Cape Cod

Okay, I have a confession.  I should have been diligently working on my answers and new
questions for the Leibster Award.  I should have been checking on all of the awesome, brilliant blogs that I'm following and honestly love.  But I was in Cape Cod with my family and although I've been back for a while now, I have been soooooo overwhelmed with trying to catch up on work, laundry, cleaning, and so much more.  It is ridiculous.  I still don't feel like I'm anywhere near caught up and we've been back for somewhere around a week now.  So I am going to go work on my answers to the Leibster award and leave you with a bunch of unedited pictures I'm slapping up from both my phone and a my computer.  

 The resort in which we stayed had a reptile show which was really awesome.  My daughter got to be the volunteer on stage helping to hold the boa constrictor.

 And at the end she got to hold the American Alligator.

 My son reluctantly touched it.

 The kids liked the pool more than the ocean.  They loved that they could just wake up, walk out the door and get in the pool...when the could convince me to come.  (And no, I don't really have 28 chins....I hope.)

 My daughter has a thing for mermaids. So she became one.

And it rubbed off on my son.  You can't really tell from the picture, but he had a mermaid tail as well (except he couldn't help but wiggle his toes and make the whole thing fall apart over and over again.)

 We did some catch and release fishing.  My daughter is an EXPERT caster.  (Yes, I learned how to cast from my 8 year old.  She learned last summer from my brother.)

 My 3 year old caught a fish almost as soon as he put his line in the water.

Believe it or not, this is the picture with the LEAST amount of hair in her face.

 Beach.

 There was an indoor pool for those rainy days.

 Tattoo artists.

 Pirate mini golf.

 They've been naughty.

 I read some great reviews about a restaurant called The Thai House and never having Thai food before (how did THAT happen) I decided we should try.  I was really not going to take a picture of it in the middle of the restaurant until I had my first bite. OMG It was DELICIOUS.

 Pad Thai.  I think my first words were "HOW HAVE I LIVED MY ENTIRE LIFE WITHOUT THIS?!?"

We stopped for ice cream and they were seriously the BIGGEST most ridiculous ice cream cones I've ever seen even after asking for the smallest cone they have. 

 An attempt to take a picture on the duck boat.

 My BMOC made me take a million pictures of him and him with his sister in front of this museum although we didn't even go in.  I would've liked to.  I'm a huge Jackie Kennedy fan, but I can probably find most of the same pictures on the internet anyway.  Plus I'm planning on getting Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy.  There is a audio version and I totally want to hear her own voice.  That would be so cool.  So I digress....(what else is new?)

My brother and I took the kids on the rail trail.  My brother brought his own bike, but I just didn't have enough room or motivation to try to pack our bikes.  So I rented a bike with a TagAlong for my daughter.  She is quite the perfectionist and gets frustrated if she can't keep up or gets tired. So this way there was no fussing or fretting.  I also rented a trailer that we were able to hook up to my brother's bike and my son had a great time going along for the ride and telling my brother when to speed up or "engage his rocket boosters."

Summmer Shanty.  Amazing restaurant.  Outside.  Lots of boats.
Perfect for kids.  They don't need to behave PERFECTLY because that is extremely hard for my son and it's just a good time.  We started our vacay with dinner there and enjoyed it so much we also ended our vacay with dinner there.

Hope you enjoyed...I'm off to finish more laundry, do more work, and of course get my Leibster Award post ready.  Time to check all of your blogs to see what you've been up to while I've been MIA!

Healthy Banana "Ice Cream"

As much as it drives me crazy, my kids love their desserts, sweets, and treats.  Around this time of year, ice cream is a definite favorite.  But when they ask for it, my face goes pale and my body grows weak envisioning the sugar high they are about to embark on.  It may look something a little like this:

But it lasts longer and is even more annoying in person.

I am so thankful that we discovered a healthy option for a completely delicious banana pseudo ice cream.  My daughter loves to boast about how healthy it is and my son hasn't even realized that it's not actual sugar laden ice cream.  (And of course I love it both for it's lack of artificial sugar and it's utter simplicity.)

Ingredients
2 bananas
1/4 cup of milk

This does require a little prep work because the bananas must be frozen, so I generally buy a large bunch of bananas (we love them for so many other things too) and I automatically slice 2 and put them in a bag in the freezer.

Then when we are ready for a (naturally) sweet treat we put the bananas and the milk in the food processor and whip them up until they become smooth and the consistency of ice cream.

Then, the part that makes it all worth while for the kids...decorating!  We often keep it simple with chocolate shavings, but occasionally letting the kids go nuts with the sprinkles is all the more fun.

Your delicious dessert of banana "ice cream" is ready!
(Serves about 4)

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We have had on and off rain for days.  I have to admit, I kind of enjoy the rain.  However, quelling the cabin fever it inflicts on a certain couple of kids can be rather difficult.  We have fun, but it requires this mama to think on her toes, coming up with activity after activity before they lose their minds and my family room looks as tho the entire WWE has been using it as a ring.  (That reference was for my boyfriend...he better appreciate it lol).

Since I don't allow TV during the daytime, at least not during "school hours," here is a sneak peek of our last couple of days.

We...

Danced in the rain

Played Mr Fox

I took these pictures as Mr. Fox.  If you don't know how to play, its fun.  One person sits in a designated spot and is "Mr. Fox.  Everyone else starts at a designated spot, in our case at the other end of the hallway and says "Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, what time is it?" Mr. Fox then responds giving the time in the form of a direction to get the kiddos to come closer i.e. "It's time to take three giant steps forward," "it's time to take a giant leap," or "take 8 tippy-toe steps," rea;ly any command you can think of is fair game for Mr. Fox.  But at some point when the kiddos get close Mr. Fox deems it "TIME FOR LUNCH" and chases the littles back to the starting line, trying to tag them.

Made forts of all kids

This is just one example using sheets and pillows.  We also made forts with chairs and blankets and by tying scarves to things and draping blankets over them.

Played in the garage

We roller bladed, plasma-carred (yup made up a new word), played wall-ball, and "baseball" with tennis rackets

Recyclable Three-Legged Races

This is partially a fun game for the kids and also a really easy way for me to crush the recyclables.  Two birds, one stone.

Painted butterflies

We made these by drawing the butterflies with crayon (I drew one for my son using crayon and he made it beautiful).  Then we used water color paints and painted over top.  My daughter then cut hers out, while my son practiced using safety scissors on an old magazine.  I was also thinking about gluing popsicle sticks to the back so that on hot, sunny days the butterflies can be transformed into fans to keep the kids cool.

And made marching bands.

We even set the tent up in the house and had a sleepover in the tent in the family room.

And so much more...