tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80580845235127793582024-03-12T20:37:58.463-04:00Goodman GirlzMichelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.comBlogger338125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-54792805819355012022014-10-23T13:57:00.003-04:002014-10-23T13:57:26.178-04:00Mad Hatter Tea PartyBoth Lily and Maddie are both into the Ever After High characters and books. They've read them all. Watched everything online. Bought all the dolls (and they NEVER play with dolls). They've both decided to be Madeline Hatter for Halloween.<br />
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So that led us to their birthday. They liked the idea of a Wonderland-style tea party, so we went with that. We decided to have the party at our house in the garage.<br />
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I started by getting tea cups from local thrift shops. It was a little harder than I thought, and I ended up paying too much at the flea market for the nicest cups. The idea was that the kids could take them as party favors, but in the mad rush of pickup only about 5 or so did.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/15322550587/" title="IMG_6769 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_6769" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5609/15322550587_058f73123d_z.jpg" width="427" /></a>
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The girls made a direction-less sign for the driveway.<br />
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We dyed marshmallows to make Cheshire Cat Tales. Where they were resting on wax paper to dry is where the color came off. I should have tried nonstick drying racks. The white rabbit egg holder came from one of our thrift store visits.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/15322561457/" title="IMG_6767 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_6767" height="427" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3938/15322561457_f22b3ddffa_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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Drink Me. I had ordered some chocolate tea from the Republic of Tea, but the biggest hit turned out to be Davidson's French Vanilla tea, with lots of cream and sugar added.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/15322545967/" title="IMG_6770 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_6770" height="427" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2945/15322545967_6a87bfa437_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>
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For cake, I attempted to make a topsy-turvey Mad Hatter cake. In addition to the complicated layering, this was my first time working with fondant. Smoothing it down was a bit challenging, but I covered the imperfections with the dots. The top layer was rainbow-colored cake batter, and the bottom was 4 layers of alternating chocolate and vanilla. There's no pictures of the cut cake because gravity pretty much took over as I cut it.<br />
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We had a fabulous magician play the role of our Mad Hatter. If you're looking for children's entertainment in the Triangle area, I highly recommend <a href="http://happydanmagic.com/" target="_blank">Happy Dan the Magic Man</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/15508611062/" title="IMG_6827 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_6827" height="640" src="https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5604/15508611062_64d1ca906e_z.jpg" width="427" /></a>
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<br />Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-35552237412508616272014-07-30T21:53:00.001-04:002014-07-30T21:53:12.979-04:00OBX or BustSo, for our beach trip this year we headed to the Outer Banks instead of further south. I hadn't been out there since 1998. With 64 being completed, it's a lot shorter trip than I remember, so we definitely won't wait another 16 years to go back. Since we were only there for 3 nights, we stayed at the <a href="http://www.nagsheadinn.com/" target="_blank">Nags Head Inn</a> instead of a cottage or condo rental. We had a nice oceanfront room and an excellent view of the super moon.<br />
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On our way into town we stopped at Jockey's Ridge. It was pretty warm, and the wind was whipping through the dunes, so the girls didn't want to stay out long. We'd brought a kite, but they were just pretty uncomfortable, so we packed it up and headed over to the Wright Brothers Memorial.</div>
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Madeleine had been reading up on the Wright Brothers and was really enthusiastic about the memorial and the visitors center. She wanted another book from the gift shop and read it throughout the trip. She even put together a report when we got back home.</div>
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On Friday afternoon, we took a trip out past Corolla to see the Wild Horses. We booked through <a href="http://www.wildhorsetour.com/" target="_blank">Wild Horse Adventure tours</a>. The Hummer was pretty comfortable, and I only got woozy when we were back in some of the rough dunes. We saw about 10 horses total, most of them back by the houses.</div>
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Saturday we spent most of the day at the beach. The girls discovered Boogie boarding and invented a new frisbee game they call "Swashbuckler."</div>
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For dining out, our best bets were Mako Mike's and the Outer Banks Brewing Station. You can't beat it when they have a playground out back for the kids while you're waiting for a table.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-66885959217741915452014-07-09T20:24:00.000-04:002014-07-09T20:24:34.733-04:00Dance Camp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There was an 80's vibe this year.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/k2rNMyVzFuo" width="560"></iframe>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-4779583809026605862014-06-30T13:49:00.000-04:002014-06-30T13:49:10.239-04:00DecorI've never been a huge fan of redecorating. Our house is pretty much the same as it was when we moved in 13 years ago. We repainted a couple of rooms out of absolute necessity, but that's about it.<br />
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About 6 months ago, the girls started playing games online where you design your dream room or dream house. Then when Madeleine got some money for her First Communion, she told me she wanted to find a desk with her money.<br />
