Life Simplified
Travel & Vacation: Fun in Charleston
On our family road trip to Charleston we got to discover neat places. Thanks to a friend, who gave us some information in advance, we had a blast exploring new kid playgrounds during our time away. It was a fun filled inexpensive mini vacation together.
Karlie climbing. The girls and I spent one morning at the Mt. Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park. They loved it!
Brina on the tire swing. Brina loves spinning on this swing!
Karlie enjoying her time at the playground. It took a lot of work to climb up the jungle gym and go down this slide, Karlie is quite pleased with her accomplishment!
Brina loves this slide. Brina happy to finally go down the slide, several kids fell trying to get up the jungle gym to go down this slide.
Giggling as they look down on Mommy! Brina and Karlie loved being up high and thought it was hilarious how “tiny” Mommy was on the ground.
Brina determined to get find the diving stick. The girls swam for hours in the hotel pool. They had fun splashing, playing, relaxing and meeting new friends.
Karlie loved splashing around in the pool. We spent almost five hours in the pool that afternoon. The nice part about where the pool was located is that part of it was in the shade throughout the day so you didn’t have to be out in the intense heat all day swimming.
Daddy, Karlie and Brina ready for dinner at Red's We ate at a local seafood restaurant one night. The girls favorite part was that the kids meals were served on a frisbee so they were able to take it home with them, they thought it was so funny.
Crossing the Arthur Ravenel Bridge just after sun down to go into downtown Charleston. We gave the girls the option after dinner to go back to the hotel and swim or go to downtown Charleston and drive around. Much to our surprise they wanted to go explore downtown Charleston. They always enjoyed going over this bridge!
The girls wanted to know all the history behind the cannons. Daddy patiently answered many questions on the history behind Charleston and the surrounding area during our walk through the park and downtown.
The most bizarre thing we saw in Charleston. As we were walking through the part we saw a visible path of white feathers about 3 to 5 feet across from one tree to the next tree (about 30 to 40 feet away). The feathers had obviously been placed there for a reason, we believe there is some historical resemblance but not sure. Can anyone who has more knowledge on the history of Charleston give us an explanation? It was odd seeing a path of feathers between two huge trees and several cars as they were driving by honked as they passed that part of the park.
See the white line between the two trees? It is a wide path of white feathers. I am still a little perplexed by this one…..
Our family thoroughly enjoy Charleston the food, adventures, and time together was refreshing. I am thrilled the girls had fun exploring the town. I have a little bit more about our Charleston adventures coming up soon so stay tuned!
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Road Trip to Charleston
We recently went on a road family road trip to Charleston, it technically was a work and family fun trip combined. I am thankful for a wonderful time together exploring Charleston. A lot of great memories were made that week!
Brina and Karlie in Charleston! This is the pier near the Waterfront Park, you can get a good view of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge from the pier.
Brina enjoying the slide! The girls loved the Waterfront Park, thanks Janet for telling us about this great park! The park is directly under the large Arthur Ravenel Bridge. It is great having the park under the bridge because the majority of it is shaded even during the hottest parts of the day.
Karlie fun at the Waterfront Park. Karlie climbing on the jungle gym at Waterfront Park. If you look above her head you can see the cement from the bridge above us. You can hear all the traffic going along the bridge as you are playing on the playground. It’s a great park and if you go they charge $0.50 per hour to park (they take cash, coins, credit / debit). I was never able to get the credit / debit to work so I would suggest making sure you have cash or coins prior to going to the park.
Brina spinning at the park. The girls do better at spinning then I do. They thought this was so much fun standing and twisting around!
Karlie doing her workbook at the hotel. Karlie and Brina thought it was great doing a few pages of their workbooks in the hotel. They did really well! Karlie made her own desk out of an end table and used the cooler for her chair, she was so proud of her “creative” desk.
Brina on the Waterfront slide. Back at Waterfront park for more fun. The girls loved the park so much they wanted to show Daddy so we got pizza, ate a picnic at the park and let the girls play so more.
Karlie on the slide. Karlie having a blast on the slide at the park.
Brina spinning. The girls thought these were awesome. No matter how you sat in these stools you would spin. I was surprised at how long they could spin, Mommy didn’t last nearly as long!
