past month.  When he first started the season, it would take him several tries to hit the ball off the tee, and now he is hitting a pitched ball within the 2nd or 3rd pitch!  Although, he is small, he doesn't let that stop him!  Way to go Christian!  You are really growing up and we see how much you are learning!  

Great season Brewers!  We hope to see more of these smiling faces next year! And we will be seeing more of the coaches as we found we have so much in common, I see a camping trip in the near future :)

Now on to the next new venture for Christian...He starts Soccer in mid July! 

Baby Boo

Bryleigh has really been using her big brown eyes and pouty face these days to try to get out of time outs when she is naughty.  It is so hard to discipline when all we can think of is baby Boo from Monster's Inc.  Tonight she was caught red handed sneaking cookies from the cabinet...

Does she not look exactly like Baby Boo!?!...

But the terrible two moments were are going through on a daily basis are really minimized by all the cuteness that she displays....

Another unusual sleeping spot during nap time

We sure do love our  little girl even though she is really testing our patience these days :)

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

I have been meaning to try a sweet treats recipe from Pinterest for quite some time now but it just seems like we always have sweets in our house and there was no need to add any more.  But when I went grocery shopping on Monday, I decided to try a somewhat healthy sweet treat...Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon chips.

Picture from Pinterest

I love, love, love it but I have to say, it was a bit more time consuming than I had expected.  The salsa was easy to make but the cinnamon chips took quite awhile since the recipe makes quite a few and each batch bakes for 8-10 minutes. But one of the disadvantages of living in a small town, you cannot find a grocery that sells specialty items such as cinnamon pita chips or anything cinnamon/sugar that would taste good with this except for Cinnamon Graham Crackers. (I learned this early this morning when I stopped to pick up a package of something so I could share at work.)

Also, I should have read the entire recipe before preparing.  At the end, it clearly states that it is best served on same day as the fruit does get a bit too juicy.  Also, the picture above is deceiving because after 15 minutes of being chilled, the salsa did not look this eye appealing. But it sure tasted just as delicious. So here is the recipe if you choose to try it....I would recommend it!

Fruit Salsa with Baked Cinnamon Chips

by Allrecipes

Ingredients:

2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries (Or if you don't pay attention at the grocery store...like me, use blackberries, they are very good as well.)
1 (16 oz) carton of strawberries, diced
2 tablespoons white sugar (more or less to taste)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (more or less to taste)
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (I used strawberry)

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
melted butter or butter flavored cooking spray

Cinnamon sugar:
1 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries or blackberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes. 

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
3.Coat one side of each flour tortilla with melted butter or butter flavored cooking spray. Sprinkle tortillas with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Spray again with cooking spray (not necessary if using melted butter). Also if you use too much butter, don't worry, it only makes it that much better (and more fattening)since the butter and sugar caramelize while cooking.)

4.Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture. This salsa can also be serve with cinnamon graham crackers or cinnamon pita chips. Best when made and eaten the same day otherwise the fruit gives off so too much juice and it gets runny.

The hubby and I had a lot of fun cooking last night, so although it took a good 2 hours, it was quality time spent together while the kids were in bed :)

Also, an update on my new computer.  So far, things are running smoothly and I love it!  I purchased it just in time since I received my class enrollment information for school yesterday.  Back to School is becoming very real.

Now we are off to another baseball game.  I thoroughly enjoy our Tuesday/Thursday baseball evenings!

Parade Time

We ended a fun filled weekend today by going to the Cranberry Blossom Fest Parade this afternoon.  We snuck it in before Bryleigh's nap and even though her nap routine has been off the past few days, she did great!  We always sit at the beginning of the parade since it is only a few blocks down from our house so we can conveniently walk down there. The kids had a blast and they made a haul on the candy.  The stash that they received is enough to last us for the next year!

We were also puppy sitting for our friends, so Brutus came right along with us!  It was a bit hot for him though so he spent the majority of the time under the stroller enjoying the shade!

It was so sweet to see Bryan with little Brutus! He was attached to Bryan and they spent all afternoon hanging together! They even took a nice nap on the cold hardwood kitchen floor. I missed that Kodak moment but it sure was a good one! I'm hoping that this helped with Bryan's "puppy fever" for a while :) 

The floats this year were handing out all kinds of goodies!  The kids bags were not only filled with candy but they also had juice boxes, freeze pops, free pool coupons, free hockey and water ski lessons, and more.  Bryan was really excited when Rocky Rococo's handed me a slice of pizza!  Lunch is served...

My favorite were the Zor Shine Midget cars... those guys have talent!  They whipped around in those tiny cars so fast, I can't imagine how they didn't crash. 

It was hot afternoon and we loved it but it wore Bryleigh (and me) right out and she took a 3 hour nap this afternoon and I took an hour nap!  Not Christian though,  you can't get that kid to take a nap no matter how tired he is!  It was a great way to end the weekend,  not to mention, we went up to Best Buy tonight and picked me out a laptop since I will be starting school soon.  Thanks to my hubby!  I'm very excited to test it out tomorrow...here's to hoping that it works a lot better than my past experience with Best Buy laptops! 

Boating Fun

The weather started off pretty dreary this morning, and it was looking like outdoor fun was not going to happen but thankfully it warmed up and the sun came out!  My In Laws invited us out on the boat so we readily accepted the invite.  Its been almost 2 years since we were out boating so it was fun to get out on the lake again.  Bryleigh was only 6 months old the last time she was out on the boat so this was her first memorable boating experience!

We found a nice little area to pull up the boat for a picnic lunch...

Christian was very concerned about Bryleigh being on the tube that when Grandpa let them float out into the water, he did not like that very much, and had to pull her back to shore!  Such big brother love! 

And of course, Bryleigh had to show that she could do that too!

 We spent all afternoon out on the water pulling the girls on the tube!  It was one of the girl's first time being out on tube and she did great holding on for a beginner :)

 Even Bryan wanted in on the fun!  I'm not much for tubing just because I don't have the arm strength and I always fly off the tube but I do enjoy watching!

Bryan decided to take the kids out for a leisure tube ride and they were having so much fun until Bryan shifted his weight on the tube and it started to go under.  This is where I got my adrenaline rush to last me for the next month!  Once I seen them starting to fall off the tube, my motherly instinct kicked in and I jumped in the water, clothes and all.  Everyone was fine because they all had their life jackets on but I have just heard about too many tragic drowning accidents and I freaked! Bryleigh was more worried that she lost her water shoe and once I swam and retrieved it for her, she was fine.  I learned through that ordeal, that I completely understand how people can drown in only a matter of minutes.  I was completely exhausted while in the water and being weighted down by my dress.  As Bryan sat there holding onto the kids in the water, I was of no help at all.  I thought for sure that Bryan was going to have to help me once he got the kids in the boat.  I will never under estimate the power of a life jacket again, because I probably should have had one on!  Thankfully it was a minor incident but scary for me none the less!  I'm pretty sure that the kids and I will be watching Daddy tube from now on from inside the boat :)

After that little incident, we decided to pull up to the beach area and let the kids swim for a while.  They enjoyed playing in the sand for bit.

Towards the end of the afternoon, Bryleigh's lack of naps for the past 2 days started to catch up with her and you could tell that she was getting very tired!

Bryleigh and her cute little saggy butt

And yup, as soon as we hopped back on the boat, she was out...

It was a great afternoon, finished off with a cookout at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Because no one makes better burgers that "Big Chef and Little Chef."