playing swiss family robinson.

maybe i'm crazy, but THIS seems like it could be a fun little vacation. i know my kids would absolutely LOVE it, can you imagine? maybe we will have to head up to oregon next summer. there are so many different choices! i'm not sure which TREE HOUSE is my favorite...

image via out 'n' about

hawaiian staycation.

so, i've got a hawaiian itch, & i've got it bad. unfortunately, it's looking like it's not going getting scratched anytime soon. not a problem - i'm adaptable like that.... enter the hawaiian staycation. the waves might not be crashing outside my window, or a breeze rustling through the palm trees, but it's doesn't take much to create a little island paradise of my own...

* jack johnson on repeat
* a little bit of johnson's baby oil gel with cocoa butter slathered on. (the lotion is wonderful too!)
* piña coladas complete with tiny umbrella, whipped cream & cherry
* & all the makings of my own personal hawaiian luau:

hawaiian kalua pork
4-5 lb. pork butt or shoulder
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
2-3 tablespoons hawaiian salt (or coarse sea salt)
2 cups apple cider

the night before... rub the pork with salt & liquid smoke, and place in the crockpot. cover with apple cider. turn crockpot on low & leave it to cook for 10-16 hours, flipping pork over halfway through. take meat out of crockpot and shred with two forks.

serve the pork with sticky rice, macaroni salad & finish the feast with a big 'ole slice of ted's chocolate haupia pie. yum! yum! yum!


so break out your grass skirt & coconut bra... let's staycation together. at the very least, whip up a ted's chocolate haupia pie, it's heavenly! i think i'll go cut myself another slice.

on the road again.

can you believe the summer is almost over? september is just around the corner! we've got one more road trip planned, so i'll be taking off for a week or so. i'll be busy relaxing, playing, visiting & shopping... so don't worry if i don't manage to get any blogging done.

enjoy these last, few precious moments of summer! looking for some fun activities to keep you & your little ones busy over the next week or so? check out a few of these:

* play kick the can, capture the flag, ghosts in the graveyard. for game ideas, rules & so much more, check out HERE.

* visit your local farmer's market... find the nearest location HERE.

* make home-made ice cream sandwiches. recipes HERE.

* break out the tie-dye.

* check out story time at your local barnes & noble.

* get your craft on.

* have a water balloon fight, break out the slip 'n slide, blow up pool, or sprinkler attachments, or use cheap, store bought spray bottles to have fun & keep cool.

* make some homemade m&m and caramel popcorn & have a family movie night.

* make home-made ice-cream. instructions HERE.

* paint backyard murals.

whatever you do... be sure to have fun! see you in a week or so!

image via flickr.

fun in the sun.

after the hustle & bustle of the big city we were ready for blue skies, sandy beaches, the sun on our faces and a little r&r.

we arrived in the bahamas and spent the week swimming in the pools, taking bubble baths, drinking frothy fruity drinks,

digging on the beach, developing tan lines, going to the spa,eating delicious food, & we may have seen a junkanoo or two.

i didn't have to cook a single meal, make a bed, or do any laundry...
it truly was heaven on earth! i think i'm ready to go back.

i heart the big apple.

i think thomas wolfe said it best: "one belongs to new york instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years." & although, i've had the wonderful opportunity of visiting gotham city on several occasions, this was a first for jeffy & the boys... & let me tell you, they took to it instantly! thanks to you & all your help, my list of places to go, and things to do & see would have taken us weeks to accomplish. & unfortunately, we only had about 2 & 1/2 days to pack it in - which is exactly what we did. saw the sights, did a little shopping & even caught a baseball game. so here are some of the highlights. (as always, click on pictures to enlarge.)

gavin loved the view from our room, we had a hard time keeping him away from the windows, but who could blame him? a completely unobstructed view of central park? breathtaking!


no trip to new york is complete without a stop at dylan's candy bar. you can't beat three entire floors of candy. everything & anything you could possibly dream of... lollipops & jelly beans, nostalgia candy, but unfortunately for me - no big bins filled with vanilla tootsie rolls (my personal favorite). and in the front window, i spied the entire collection from project runway's hershey challenge.

of course we found some time to do a little (okay maybe a lot) of shopping, explore central park, catch a musical, & eat lots and lots of new york pizza. but we also managed to pack in a yankee game.

of course we visited the brightest lights in the big city, checked out the huge ferris wheel inside toy 'r us, and ate hot dogs & roasted peanuts from the street vendors.

and as the story books go, our trip to new york ended happily ever after with a midnight serving of serendipity 3's frrrozen hot chocolate.

as you can see... we definitely played hard.

new york or bust.

summer is here! have you noticed? for many that means the traditional summer vacation.... have you got any exciting plans? we are busy readying ourselves & preparing for a quick trip to the big apple. i've been there before, but never with the little kiddos in tow. any tips/suggestions? how about kid friendly attractions & must dos? of course, serendipity's & a baseball game are at the top of the list... but other than that, we are wide open. i'd love to hear about your favorite hot spots & must sees!

somewhere over the rainbow.

somewhere over the rainbow
way up high
there's a land that i heard of
once in a lullaby

somewhere over the rainbow
skies are blue
& the dreams that you dare to dream
really do come true



whenever i'm missing the islands (can you believe some lucky people actually get to live there?) anyway, as i was saying... whenever i have a little bit of island fever, i like to play my favorite version of this song over & over. check it out check out HERE. (i'm guessing it'll be on repeat all week long. i'm not quite ready for "real" life.)

no fear.

