Cucumbers anyone?!?

I received a call from Perry while I was heading out to the grocery store. He told me that if I had cucumbers on my shopping list, I probably didn't need to buy any.


This is what I found on my counter when I returned. YUMMO! Not sure when they got this big and yummy (maybe it's been too long since I checked on the garden!). Carson's idea for the cucumbers - sell them on the internet. Sigh.


Truth be told, the cucumbers are taking over this bed. I planted twice as many as I usually do since we love cucumbers so much. I tried them in the boxes Perry made last year for the tomatoes, but they've gone EVERYWHERE.


And there are a lot of junior cucumbers just waiting to ripen!

And since I'm actually posting an entry and playing with my new camera still, here's a picture of the asparagus bed we put in this year. Not too exciting this year. We can do a small harvest next year, then a full harvest the following year. CAN NOT wait for that year. (We REALLY love asparagus.)

Any Perry put in a new bed this year which houses the tomatoes and peppers. Lots of flowers and teeny-tiny tomatoes but nothing harvested yet. Nothing better than a simple tomato and cucumber salad.

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If you have any cucumber recipes, please share!

Trying out a new camera

Is it possible that our summer is already halfway over?!? Wow, the summer is flying by. No big vacations this year but lots of camps, projects around the house, friend time, family time and fun. For some insane reason, I've agreed to a camping trip. Tent camping. On a river.


To make this worth my while, I decided it was time to try a waterproof, durable camera that I could bring on this trip (without worrying about my nice camera). It helps take the sting out of the thought of sleeping in a tent...outdoors...

So, we tried out the new camera in the pool tonight. You can literally dunk it underwater to take pictures! How cool is that?!? I will admit to being a nervous Nelly that first (and 200th) dunk into the water. But, it really does work.

GREAT camera to have near water - no fear that water will ruin it. (Except I did learn to dry off the lens or you get funky water spots on subsequent pictures.)

Here's my little kid who seems to be all arms and legs these days. When I took Carson in for his school physical, I learned that he's gained 27 pounds in the past year and a half (with 7 inches). Looking at this picture, I have no idea where he's packin' those pounds. He eats NON-STOP these days.

Elise, not to be outdone by her brother, but in a cranky mood for pictures, wanted me to take a picture of her floating...can you see her under those googles?

This is our hill-billy water slide. An old slide from an old playground (from our old house even) bolted to the steps with a hose positioned at the top. We're full of class around here, I tell ya!

Hillbilly Haven

One never knows what to expect in our yard. I give credit to Carson and his best buddy for finding ways to entertain themselves in creative ways that don't (always) involve sitting in front of the TV or Xbox. So, I wasn't too surprised when Carson called home to ask if he could bring home a slip n slide.


Except this wasn't your typical slip n slide. His buddy's family is replacing their pool liner and the boys thought up a great new use for the old liner. And, conveniently, his buddy's famly doesn't have any hills and the boys felt the slip n slide would work better if set up on a slight hill.


And it's not just one piece of pool liner, it's multiple sections pieced together.

The kids had a blast and it was a new way to cool down in the summer heat. One can only guess what will show up next in our yard....


...there is a video posted on FB....I'm just too tired to repost it here.

Golf Camp

Summer is here and camps are in full swing. You could spend a small fortune enrolling your kids in summer camps and go crazy making sure each kid is in the right location at the right time. Then, if your kids don't like the camps, you have to deal with cranky kids. As a parent, I find summer camp selection and season stressful!!!


We'd heard about a golf camp this year for Carson. He has several friends who've done this camp for years. He was agreeable to trying it, so we signed him up. He's never played golf in his life - outside of mini-golf. In fact, his golf set was picked up at a garage sale for kicks. We really didn't know what to expect. Perry used to enjoy golfing but hasn't golfed much since we left Chicago (and his golfing buddies).

Turns out the golf course is hidden away and located less than 10 minutes from us. Who knew!?! There are several country club courses in our town but this is a lovely public course, which means less of a financial outlay for a beginner. Very nice! :)

Carson loved it! He learned quite a bit and enjoyed spending time on the golf course with friends. He even asked if he could continue on with a 6 week league to learn more. Given we usually have to pry this kid out of the house to try new things, I'd say this was one successful summer camp!

