Monday, July 12, 2010

A Shower for the Bride

We have a lot of boys in this family. My brother has two children, they are both boys. One of sisters has three kids and they were all boys. I have two kids and they are boys, and then there is my other sister, she has one child. AND IT’S A GIRL!

 

me and devc

Devon came along when I was 13. With my sister being a single mom most of Devon’s life, Devon spent a lot of time at my house. I grew up with her feeling more like a little sister than a niece (plus it’s weird to be an aunt at 13!).

My lovely niece is getting married Labor Day weekend! We are so excited for her and love her fiancé, Justin. I threw a bridal shower at my home in honor of the gorgeous bride-to-be this past weekend.

 

 

table

 

flowers

 

It was so fun to do a girly shower! I just don’t get to have that much girly stuff at home and I went all out with flowers, candles, and pretty things.

Devon made a haul with gifts. I can remember vividly how awesome it was to get nice things when you have nothing! She had a blast opening all the gifts (some mailed in from those that couldn’t make it) and we enjoyed watching her.

 

presents

devon

presents 2

 

 

 

 

Mary and DevonDevon and her future Mother-in-Law. Thanks for taking such good care of Devon for us Mary! 

 

 

 

lisa Carrie (Devon’s mom) and Aunt Lisa

 

 

 

tracy Aunt Tracy and Grandma

It was such a nice time. It was nice to finally meet someone from Justin’s side of the family. I know they are a huge part of Devon’s life because they live near her, and we do not, and we look forward to meeting everyone else in September. It’s the first grandchild in the family to get married so it’s pretty darn exciting!

pic 10 black and white

Can’t wait to celebrate the wedding!!

Much love,

LB

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Dells 2010

** As a side note, I am having trouble with Live Writer. I am regretting switching over to it. I spend so much time spacing my blog out so people can read it easily. I space out the pictures so they aren’t crammed on top of each other. I try to make reading of it smooth…..and then the minute I publish it smooshes everything back together. So then I go back and redo every paragraph and picture and space out my text again and maybe ONE line will work. I have googled to try and find out what the deal is…no answers. So sorry. I know this is hard to read, hard to know which text goes with which picture, hard to tell where gears switch. SO ANNOYING!! GRRRR!

A little pressure from TK leads me to posting tonight. Now maybe she will leave a comment! Bwahahahahaha!

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Wisconsin Dells. It was a great couple of days and we did some fun things we hadn’t done in previous visits.

We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge.

great wolf sign

A couple of prerequisites I have about where we stay:

1. Can’t be open to the public because the crowds are horrendous.

2. Needs outdoor and indoor areas in case of bad weather (which we had some of).

3. Can’t cost more than the Taj Mahal (which most hotels in the Dells barely squeak by this one).

I finally figured out the difference between the Wilderness and the Great Wolf (which had been the two resorts we seem to go back and forth between. I used to not be able to to tell a difference, but now I know what it is.

The Wilderness has many more areas of play, the Great Wolf is quieter and cleaner. I missed the pool side music cranked from the pool side lounges at Wilderness while I basked in the sun, I did not miss the noise at night.  So, it’s a toss up each year as to which one we will go to!

We discovered this drive-in theater one year while visiting the Dells. We love it. This year we actually waited (and didn’t rush out the weekend it opened, shocking I know) and saw Toy Story!

connor throwing glove

connor ball

noah drive in

I was smart and brought the kids’ gloves and balls so they could play catch while waiting for dark.

drive in

 

drive in 2

 

We made five trips to the concession stand and enjoyed lots of yummy treats!

*******************************************

The kids hit every slide this year. Even the Howlin’ Tornado which I can barely look at pictures of…….

boys on tubes

Coming off a smaller ride. They could be poster children for “Fun at the Water park!” Huh?

tubes rice

I had to take this picture to prove who won “the race”. My kids aren’t competitive or anything.

noah swim

connor swim

************************************************

For the first time we went on a Duck Boat tour. It was a lot of fun. We learned a little history, saw a deer bedding down, and saw some gorgeous sites. We had this guide that had just graduated from high school and he cracked jokes the whole time. He fed us so much bunk that when he said we would get wet when going from land to water…..we thought he was kidding.

connor wet

He wasn’t.

limestone

Apparently this sandstone is only found 3 places in the world. I thought it would look nice on my back splash in my kitchen or as columns on our new bar we are hoping to get. Loved the colors. I guess it crumbles in your hands when you touch it, so I suppose I shouldn’t use it for the aforementioned home revisions.

*********************************************

We totally lucked out and found out that our hotel was doing fireworks right outside our hotel room! So, we swam until 9:00 and went up the room, showered, and took some snacks out to our balcony to watch the display. I must say, I don’t think I have ever been so close to fireworks! I could not even get a decent picture.

room fireworks

fireworks

It felt like they were on top of us.

Right when they started it began to POUR! I felt bad for all the people on the grass on blankets. They all ran for cover. We huddled under the roof of the balcony and we very thankful that we scored room #430.

**************************

us

Mike and I were there too. In case you were wondering. I got to eat at my favorite place in the Dells that I discovered last year, The High Rock Cafe. Yum.

Successful trip all around. Hope you enjoyed your 4th!

Big weekend ahead.  Mike’s yearly trip to Canada, a bridal shower I am hosting for my niece, and being a single mother for a week. Hope I come out alive.

Peace Out,

LB

 

Friday, July 2, 2010

Amazing Muffins

 

Two posts in one day. Crazy. If you need to see 4th of July fireworks, please scroll down.

I am packing and baking for our trip to the Dells tomorrow. I wanted to make some muffins to take with us to use up some blueberries I had. I have never made real blueberry muffins. If you know me, anytime I am venturing into unknown territory I research it and read reviews.

So, that’s what I did. I researched a great blueberry muffin recipe and ran across this one called “The Best Blueberry Muffin Ever” or something like that. I wasn’t sucked in with the title. I got sucked in by the 4000 reviews this muffin had. Anytime something is reviewed that many times, you know it’s got to be outstanding. People gave this muffin 4.5/5 out of 5 over and over again. So, I had found my recipe.

Can I just tell you….these are amazing muffins. Honestly, sooooo good. I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfect. I had to post in case some you wanted something yummy this holiday, and also so I don’t lose the recipe! :)

 

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line with muffin liners.
  2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
  3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

muffin

If you do try it, let me know what you think!

LB

Happy 4th of July

 

Last year I kind-of figured out how to take photos of fireworks without having them appear blurry.

 

fireworks good

 

 

I had to take about 60 pictures to get 4 good ones.

fireworks good 1

 

 

 

Don’t ask me how I did it because I can’t remember.

 

 

fireworks

 

 

 

 

This year we will be at the Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells for the 4th……….

We will take in Toy Story 3 at the drive-in, eat at some yummy places, swim until we are puckered, and take in the fireworks at a new place.

Hope you all enjoy the long holiday weekend!

Peace out,

LB