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So, I introduced them to the IKEA website. They were in heaven and spent a lot of time looking at the different rooms and options. I told them that it would be a long drive (2 1/2 hours), but we could plan a trip if they were prepared. Each girl made a list, measured space, and printed out what they wanted.<br />
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A couple weekends ago we had a free Saturday, so we headed out to the Charlotte Ikea. We got there a little after 10, and I checked them into the play area just to get their wiggles out. They are about 3" short of the max height, so I figured it might be their last time.<br />
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While they were there, I went through the showroom, noting where all the items on their list were. When I checked them out, we went back to just those areas and wrote down the bin numbers. We had lunch at the cafeteria. While they enjoyed the chicken fingers and Swedish meatballs, their favorite was the huge slices of chocolate cake.<br />
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In addition to the items on their list, I let them pick out new comforters and bedding. <em>And I didn't make them pick matching ones. </em>That was hard for me. They're both pinkish, so that's close.<br />
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We were ready to pack up and head home by around 1, and they could not wait to get their room together.<br />
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-80386957862147891882014-05-11T20:32:00.002-04:002014-05-11T20:32:18.454-04:00Flowers for You!I was trying to get a few things done this morning, and the girls were "bored." So I sent them outside with my camera.<br />
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Here's hoping you had a chance to stop and smell the flowers today.</div>
<br />Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-75962385440766466052014-04-17T20:13:00.001-04:002014-04-17T20:13:48.448-04:00Spring Break Pt. 3 - Camp!This year Camp Kanata's mother-daughter weekend fell on the second weekend of spring break, but after the great time we had last year, I knew we wanted to do it again this year.<br />
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We got there early Friday to learn fishing from the NC Dept. of Wildlife Resources. They had these plastic fish where you could practice casting.<br />
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We didn't catch any real fish, so Maddie preferred the plastic.</div>
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This year our cabin was what is known as the "Hilton." The bunks were wood and screwed into the ceiling. It was nice because that way there wasn't any creaking of metal bunk beds. We also had a common area out of the sleeping quarters, which was great when Maddie was up and scared in the middle of the night. Rather than awaken our entire cabin, we went out there, chatted on the couch, and she fell back asleep.</div>
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Saturday morning was early bird canoing.</div>
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Archery. I like the bows at Kanata better than our local Y.</div>
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Making a Mommy and Me journal.</div>
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And a little bit of yoga by the lake.</div>
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Other favorites included mini-golf, and riflery. It was warmer this year than last, and next year the girls are hoping to be old enough to do the Alpine Tower climb.</div>
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<br />Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-73908648075424408442014-04-10T20:20:00.001-04:002014-04-10T20:20:26.537-04:00Spring Break - Pt 2 - Hungry Like a Wolf<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our second spring break activity was not weather-dependent. We headed a few miles down the road to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. We went to the one in Concord three years ago, so I kind of knew what to expect. This year the girls were good enough swimmers I could trust them to not drown on their own, but I pretty much stayed in the water with them the whole time anyway. So, no pictures of waterslides.</div>
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This is the outside of the Howlin'Tornado. Lily and I went once. I don't know how many times Eric and Maddie went.</div>
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Windiest game of mini golf ever.</div>
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This Great Wolf had a lazy river, which was a big hit with Lily. It also had a body-boarding wave thing that Maddie really liked. And we all enjoyed time in the family hot tub. There wasn't much nearby to eat that wasn't Great Wolf. So we made two lunch trips to Sonic and ate at the Lodge for dinner (the Loose Moose and one in-room pizza). We managed to escape the evils of MagicQuest, but we promised Lily she could try it next time.</div>
<br />Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-3622182377812186172014-04-09T20:52:00.001-04:002014-04-09T20:52:58.821-04:00Spring Break Pt. 1 - WilliamsburgI'd been thinking about it for years, and wondering if the girls would enjoy a trip to Williamsburg. I'd only been to Busch Gardens there and had never been to Colonial Williamsburg. I went to their website first, but I wasn't really clear on how much there would be to do for kids.<span id="goog_2128362517"></span><br />
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We stayed at the <a href="http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/stay/williamsburg-woodlands/" target="_blank">Woodlands Hotel & Suites</a> by the visitor center. It was reasonably priced, convenient, and included breakfast. I'd also read that you could rent costumes for the kids to wear during the day, and I talked that up to the girls prior to the visit. I'd planned on buying tickets online ahead of time, but didn't do it. If you're staying on site, don't. Buying tickets with your hotel is WAY cheaper. Like crazy cheaper. They don't tell you the amount of the discount ahead of time, so you may not think it's a big deal. But it is. We easily saved $100 that way.<br />
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As the trip got closer, I really worried about the weather. We've had a cold, wet spring so far. If you can even call it spring. The downside to planning a trip like this is that it's not like we could just cancel and go another time either.<br />
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We drove up on Friday night, just beating the rain, and it rained all day Saturday. We rented costumes at the Visitor's Center. I don't think they were as fancy as the girls imagined they would be, but by later in the day they finally realized that Colonial people weren't wearing fancy ball gowns all the time.<br />