Babies!!!

Last month, my brother and sister-in-law had their 3rd baby boy within 3 years. There is an awful lot of cuteness going on at their house!!! My sister decided an "Auntie" visit was in order and we headed up to visit them, leaving our husbands, kids and critters at home.

Here is P (19 months) and I (3 years).

Daddy (aka my brother) playing a matching game with P.

My sister and I working on a sticker book.

Daddy giving tummy raspberries. I love the way P is holding onto his daddy's shirt.

He's ready for some raspberries on his belly!

High Energy are two words that we used often to describe the activity in their house!

And "Adorable."

Here is the newest one...just adding to the adorableness and energy of the household!

Visit with Omi and Opi

Omi and Opi came to help with Elise's party. (Omi and Opi are the German words for grandparents, Elise loves to point out that only Omi, Opi and she were born in another country.)

We discovered on this visit that Carson is now taller than Omi.

His next goal (after passing up his mom), is to be taller than Opi. I love this picture of father, son and grandson!

Spa Party

Settle in if you intend on reading this entire post. If I don't record the details here, I'm afraid I won't do it anywhere!



For Elise's 8th birthday party, she wanted a Spa party. She actually wanted a Spa Sleepover party but I didn't think my nerves could handle a full night of spa fun ~and~ 8 year old girls. So, we settled on a Spa party with the agreement she could invite each guest over for a sleepover during the summer.

I took on the alter ego of "Fancy Franny" who was going to lead the girls through their spa experience and ensure they had no tension or stress at the end. (BTW, I hate pictures of me but I've realized I have so few pictures of me that I threw this in so my kids don't forget what I looked like!)

The guests were all very interested in what Elise's crazy mom, or "Fancy Franny", had in store for them.

We started with oatmeal masks and cucumbers for their eyes. The girls thought this was downright gross. I'm sure a few questioned if they wanted to continue or go home!

But it did make for some funny pictures! (On a side note, we tried the mask on Carson and he promptly ate it off his face...proof that the boy will eat ANYTHING these days!)

We then handed out these cute mesh drawstring backpacks for them to carry from station to station so they could keep track of their belongings.

We broke the girls into groups and rotated them through the stations. The first was "Fancy Nails" where they got to have their nails painted with sparkly colorful nail polish. (Thanks, Mom!)

They then went to "Soaky Feet" station where they soaked their tired feet and caught up on the latest American Girl news. After soaking, Elise's dad rubbed invigorating lotion on their feet.

They then got to visit a "Glamour Shot" station. They could pick flowers for their hair and pick out some fancy accessories.

This was Elise's group at the Glamour Shot station. I just ADORE her friends!!!

And here is a dolled up guest looking just marvelous!

What party of Elise's would be complete without crafts?!? They next visited a "Fanciful Frames" station where they decorated flip-flop frames.

Which would soon hold the picture from their Glamour Shot. (Thanks, Carol!)

The last, and most popular, station was "Fancy Flips" where they got to design and make their own pair of flip flops.

They had a ball picking out just the right colors and making their designs.

Aren't they colorful and pretty?!? They LOVED this station and wore their flip flops the entire party.

They next headed in for a nourishing feast. Each girl got a strawberry cupcake and a yummy chocolate covered strawberry (thank you, Opi!), along with a fancy glass of sparkly fancy juice.

The girls had a great time of chatting and eating, while feeling pampered.

I learned several parties ago that you need to call in reinforcements when doing these kid parties to save your sanity. So, these lovely girls were my saving grace. They each had a sister who was attending and are Carson's age. They helped with the stations and kept the kids in tow. (Ironically, Carson and his friend stuck around during the girly-girl party....I think it might have more to do with the helpers than his sister and her guests....hmmmm....)

We ended the party with "Pin the Cucumber On Taylor Swift" which the girls enjoyed. We also opened presents using a musical gift idea I found. Each girl starts by holding their gift and sitting in a circle. As the music plays, you pass the gifts to the right. When the music stops, whatever gift the birthday girl was holding was the one she got to open. That worked really well.

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All in all, Elise had a great party! I had lots of folks helping, which made the party go off without a hitch! (Thank you Mom, Dad, Carol, Opi, Omi and Eileen!)

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Now I have 12 months to recover before we do this again.