Wordless Wednesday ~ Run Like a Girl

Svoboda Camping

We decided to try out the new tent before we go camping next month. What better place than Svoboda Campground? Pa put it up in the backyard amid lovely shrubs and trees with no wild animals in sight (except Jack!).

What camp out is complete without S'Mores? Ummm, where did that wine come from? Please ignore!
Funny, Jack doesn't like to eat marshmallows, but he loves to brown them over the fire!

Maddy holds the record for most S'Mores eaten without barfing!!
Abbey gets as much in her mouth as in her hair!
Doesn't every campsite have a very long extension cord to plug in your computer so you can watch a DVD in the tent?
We may not be conventional campers, but we are still creating memories! As they finally settled in the sleeping bags, Maddy said, "This has been the best night ever!" Worth more than gold, I tell you!!!

Friday Fairy

"I think that people who can't believe in fairies aren't worth knowing." ~Tori Amos

Some of you aren't lucky enough to have one of your own, so thought I'd share my Friday Fairy with you. She spreads her wings and her joy to all she sees. Repeat after me, "I believe. I believe."
HAPPY FAIRY FRIDAY!

Say What?!

"I just wish my mouth had a backspace key." ~Author Unknown

What's your favorite form of communication in today's world? Text, email, phone, in-person conversation? There are so many ways of communicating these days, I am always surprised when you don't get a timely response from someone. Occasionally, I send an email that goes unanswered for days, but if I send the same question, to the same person via text, they respond in a nanosecond! How are you supposed to know what people prefer? I like words. I like talking. I like communicating and expressing ideas. Many people are not as "connected" as others. They don't look at emails or Facebook ten times a day. Some, I hear, don't look at it ten times in a month! I can't imagine! I think Facebook is a wonderful way of staying in touch with people that you otherwise might not. I call it "layered friendship". It is not the level of your family or best friends, but you still care about these people and what is happening in their lives. I enjoy seeing what they are up to via posts and photos. I try to respond, even if it's just to hit the LIKE button. That way, I feel like it is actually a relationship and not me just creeping on their lives. I know how I feel when someone comments or "likes" something I post. It makes me feel good and that I are being heard. Isn't that what we all hunger for, to be heard? So, I just need to know if you want me to text, email or call you! :)

Wordless Wednesday

Hot Days= Iced Coffee

The temperatures are supposed to hit triple digits in California this week, which made me think about my morning coffee. I can't imagine starting my day without my morning joe, but it is hard to drink hot coffee in sweltering temps. I have been working on the perfect cup of iced coffee and wanted to share some ideas. Iced coffee is at its best when brewed with twice the usual amount of coffee, because the coffee is diluted with the melting ice cubes.
To avoid a diluted taste, you can also use regular-strength brewed coffee and serve it over coffee ice cubes. Prepare coffee ice cubes by pouring cooled coffee into ice cube trays and freezing. Add to your coffee along with your usual cream and sugar.
These tips for iced coffee can hold you over through the rest of the summer heat and when it's fall, we have Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes to look forward to!!

Paradise

“Our memories of the ocean will linger on, long after our footprints in the sand are gone.”
The beach was our playground today. The kids ran into the waves, laughed, got sandy and did it all again. Their faces reflect the joy they felt. The sky was clear, the ocean warm and blue. It was paradise. But, then again, anywhere these three faces smile is paradise!