it's almost scary how much owen loves the water. he'll just run & jump. now we just have to work on him learning how to float on his back - he prefers to swim with his face in the water & blow bubbles.

it must be lunchtime.

what every boy needs.

a pair of hot pink googles.

remember, they're boys.

they don't care that we're in paradise. they don't care that there's a waiter nearby, ready & willing to deliver whatever our little hearts desire. they don't care that the beach can be their playground, or that they can swim all day & night. all they care about is playing with trucks. they are definitely boys.

total relaxation.

welcome to island life.

you know your vacation is going to be absolutely wonderful when you walk in the doors of the hotel & are greeted by an artist's palette of cookies (including edible markers that the kiddos can use to decorate their soon to be eaten cookies with), bath sponges spelling out each child's name & a popcorn bucket full of all sorts of yummy goodness. do you think they'd mind if i just moved in permanently?

they say "there's no place like home."

& while i will admit this to be true - i must say i LOVE to travel. near or far, exotic or ordinary... i'm always ready to pack a bag & be on my way. so here i sit, with a pile of luggage stacked neatly by the door, loads of vacation laundry to be done & a house that needs to be tidied following the "we're leaving for an island paradise & we're running late as always" hurricane. of course, there are zillions of other things i should be doing, in order to re-enter the world of reality, but instead, i'd rather just relax a little bit longer, look at some pictures & relive our week (and then some) in paradise. so, put a cute little umbrella in your drink & join me as i do a little reminiscing.

image of waimea bay, taken yesterday, as we whizzed by in the car.

aloha!

greetings from the beautiful state of hawaii. when i'm not too busy playing at the beach or laying out at the pool drinking cool, frothy drinks, i might get around to posting a picture or two. but i'm not making any promises as to when that will be... until then, you'll just have to settle for this picture of gavin showing off his swimming skills. (i still can't believe that he did belly flop after belly flop.)

the bags are packed.

actually, they aren't. i a huge procrastinator. and unless it's last minute, sometimes it's hard for me to get anything done. but, i am pleased to announce that the last of the laundry is being done, so that the bags soon can be packed, & i'm hoping to pack light (we'll see how that goes!). still on the checklist? i must not forget to charge the ipods,
& load some new movies for the kiddos (i love technology! movies on the ipod keep the little ones entertained for hours & i no longer have to lug around a portable dvd player), pick up some new aquadoodles & few other surprises for the plane, & most important - i can not, must not forget the airplane harness. (i don't know if i could travel without it, it definitely helps save my sanity while on an airplane). so what tricks do you have for traveling with kids?

image via flickr.

while we're on the subject of traveling...

i love all things travel related... mini suitcases, vintage luggage labels, old travel postcards & posters. (i think you get the idea.) but most of all, i love maps. big or small, flat or round, i love them all. so it's no surprise to me, that while watching one of my favorite guilty pleasures, the wall map totally caught my eye. (click on the picture to enlarge it.) i've always loved the idea of having a huge wall map... either in the kid's room or perhaps in a game room or office. i've toyed with the idea of "sticking pins" in the places we've visited, but this idea is so much better. instead of your basic push pin, they've used postcards & pictures to signify special locations. i loved it when the little boy was asked "do you remember where england is?" & he replied "it's the one with the big clock". i seriously LOVE this idea, it goes way behind your basic geography lesson. i found a similar map HERE, unfortunately they are all sold out, although i did spy a few on ebay. obviously there are probably hundreds of map options out there, but i kinda like THIS one, THIS one, or THIS one. oh, & THIS one too.

not to brag or anything...

but thanksgiving in mexico was absolutely wonderful! incredible views, good food, white sandy beaches, refreshing pools, what's not to love? we spent our days sipping frothy strawberry & coconut smoothies by the pool, building sand castles at the beach, drifting in the lazy river & watching the sunset from the hot tub. everyone had a great time, especially the kids (they are getting to be such good little travelers!). here are some of my favorite pictures...

& the tradition continues...

previously i've mentioned that we don't really "do" thanksgiving. i mean we celebrate it every year (that is if you count the steak dinner we had that time in manzanillo), but we don't "do" it in the traditional way. pretty much every year since my sophomore year in college we've gone away for thanksgiving. often times we go to hawaii, but we've also been know to head to places like disneyland. after the little travel snafu we encountered this past summer & all the hard work it took to get these in just three days (not an easy task at all), we figured we needed to get busy filling the pages of those spanking new passports with some foreign stamps. so saturday we packed our bags (and obviously the picture isn't of my bags, but a girl can dream can't she? who wouldn't want vintage louis vouitton luggage?), & headed of to mexico, punta mita to be exact. it's absolutely beautiful & there are bowls of chips & guacamole everywhere you look... definitely my version of heaven!

salt lake ink

so we've been a little busy lately. late sunday night we packed up the car (1 motorcycle, 2 mountain bikes, and enough clothes for an indefinite stay), buckled the kids up & headed to salt lake, utah. lucky for me, both kids slept the entire trip, and jeff drove nearly the whole way. no big plans for our stay... just helping all the kids (russy & kerry) get ready for school.

today was fun though, we did something very exciting... mom, kerry & i got tattoos! for kerry & me it was a definite first. once in austria, i had contemplated getting a tattoo... however, i wimped out, knowing my mom would die when she found out. i never would have guessed that she would be the one to talk me into getting it done. i was so jealous of her last year, so when she announced she was getting tattooed again, i knew i had to do it too! now i never have to put on eyeliner again! (yep, i'm still pretty much a wimp... i just had my eyeliner tattooed on. hope i didn't disappoint you!)