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Our first stop was the Governor's Palace, and we really enjoyed the tour. Lily and Maddie were kind of confused by the people in character and kept asking me if there was really going to be a ball at the palace that night.<br />
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After the palace, we wandered around looking for something that was open. There wasn't a lot going on in the rain. We had on ponchos, and that made it really difficult to keep showing our passes. The map got soaked and fell apart quickly.<br />
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We visited the blacksmith and tinsmith shops during lunch, so there wasn't a lot of activity there either. I'd planned on having dinner in one of the taverns, but since we were there, we had lunch at the King's Tavern instead.<br />
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We did the tour of the capital building as well as the public goel as well. The girls liked the cells the best.<br />
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What really saved the day for us was that I saw there would be a "Come Dance with Me" program at the Governor's Palace that night. For an extra $19 each, we could attend a one hour "ball" and participate in the dances with the actors. It was a great experience. Not only being in the candlelit palace at night, but the girls got to participate in two group dances each and really thought it was something special.</div>
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I don't have any pictures from the "ball" that evening because it was so dark, but the ballroom is below.</div>
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When we went to bed Saturday night, the forecast was for a rain free morning on Sunday. I was excited to go back and maybe see some of the revolution scenes. Unfortunately, when we woke up, it was the opposite. Torrential, pouring rain. Sleet in your face rain.</div>
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So, we headed to the folk art museum, and the girls were very patient. We looked at antiques and paintings most of the morning. Lots of other parents were doing the same thing, and I wouldn't really recommend it for kids under 8. They have one kid-friendly room with coloring, but we heard a lot of screaming.</div>
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I'd love to go back sometime when the weather's better. Lily has checked out some of the American Girl Felicity books from the library, and was very interested in having some of the Colonial clothing. If I'd paid full price for tickets and hadn't been able to go to the ball Saturday night, I would have been disappointed in the trip, but with the hotel discount we received on tickets and the dance experience, it was a good couple of days overall.</div>
<br />Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-30487663939846762962014-02-23T21:28:00.004-05:002014-02-23T21:29:05.030-05:00Family Fun Saturday<span id="goog_2029202209"></span><span id="goog_2029202210"><br /></span>
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This weekend we did something I'd always wanted to do: take the girls to one of the <a href="http://www.ncartmuseum.org/calendar/type/kids_families/" target="_blank">Family Fun Saturday activities</a> as the North Carolina Museum of Art. In the past I've either gotten the date wrong for the activity or been too late to sign up (as the events are really popular). So a few weeks ago when I saw the mention of it in the paper on a Friday, I saw that the event for that weekend was already sold out. I looked for the next event and bought tickets anyway, figuring that the price wasn't bad enough that if something happened and we couldn't go, it wouldn't be the end of the world.<br />
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Lucky us, as this weekend's event was sold out by the time it appeared in the newspaper on Friday as well.<br />
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The activity started off with a performance of <a href="http://www.raleighlittletheatre.org/shows/13-14/opqrs.html" target="_blank">OPQRS, Etc</a>. by Raleigh Little Theatre. Then we did a short tour of some sculptures in the museum, followed up by an activity. In the studio, we were given some materials to build a sculpture with some of the elements we talked about during the tour.<br />
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Our sculpture will be on exhibit at the Raleigh Little Theatre during the run of OPQRS, Etc., and we were given free tickets to the preview showing of the play. The girls are really excited to go.<br />
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I just wish the next couple months weren't so busy so we could attend more of these workshops.Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-57269041658090894592014-02-16T19:47:00.006-05:002014-02-16T19:47:45.301-05:00Winter WonderlandWe spent three days at home this week thanks to Mother Nature. Wednesday school was closed, so I stayed home with the girls and worked from the kitchen table. It started coming down around noon and started piling up right away. In my 25 years in NC, I'd not seen snow accumulate that fast. Quickly, everyone in the county got stuck as they were trying to get home from work.<br />
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We did some crafts and took care of Valentines for school. I hope they let them pass them out this week.<br />
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We did three science experiments from Maddie's library book.<br />
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Snowman!<br />
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Snow fort<br />
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And the Friday their gymnastics school held an all-day camp, so they got to do that while we went back to work. Much more fun than watching the ice melt.<br />
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<br />Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-6118105465729599402013-12-30T13:14:00.005-05:002013-12-30T13:14:57.784-05:00Merry ChristmasChristmas brought good things to the Goodman household. First up: Christmas jammies. Santa had left the boxes in the girls' room for them to open and put on. But instead we found the girls upstairs Christmas mornings with the boxes in tow. They were waiting for us.<br />
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Santa also brought he much-asked for Kindle Fires.<br />
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And a chemistry set<br />
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Boredness did set in, so they did head out to the YMCA camp for a few days. It's been nice to get a chance to clean up some without them running around.Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-40774026103332786962013-11-03T22:02:00.003-05:002013-11-03T22:02:44.633-05:00Note: this post is not Pinterest-worthyLily and I made baklava today. It may not be authentic, it may not be pretty, but it worked for us.<br />
