Wordless Wednesday--Caribbean

Best Idea I've Had Lately

Sometimes my ideas work and sometimes they don't. This one is a winner. I've had vacation scrapbook supplies sitting around for months. Okay, years. My perfectionist tendencies kept me from starting. You know how that goes-if I can't do it perfectly, why start?

Time to get over it! To be frank, it wasn't going to be perfect anyway. So, here's the idea--turn the children loose with photos, scrapbook paper, glue sticks and stickers. The only rule is that they have to leave room to label who's who and where they are.

It looks like, in less than an hour, our 2008 Grand Cayman trip will finally be documented in a finished scrapbook! These scrapbook pages won't impress the experts, but I'm thrilled to pieces and they will mean more to us in the future than any "perfect" page I could create.

Have you had any great ideas lately?

Wordless Wednesday--Tulips

Yay! Vacation pictures!

Break out the popcorn and find a comfortable seat! I've got vacation pictures for you.

My family and I went to Walt Disney World a couple of weeks ago. We had a nice time, although my son and I managed to get sick and one of the girls was sick the night we got home. On the whole though, it was a nice trip and we brought back great photos.

First up, this photo is from Disney's Animal Kingdom. It's a great park and my son, the animal lover, really enjoyed it.
Next is my husband and children at the Magic Kingdom. The is the original park at Disney World in Florida. It's younger than Disneyland in California, but the first Disney park to open in central Florida. It's got the classics--Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo, etc. Should it worry me that my husband and daughter coordinated their outfits?

Look! It's me and my girls at Epcot! We stopped for a snack at the Land pavilion. I love Epcot and the Land has two of my favorite rides--Soarin' and Living with the Land.

Soarin' is a simulator ride that has you flying over California, with views of the ocean, orange groves and even a golf course.

Living with the Land is a slow ride through a greenhouse. But it's a Disney greenhouse and you see the most amazing ways they grow things, like tomatoes growing like trees (with elaborate supports) and plants growing without soil. They spray the nutrients directly onto the roots.

It was a fun trip and the children had loads of fun. On the whole though, I'm really glad to be back home, with fresh eggs and herbs just starting to peek back through the soil. Hmm, an omelet is sounding like a really nice dinner...

I'm back! Sort of...

I can hardly believe it's been almost a month since my last post. I've been knee deep in Easter basket making, both for the Etsy shop and for the Carolina Craftsmen Spring Classic. The Spring Classic is a three day, indoor craft show in Columbia, SC. I had a great time with my friend, Karan, who helped me in my booth. We met some amazing crafts people, who are not only very talented, but are also really nice people.

So, now I'm on vacation. Really. I thought my husband had lost his mind when he suggested going on vacation the day after one of the biggest shows I do. But, he promised to do all the work to get us ready, including mounds of laundry and packing the children's clothes. He arranged for a house sitter, to keep an eye on things back home, as well as to take care of the cat, dogs, chickens and goats. He even made an appointment for Frodo the Wonder Yorkie to go to the groomer this week.

So, here we are at the food court of our resort, having what turned out to be pretty good food. I think my husband is looking pretty fresh for a guy who spent the weekend doing housework and then an entire day driving.


My other deal was that I would get the first full day of vacation to relax. Now, here I am in our hotel room at Disney World, by myself. It's pretty nice.

What have you been doing, Kay?

I'm so glad you asked.

I've been visiting Florida theme parks in the rain. Checking out the chickens at the state fair with my son: Grieving the loss of our 20-year-old chair, lovingly known as "the blue chair":

And sewing. Lots and lots of sewing:

Weekend in Atlanta

My husband called me last Wednesday and said, "I could use a couple of days off. Let's take a little vacation." So much for my stay-at-home July. He decided on a weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.

We actually had a nice time. There are loads of fun, family-friendly things to do around Atlanta. We went to the Atlanta Medieval Times, where my daughter had a great time. She cheered our knight and booed the bad guy. For two hours.

Did you know that Zoo Atlanta is one of only four zoos in the United States that has giant pandas? We didn't either, but when we found out, my son could hardly wait to get there.

One of the pandas is an eight-month old baby and did a few acrobatic tricks for the visitors. How cute is that?

We also spent a day at Six Flags Whitewater, a big waterpark. The children weren't into the big slides, but they loved the lazy river.

There are lots of other things we could have done, like the Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the Coke Factory tour, not to mention going to a professional sports event. Atlanta has Braves baseball, Hawks basketball and Falcons football.

How's your July so far?

So glad to be home...

It was a nice vacation. Really. I love the beach and, living in South Carolina, some very nice beaches are within a 2-4 hour drive. Last week, we went to the Grand Strand (SC coast, from Little River to Georgetown) and had a great time. The water was still to cold for me, but my children loved it, jumping waves and trying out a boogie board.
On the days when the weather didn't cooperate for beach time, we went to Broadway at the Beach, a shopping center/attraction a few miles inland. There are specialty shops, restaurants, and attractions for families. There's an IMAX theatre, traditional movie theatre, WonderWorks (children's museum), mini-golf and MagiQuest (a sort of walk through video game). The attractions themselves can be pricey, but there's no charge just to walk through and window shop.

We ate lots of seafood, walked on the beach, built sand castles and had as much fun as we could stand at Broadway at the Beach. So, it was a nice vacation. Really. But I am so glad to be home.

Darts

Okay, suppose you are in one of the most exciting cities in the world. Added to that, you are staying at a fabulous hotel in a very fancy part of that city. Further suppose you have the opportunity to be in that hotel, in that exciting city, with your husband of 20 years and your recently graduated-from-high-school daughter.

Now, what would you do in the evening?

Why, of course you would watch Phil "The Power" Taylor win the darts championship at Blackpool!

What were you thinking?

Stonehenge

On Sunday of our visit to London, we spent the day away from the city, on a trip to Stonehenge and the town of Bath. I think Stonehenge was my favorite part of the trip. It's hard to imagine people building this structure with primitive hand tools, and the stone had to travel quite a few miles to get to the site. Astonishing.

Our guide, Debbie, told us that there's also a Woodhenge--but it hasn't held up as well.

Home From Our Holiday

In the US, we go on vacation. In Europe, they go "on holiday". We've just returned from a "holiday" in London.

London proper, is home to 7 million people, with 5 million more in the greater London area. It's an amazingly busy, vibrant city, with huge crowds everywhere. For this small-town girl, it was quite an experience. I'll try to remember that I'm back in the south and shoving past people is frowned upon.

We had a great time on vacation!

My husband and I had a great time on our vacation. We went to Bern, Switzerland. Switzerland is beautiful; there's a postcard view everywhere you look. Here I am on the terrace of our hotel restaurant. The view was great, even on cloudy days. This was a particularly good day for seeing the mountains.








We went to the top of Mount Schilthorn on Tuesday and had a late lunch in the Piz Gloria, the restaurant at the top of the mountain. This is where scenes from On Her Majesty's Secret Service were filmed. I'm sure the view is stunning when the clouds lift.






Isn't this what you have in your head when you think of Switzerland?












Here we are at our "summer home". (Feel free to snicker) This is Chillon Castle. It sits on Lake Geneva in the western part of the country. It's an amazingly well preserved castle. Andy, my husband, could have spent all day exploring.









As much fun as we had, I'm glad to be home. There's nothing like a wake up call from our three year old daughter, even in beautiful Switzerland.