Karlie still dazed from a big spin. These seats were hilarious. Karlie lost a shoe on this spin!
Daddy and Brina on the double swing. They had double swings under awnings along the pier. It was beautiful and cool sitting together enjoying a swing!
Mommy and Karlie swinging on the other side! We had a blast in Charleston. The first day we spent exploring a little bit and enjoying some time playing at their beautiful park. Thankful for a great time with the family creating memories!
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Zucchini, Green Beans, Squash, Lettuce, Cucumber, Strawberries, Purple Beans, and Tomatoes!
We are loving the fresh vegetables from our garden! This week I only took one picture from the garden because we were traveling. The good news is we were able to take some of our goodies from the garden to share with family along the way. Also, while we are gone my brother and his family get to pick any of the produce that is ready for themselves or to give away so I didn’t get pictures of the items they picked while we were out of town.
Here are some of the fresh veggies we were able to eat and share this week:
Fresh Garden Produce! We were able to pick this all in one day fresh from the garden. Fresh Zucchini, Green Beans, Summer Squash, Cucumber, Cherry Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes, Whole Size Tomatoes, Fresh Leafy Green Lettuce, Purple Beans, a handful of Strawberries that made it in the picture and a Banana Pepper (not pictured because it was ate by the kiddos). Some of these items we delivered to a good friend since we were traveling and we wanted to make sure they were eaten while they were still fresh.
We were able to share some of the veggies this week with family and friends! Thankful for a garden that we can share!
What are you eating out of your garden this week?
Spending Time with Grandma!
We were so thankful that my Mom was able to come visit us for several days. She went with us to Savannah for my cousins graduation and time at the beach. The girls love spending time with Grandma and were thrilled to hang out together.
Grandma Penny helping the girls do their workbooks! I think Grandma Penny was much more patient then Mommy doing the workbooks!
Grandma Penny reading books to the girls! The girls love it when Grandma reads them books. Today they relaxed for a few minutes on the front porch with a stack of books to read together. Thank you Mom for reading to our girls, they LOVE their time with you! I am thankful for a Mom who takes the time to be with our family. The girls have many wonderful family memories because of moments like these!
New Upromise eCoupons for July 2011
Upromise has posted their new eCoupons for the month of July 2011. Remember to activate your eCoupons to get additional savings. If you have not yet signed up for Upromise you can get more information regarding on our experience or directly at the Upromise website.
This month they have 28 coupons you can activate for bonus savings. Once you activate your eCoupons all you have to do is scan your rewards card or purchase the items at the store and the cash will be added to your account. You don’t even have to carry any coupons to get the rewards!
You can go to their website for more information on the Upromise program, it’s free to join.
Summer Activities: Fun Family Day at Home!
School’s out and the summer heat is here. We love spending time as a family outside, however, some of that time involves finding cool activities to do during the summer heat. There is always something fun to do during the girls summer vacation away from school. Below are some of the fun adventures we did on a recent Saturday together.
Swimming in the Pool
- Brina and Karlie Swimming in the Pool!
Eating Ice Cream
Daddy, Karlie, Brina and Skipper enjoying a bowl of ice cream on the front porch! Napping in the Hammock
Karlie snoozing in the shade on the hammock after a swim in the pool! Playing Under the Jungle Gym – Sand Fun
Brina "cleaning" the sand off the Jungle Gym after swimming in the pool! Science Experiments
Growing Rocks in a Rainbow of Colors! Since one of the girls is into "sharks" I choose a shark background for this experiment. 
Brina and Karlie watching the rocks grow! It was an interesting experiment over a couple days! Book: “The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room” by Stan and Jan Berenstain
I love my kiddos, however, there are days I feel like all I do is pick up after the entire family. It is amazing how quickly the house can get cluttered. When you add all the kid books, toys and goodies it can become a mess in a hurry. The girls do help pick up but the process is not always the most efficient and every so often we make a point to go through the toys and books they have to keep our home from getting cluttered with extra stuff. We like the book The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room by Stan & Jan Berenstain. They have a whole series of great “character” books that our girls enjoy. This is one of the books Mommy pulls out occasionally to read because it is good to not only remind the kids but the adults in our household that it is important to take care of the items we have. Also, I like how they encourage the cubs to share with others. I think it is important that we are good examples as parents first followed by teaching them through books and spending time organizing / putting away their toys with them. What is one of your favorite Berenstain Bear books?