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Last weekend when we went trick-or-treating at Waverly Place, Taziki's was giving out samples of baklava. Madeleine was having none of it, but Lily tried it and liked it. She asked if we could buy some at the store. Of course I didn't see anything at our local HT.<br />
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So this weekend I had a coupon for puff pastry and thought we'd try it. Well, first of all "puff pastry" isn't the same thing as phyllo. So a phyllo recipe isn't going to work the same. Then I would have had to remembered to thaw phyllo 24 hours ahead of time. Which I hadn't. So I visited puffpastry.com and luckily they had a <a href="http://www.puffpastry.com/recipe/26084/baklava" target="_blank">baklava recipe</a>. And the dough had to be thawed only 40 minutes ahead of time. Winner!<br />
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So Lily and I set to work shelling pistachios. I think I have shells and errant nuts throughout my kitchen.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661842065/" title="IMG_3967 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3967" height="333" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5478/10661842065_8944a5866e.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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It gave us some good time to chat. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10662023403/" title="IMG_3969 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3969" height="500" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5492/10662023403_745b91c445.jpg" width="333" /></a>
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Then we got all our ingredients together. By then the dough had thawed enough to roll out.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661720125/" title="IMG_3976 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3976" height="333" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2868/10661720125_d94554d49e.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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She loved chopping the nuts with the food processor.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661799874/" title="IMG_3971 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3971" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3765/10661799874_0d30edd1ab.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Lily paints on the egg wash.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661730476/" title="IMG_3980 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3980" height="333" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5534/10661730476_5a94a9be59.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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We combined the nuts, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a sauce pan.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661886023/" title="IMG_3989 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3989" height="333" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5489/10661886023_e470f5c6c2.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Baked pastry.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661859823/" title="IMG_3990 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3990" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3683/10661859823_92fa9b2479.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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The tough part was splitting the pastry in half to fill with the nut mixture. The outside was crisp and wanted to flake off. Sometimes it was hard to pull apart.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661839573/" title="IMG_3991 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3991" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7456/10661839573_7a720af05b.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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The honey/sugar glaze has been applied.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661797453/" title="IMG_3993 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3993" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3665/10661797453_7c8a23af88.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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Lily with her final product.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10661620954/" title="IMG_3992 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3992" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/10661620954_b31907551c.jpg" width="500" /></a>
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<br />Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-73073275463707584482013-11-02T21:40:00.002-04:002013-11-02T21:40:22.349-04:00So this happened todayAfter only about an hour<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/5iCE19kp6tk" width="560"></iframe>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-12438549778458312882013-10-28T19:48:00.000-04:002013-10-28T19:48:25.485-04:00You go to school to learn, not for a fashion showThanks for letting me get that out. It's been stuck in my head since I signed the girls up to participate a couple of weeks ago in a small, informal fashion show. Sponsored by a local baby boutique called <a href="http://www.greenpeababystore.com/" target="_blank">Green Pea Baby</a>, I saw their call for models on Facebook and thought it might be fun. I don't usually shop there since we're on the upper end of their sizes, and I don't know many folks with wee ones anymore.<br />
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The clothes fit great. If we needed anything more this season, and they carried anything higher than a 7, I would have bought something.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10498336425/" title="IMG_3524 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3524" height="500" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5527/10498336425_5425633b57.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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I was surprised at how confident Lily seemed. They really enjoyed themselves.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10498324615/" title="IMG_3526 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3526" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7353/10498324615_2a680a7ef6.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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After it was their turn, they hung out in the tent some and talked to the adult models. I managed to snap a few more pictures in there.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10498439313/" title="IMG_3537 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3537" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7373/10498439313_e9ae562d2e.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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But *this* is my hands-down favorite.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10498172886/" title="IMG_3542 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3542" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3719/10498172886_18a922cd47.jpg" width="500" /></a>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-20530374070011641382013-10-23T21:39:00.004-04:002013-10-23T21:39:57.881-04:00Fall Goings OnOctober is always a busy month - first with the birthday and then the Halloween-related activities.<br />
