Who's happier?

My Aunt and Uncle bought a weekend house on the Eastern Shore about 2 years ago and I'm not sure who's happier about it-us or them!  It's only about 40 minutes from our house which is awesome. We've been there for countless weekends, day trips, and overnights at this point and it's such a relaxing place!  It's walking distance to the river and has a huge pool where we pretty much live when we're there.  It's been great to spend lots of time with my Aunt and Uncle too (and we're well matched in Wii games which is a nice perk for the rainy days too!)  We spent Memorial Day weekend there (and Father's Day weekend too!) and here are some of the pics.

My 92 year old grandmother LOVED getting to spend the weekend with Ella and Sadie and see them in action for much longer than our average visit.  She was in heaven (though their clutter stressed her out but she hid it well!)

Marissa's roommate came for the day too-we love Mr.Jason :-)

Aunt Barbara, the grill master :-)

Sadie tried asparagus for the first time and loved it!

I have a feeling I'm going to have lots of smirking, patronizing pictures like this in the years to come. Oy.

I love this picture!! My grandmother specifically requested S'mores because she hadn't had them in decades and it was so much fun to watch her indulge and enjoy them SO much!  She ate ate least 2 or 3 :-)

Sadie and my grandmother bonded big time.  Well, Sadie's always liked her quite a bit.  Maybe she senses that she's where she got her light hair and blue eyes!

Reading the paper in the morning

Strawberry Picking 2011

We've picked strawberries every year since Ella could walk (maybe before) so it was fun to take Sadie too this time!  We tried out a new farm that's much closer and more accessible for little kids.  But, I did feel like a traitor to the farm I grew up going to!  Don't worry Larriland, we'll be back!

Imagine!

 There's a local festival that we really like because of the tons of artistic activities available for kids.  This year Chris was out of town camping with college friends when it happened so Aunt Marissa helped me take the kids.  It was a beautiful, sunny, not sweltering hot day and we found parking close by in a garage for only $4.  Oh yeah, and the crafts, music, and activities were pretty cool too :-)

I was SO impressed with this mermaid!! The face paint lady had skills!!

I was planning to use the stroller but Marissa insisted she wanted to "be a mom for a day" and carry Sadie in the baby Bjorn.  I warned her it would be hot and heavy but she did it!  I was totally impressed.  18lbs in that thing is ROUGH!

Potting her own plant

She made a cupcake out of clay.  It was actually a really cool idea that I intend to steal and reproduce :-)

Thanks Aunt Marissa!

Tile Coaster Tutorial

Through the wondrous organizational tool of all things beautiful (Pinterest) I found this idea.  And it was as easy as promised and with good results!  Great, cute, cheap, little gift!

Materials:
4x4 Ceramic tiles (I got mine for 16 cents each at Lowe's)
Mod Podge (and something to spread it with)
Beautiful Scrapbook paper cut into 3.75" squares
Clear Spray-on Sealant
Felt cut into little squares

I actually had everything but the tiles already on hand which made it even easier to execute this little project as an impromptu present for Ella's preschool teachers.

So, #1 Utilize any able-bodied small child who won't drop the tiles to clean them off for you to prep them for the project

#2 Set up any other small children with something exciting to do (I let Sadie have water on her tray! I know, I'm a wild woman) and strap them into something where they can't eat the Mod Podge.

#3 If you're brave enough, let the older child use the paper cutter to slice up the squares slightly smaller than the size of the tile

#4 Don't get frustrated when the child will only make weird faces for the camera

#5 Admire your pretty squares!  We did purple and black for one of Ella's teachers who LOVES the Ravens and blues for the other teacher for no particular reason.

#6 Grab the Mod Podge and slather on a coat on the naked tile, then on top of the paper.  Let it dry and repeat for 2-3 coats. And don't freak out if you're new to Mod Podge-even if the papers look wet or darker or cloudy when you paint it on, they'll dry clear and normal looking.

#7  I didn't take a picture of the next step but when the tiles feel dry, take them outside and give them a good coat of the Spray Sealant so they'll actually be waterproof for the glasses that rest on them.

#8 Gather your felt (you can even coordinate the colors if you're feeling fancy) and glue it onto the back of the tile in each corner.

#9 In this case, since Ella helped and they were for her teachers I let her write "Love, Ella" on the back of each one in Sharpie

#10 Tie 'em up and send 'em off! Easy and Fun and Useful! I made a set to match our new green living room the next day and I like 'em a lot.

Back in the 'Burg

Because of my fabulous college years at W&M, we've loved to visit Williamsburg since we moved back to the East Coast 5 years ago.  I've blogged about the trips here and here and here .  This was Ella's 3rd visit in her short 5 year life!  This time, the trip came as a response to an invitation from my dear friend Ana (I can't believe we've been friends from 8 years already!) who was able to get two timeshare units right next to each other and asked us to join her family for a long weekend trip!  

Ana and me enjoying Cracker Barrel!

We had really fabulous time.  Traveling with friends and 3 kids under 6 could have been disastrous hard but it really was so much fun! Ana and Jonny are so sweet and our families meshed together so easily!  What a blessing.  Ella and their sweet son Daniel (3 years old) played well together the entire time despite the age and gender difference.  We were so happy to see them spontaneously holding hands and really enjoying each other all weekend!

 

 We had a great time in Colonial Williamsburg checking out the sights...

 

  Sadie was cranky the first day until we realized she had a fever! Poor thing! After that she returned to being pretty easy going and slept SO much better than we expected in an unfamiliar place.  She napped and slept through the night really well!  She did however discover the new skill of shrieking on this trip.  Mostly when food isn't coming at her fast enough.  Oh dear Lord let this shrieking phase be short. Good thing I love her so stinkin' much!

I got to give a little tour of part of William and Mary's campus which made me giddy with all the great memories I have there...

entering the Wren building

Sadie looking regal on an ancient chair in the Wren Building

next to the Sunken Gardens

  

Back at the Timeshare (which was spectacular-I highly recommend the Marriott Manor Club at Ford's Colony) we got to do a lot of relaxing as well as swim...

 And had an amazing picnic dinner in the gazebo right outside our front door...

Jonny was our gracious chef!

 

And snagged as many family and group pics as we could...

It really was a great trip and we are so thankful for great friends.  Excited to share and create more memories like these!