Olympics!

We're pretty excited about the Olympics. We made some torches, colored some rings, made a medal chart and we've been watching a little more television than usual...I know what you're thinking...you're wondering why I didn't make any Olympic-related food. That would have been silly. And I couldn't find anything worth the effort. You know I looked. 



Owen double-checking the USA medal count




Torches! (made from recycled materials even!)



Dinner and Dessert

I didn't actually make these the same day, but you could! I made Creamy Lemon Crumb Squares for a party but ended up taking these Magic Bars (a classic but also good!) instead. The lemon squares are really good but the topping is a little crumbly so I'm glad we didn't take them to the party, they're more of a sit down, use a fork type dessert. The second picture is Walnut and Rosemary Oven-Fried Chicken. If I had realized how good it was going to be I probably would have put a little more effort into taking a nice picture but at least it was documented so I wouldn't forget it!    

5 1/2!

We don't normally acknowledge half birthdays around here with much fanfare but Owen seemed pretty excited about the prospect of being 5 1/2 when we discussed it a month or two ago so I wanted to have a couple surprises for him. I didn't tell him where we were going but when Paige asked and I said it was a surprise, Owen got an excited look on his face and started whispering to her about going to Chuck E Cheese! Good thing that's where we were headed!



See the excitement?! I took this picture of Owen after I confirmed that we were indeed going to Chuck E Cheese





I have a hilarious video of Paige on this ride in which she manages to simultaneously look bored and confused




Cupcakes after dinner! I did consider giving him half a cupcake but didn't think that would go over well...



Bye Bye Paco!

We made a decision to get rid of Paige's pacifier (which she affectionately dubbed "Paco") last weekend and I waited awhile to post about it to see how things would play out. We decided to say goodbye to Paco by putting it in a Build-a-Bear hoping that she would accept the bear as an equal replacement. Remember when we did that for Owen and he made Newton? And he totally went with it? Well...Paige begins every naptime and bedtime saying, very sadly, "I don't want Paco in there." So we're still working on it. She was super excited about making the actual bear and putting Paco inside but obviously didn't quite understand the ramifications of going along with it... 

Ahh...happy and relaxed...



At the store




Getting the heart started




Saying goodbye to Paco




I tried to play up the excitement thinking that might help...




Giving Pacobear a bath




Hugging Pacobear (before Paige realized he would betray her!)



Skirt Week!

We're on day 5 of skirt week! I was going to wait until it was done to post but I'm doing it early in case anyone wants to join in the last couple of days. Of course, you're welcome to wear a skirt whenever you want but some of us need a little motivation to get things to happen...ahem...Anyway, it's been nice to rotate some underused items into my wardrobe and feel a bit fancy. I walked down the stairs one day and Owen said, "Oooh, Paige look at Mommy! You look nice!"  I was not at all offended that he sounded so surprised. Nope.

Me. Posing. Not awkward at all...

Blueberries!

Owen proclaimed blueberries to be his favorite fruit a couple months ago but he hasn't had much chance to eat them plain because we've been putting them in all of our baked goods. Like these Perfect Blueberry Muffins. I don't have a picture of them because we ate them so fast but I used greek yogurt and subbed some wheat flour for the plain and they were...perfect (Of course. The name didn't lie). Then we made this Blueberry Zucchini Bread and it went almost as fast but I knew to grab my camera this time. I left out half the sugar and subbed applesauce for half the oil and it still baked up just fine.    

Camp 2012

Camp was a resounding success as always. I think next year Paige will get her first chance to sleep in the tent and have a s'more by the campfire but I'm glad we got to enjoy the lodge for one more year! Many games were played, a lot of good food was eaten and the weather stayed nice the whole time.

History Museum

History Museum. Because we love learning...and sometimes it's just too hot to play outside. They should put that on their brochures, right? 

The Popsicle Run

I love how easily kids take to routine. Especially if it involves popsicles. I don't know how long it's been going on but lately our nightly routine has been to eat dinner, grab some popsicles (or an apple) and sit on the front steps. Of course, the "sitting" has evolved into sprinting up and down the walkway while holding your melting popsicle overhead. It's nice and feels like the perfect summery thing to do. I'll be keeping those popsicles stocked in the freezer for awhile. 

New Food

Crispy Breaded Tofu



Italian Meatball Sliders




Strawberry Balsamic Pizza



Festivities!

Weather on the Fourth of July was super hot but the kids barely noticed. We celebrated by having a festive breakfast, hanging out with good friends and then going to see some fireworks. I was so sure we were going to be sitting in the middle of a thunderstorm with no place to run to but instead we got to watch some cool lightning with no rain and the fireworks went off as planned (you were right, Pat!). The next day Owen (accompanied by Pat) very proudly marched in the parade for the first time and Paige and I got to watch. I was so excited to see Owen that I missed getting a good picture of him because I was waving like a crazy lady.

Red, White and Blue waffles



Walking to fireworks




Waiting for the parade




More waiting (let's be honest, this picture is in this post because Paige's hair is cute...) 




Pat and Owen are in there!





The Rides

 Before we got to the Magic Kingdom I was wondering how we would keep the kids entertained while we waited in the long lines but it turns out that Disney took care of that for us! Yay, they think of everything! They've reconfigured a lot of the rides to make room for activities the kids can do while they wait (and Fast Passes make the wait even shorter...kudos again Disney).

(I should mention that a lot of the pictures I have from our vacation were taken by Pat's family!)



Teacups! I was in a teacup with Paige and Pat's mom because I thought Paige wouldn't want to spin but it turns out as soon as the ride started she began spinning us on her own!



Waiting for the Winnie the Pooh ride



more waiting for Pooh...



There were a few honey walls you could manipulate when you rubbed your hands on them. They must have looked very realistic to Paige because she licked one before we could stop her :)





Dumbo ride! I love this picture!



Waiting for Dumbo in the ride's play area




more Dumbo!




Waiting for Pirates of the Caribbean. This is the point in the day where the kids were getting really loopy... but in a fun way.





It's a Small World. One of Owen and Paige's favorites; Paige liked waving to the "dollies".



Still waiting for Pooh...

Disney People/Animals/Statues

We spent two days exploring the Magic Kingdom while we were gone and met a good number of characters. Owen was so excited to meet Pooh, Tigger, Mickey and Minnie while Paige wanted to be near them but not out of my arms. She talks about the whole thing like they're all best friends now though. The look on Owen's face though was the best part. He gave huge hugs and smiled the whole time.



We probably waited longer to meet Pooh and Tigger than we did for most of the rides! Definitely worth it!



Mickey and Minnie

Zurg! Aaah!

That's Cinderella. She blew a kiss to Owen. You might think she was randomly throwing a kiss out to the crowd and Owen thought it was for him. Nope. There was a big space between the crowd and us because we were standing back by a store, she totally threw the kiss over the crowd and right to Owen. Again, Owen's face was priceless!

This was at Downtown Disney at a store where you could make crazy Mr. Potato Heads with all sorts of fun pieces.

Me and Lauren hanging out with Sleeping Beauty (or Aurora...). I felt a bit underdressed standing next to her. 

Paige and Lego Woody. She was super excited about him and ran right up to pose without prompting. In fact, it took some convincing to get her away...