Recipe: Taco Lasagna
Taco Lasagna, one of our family's favorites! Taco Lasagna is a favorite menu request in our household. It is one that my husband requests at least once a month and it is super easy to make. Our friend, Terry, from church was kind enough to share the recipe with us. If you like taco’s this is a great recipe to check out. It uses flour tortillas instead of pasta to separate the layers. Brina helped me put this one together, she even sliced the olives all by herself, did one complete layer and added cheese. Glad that she enjoys helping Mommy in the kitchen! Thanks for sharing the recipe Terry!
Taco Lasagna:
- 1 pound ground Beef or Turkey
- 1/2 cup chopped Green Pepper (optional)
- 1/2 cup chopped Onions
- 2/3 cup Water
- 1 package of Taco Seasoning
- 1 (15 oz) can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (14.5 oz ) can Mexican Tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (16 oz) can Refried Beans
- 6 (8 inch) Flour Tortillas
- 3 cups shredded Mexican Cheese
In a large skillet, cook the meat, green pepper, and onion over medium heat until done. Add water and taco seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 2 minutes. Stir in black beans and tomatoes. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Place 2 flour tortillas in a greased 13 x 9 pan. Spread half of the refried beans then half of the beef mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup Mexican cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese (I try to add a little extra cheese if I have it and sliced olives if we have them in the pantry or fridge). Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted. I usually take the foil off the last few minutes to let the cheese on top get a little crispy since our family likes it that way.
Fresh & Healthy: How We Split Our First Cherry Tomato 4 Ways
- Our first tomato this year was a sweet little cherry tomato!
The garden has been a wonderful teaching opportunity for our kids in many ways from the science of preparing, planting, and maintaining it to sharing with others and many more great learning moments. One of the most exciting parts about the garden is seeing the plants start producing vegetables and fruits. The tomato plants took (months according to the girls) to turn from green to red. We have made it a point to split the first type of vegetable or fruit that comes out of the garden four ways. The first pick of lettuce, summer squash, zucchini, etc….were easy to split among the family. The first tomato happened to be a little red cherry tomato. The girls giggled thinking their was no way we could split it four ways. We teased them about making 4 sandwiches out of the tomato and they thought that would be impossible. My sweet husband came up with a great solution that was a huge hit. The girls had a blasting watching us come up with a delicious treat to share with the whole family. They were amused and excited to eat their first BLT sandwich of the summer!
Making our first "tomato" sandwiches of the summer season! We took a tortilla, small scoop and cut out 8 little circles to make our sandwiches.
Cutting up our first tomato to eat on our sandwiches! Daddy carefully cut the tomato into 4 slices.
Our first BLT sandwich - the mini version! The first cherry tomato became a mini BLT’s for the family. We had tortilla’s for the bread, fresh lettuce from the garden, the fresh cherry tomato and a small piece of bacon. Who’s ready for a BLT?!
My first BLT sandwich of the summer with fresh lettuce and our first tomato from the garden! The girls giggled while eating their bite sized BLT sandwiches. They didn’t think Mommy and Daddy could make 4 sandwiches with our first tomato since it was a cherry tomato. We did it and they tasted delicious! These would make great appetizers and you can use fresh garden veggies to put them together. Make up a few, your kids will LOVE them!
Fresh & Healthy: Having Fun with Produce
Fruit and Veggie Snack The girls have enjoyed helping pick vegetables and fruits from our garden this summer. They don’t get too excited about pulling the weeds but have gotten better at spotting produce and picking it. Once the fresh produce is washed they are always fascinated at seeing all the goodies spread out on the counter. Many times they pick a variety of pieces to eat at that time. One night as they were getting into their pj’s I put together a special fruit / veggie snack from the produce we had picked that day (see picture above). They giggled as they ate their special goodies from the garden and talked about how to grow food in a garden.
Smile – sliced Green Peppers
Nose – sliced Strawberry
Eyes – halved Cherry Tomato
Eye Lashes – cut up Purple Beans
It’s a simple way to get the kids excited about eating fruits and vegetables. I love surprising them with special treats and seeing their joy at getting something fun to eat.
