Camping Meal Plan

Since the end of summer is near, we're trying to squeeze in a camping trip. Planning meals is always a challenge, but I've found some recipes that work well for our family and are easy to put together.

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Summer List 2015

School is out and summer is in full swing!

Our kiddos will now be heading into 4th grade...

2nd grade...

And one more year of preschool...

By the end of the school year we are all ready for a more laid back schedule. But having a summer list helps us stay busy with fun stuff.

Here is this year's list:

This is our 7th year of making lists and the kids look forward to it every year. Here are some of the previous years' lists:

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

What's on your list this summer?

Summer at it's finest

We've been enjoying our summer. How about you? Here's what we've been up to...

Two weeks ago we took a little road trip to San Jose, CA to see some family. In-n-Out Burger is always a stopping place.

We also took the kids to Great America and they had a blast!

This was Sweet Pea's first roller coaster ride ever! She giggled the entire time!

This girl and her map.

And these boys were thrill seekers and arcade kings!

She wasn't so sure of the carousel.

While we were in California, Sweet Pea lost her very first tooth. She was pretty excited!

Another stop at In-n-Out...all smiles around

Side note: Baby girl LOVES this dress and would wear it everyday if she could.

And yes, The Boy is holding a jawbreaker the size of a baseball.

We got back from California the day before my birthday.

A birthday fairy left these on our porch. So thoughtful!

I still don't know who dropped them off, but I love Sunflowers and are enjoying them still!

My mom baked a beautiful cake. We met my parents at the park to watch the hubby play softball and have cake and ice cream :)

Notice Baby girl is wearing that dress again. HA!

The day after my birthday, my hubby took us out for my favorite pizza place and topped it off with some ice cream!

We were all happy campers!

I got to spend the next day with these silly girls at Fun in the Park, a fun event with lots of booths that feature different community businesses and organizations.

The next night, we celebrated marriages with our awesome small group. The couple on our right was celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary, so what did we do? We crashed it.

We shared our engagement stories, parenting and everyday stuff. We love these people!

I shared on my Facebook page that my mom had given me a bushel of apples from her garden and I was looking for a good applesauce recipe.

I ended up using this one from The Pioneer Woman. It turned out so yummy!

I had a cute little helper too.

One of the items on our summer list was to do a craft. The kids and I made these little robots from a kit and they had a great time racing them. You can find the kit here.

So there you have it...are a few of our summer highlights so far. What are some fun things you have done this summer?

My Favorite 4th of July Recipes

Happy July all!!

We are just 3 days away from Independence Day! Every year we go to my parents' house for a potluck and LOTS of fireworks.

I always bring the lemonade (flag) cake

And usually THIS

I could eat this by the spoonful! It's so good!!

A few of my other favorites include...

7 Layered Salad

My good friend, Kaitlin has brought these S'mores Bars to the potluck in the past. They are to die for!

My sister-in-law makes a killer hot artichoke dip

And my mom makes this most amazing and easy berry pie

What are your tried and true favorites?

For more patriotic recipes, hop on over to Lil' Luna

Summer List 2014

Last week was the last week of the school year! We now have a first grader...

First and last day of Kindergarten

And a third grader!

First and last day of Second grade

Summer has officially begun! No more lunches to make and no alarm clocks. Just fun in the sun...yahoo!

Here is the summer list that we came up with for this year.

Every year we make a summer list to beat the boredom and have things to look forward to. Here are the lists from past years: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.

It's going to be a great summer!

Summer Shenanigans & The Summer List

I haven't intended to be so absent from the blog lately...we've just really been enjoying the summer and keeping busy.

Pool, camp, visiting friends in Central Oregon, weddings, baby showers, playdates, picnics, and much more!

Sweet Pea got to have her first horseback riding experience in Central Oregon

Her horse's name was Cayenne

Lots of fun with good friends

The boy caught a H-U-G-E bullfrog

Slip-n-Slide in the backyard

Sweet Pea had her very first dance recital

I attended a Hillsong United concert. These lovely ladies and I got to watch the concert from a SUITE! It was awesome!

The whole family participated in a neighborhood 4th of July parade and BBQ

My brother and his finace are in town this week and we got to have an adult's night out last night. My parents, my hubby, my brother and soon-to-be-sister-in-law and her parents. It was a lot of fun...we got to see their wedding venue, have a nice dinner and finished it off with Salt & Straw Ice Cream. If you come to Portland, it's a must have!

I had the Strawberry Cilantro-Lime Cheesecake and my brother had Goat Cheese Marionberry Habanero (we were the only ones who got crazy flavors). I know they sound weird (maybe even gross), but they were surprisingly delicious!

I know we are well into summer, but here is this year's summer list:

This weekend we will be marking off "amusement park" as we have plans to take the kids for the day.

You can see past year's lists here: 2009  2011  2012  (I'm not sure what happened to 2010?)

Do you have a summer bucket list? What have you crossed off so far?

Independence Day 2013

Thankful for the freedoms we enjoy and for the men & women that fight (and have fought) for those freedoms. Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Summer List 2012

We finally completed our summer list for this year. It has been cute-ified, thanks to this awesome printable from Funky Polkadot Giraffe

Here's our list from last year. What's on your to-do list for this summer?

Counting Down

We have 2 days until school starts and we're frantically trying to check off our summer list. Here are some things we have checked off...

boating, fishing, camping...

our yurt

bike rides & going to the park...

Happy Hour at Sonic, making pie...

playdates with various friends, fireworks...

beach day...

fancy pancakes...

car wash...

and many more!

There are still 14 things that have NOT been checked off the list!! We'll see how much we can do in 2 days.

Happy Labor Day!