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Instead of going to our old standby pumpkin farm that we've been going to for years, we went to Green Acres in Cary. It's more about the corn maze and less about the pumpkins. But what I was really there for was the horse rides. It was only $10 a rider for a fairly decent ride around their trail, so Lily, Maddie and I all went for a ride.<br />
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Here's Lily's horse. She "named" her Midnight. I have no idea what her name really was.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10388758206/" title="IMG_0169 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0169" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7289/10388758206_797183f957.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Then on Sunday we hit up the North Carolina State Fair. It was CRAZY crowded, but I wanted to make sure Lily got to see her photograph hung up for display. She only got a participation ribbon, but I still think it's a great picture.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10388887453/" title="IMG_0172 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0172" height="375" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3760/10388887453_b55bb8885d.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
I spent the same amount on ride tickets that I usually do, but since I bought them online before the fair, I had a lot more tickets this year. Combined with the long lines, the girls tired of rides before we could use all the tickets.<br />
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So Eric took the last slide with the girls.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/10388458154/" title="IMG_0199 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_0199" height="500" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5501/10388458154_f59251b225.jpg" width="375" /></a>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-24975698504559559182013-10-06T01:00:00.000-04:002013-10-06T01:00:08.649-04:00Today you are EIGHT!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know we parents say it every year, but THIS year you are both so grown up. When I help you get dressed, I can't sit on the floor anymore. You're too tall. You have distinct ideas about how you want to dress. The picture above is the ONLY time you will dress alike this year. You get frustrated with me when I forget to "sign and return" the things marked "sign and return" by your teacher. You have had BOYS call the house and ask for you.<br />
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We had some new things this year - you really liked our Myrtle Beach trip in April. You had your first grown up concert, even if it was Barry Manilow. You went to summer camp at the Y instead of a day care setting. You have adjusted to a lot of changes at school this year remarkably well.<br />
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Things you love right now:<br />
<ul>
<li>Gymnastics</li>
<li>Rubber band bracelets</li>
<li>Any kind of art</li>
<li>The "cups song" from Pitch Perfect</li>
</ul>
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Favorite foods:<br />
<ul>
<li>Tacos</li>
<li>Burgers (but not fries?)</li>
<li>Ice cream</li>
<li>Buttered noodles</li>
</ul>
Looking forward to fun times this year,<br />
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Your mom<br />
Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-28454117989745127342013-09-15T20:16:00.002-04:002013-09-15T20:16:47.522-04:00Mommy's a slackerDid the summer just fly by for anyone else? It did for us. The girls finished up camp the end of July, spend a week with grandparents and a couple weeks at home before school was right up again.<br />
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For their week at home with me, we called it Camp Mommy. Each girl picked a day's worth of activities, and I tried to throw in some stuff around town we never got a chance to do because it's more crowded on the weekends.<br />
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In no particular order, some of the highlights:<br />
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The new Nature Research Center downtown:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9529087523/" title="IMG_3082 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_3082" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3760/9529087523_4d83655604.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Defy Gravity trampoline park:<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9531804248/" title="IMG_9276 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_9276" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7313/9531804248_d2cd794e22.jpg" width="375" /></a><br />
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FIVE hours at the beach out at Jordan Lake:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9531817404/" title="IMG_9272 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_9272" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7368/9531817404_f3bb96cff7.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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A day of play at Three Bears Acres:<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9528818145/" title="IMG_9333 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_9333" height="375" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5533/9528818145_eb516117ef.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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Professional mani-pedis<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9528718707/" title="IMG_9363 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_9363" height="375" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5460/9528718707_294e31a457.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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We were all ready for school to start.Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-89853746821330622872013-07-06T19:59:00.001-04:002013-07-06T19:59:38.826-04:00There was this time at Dance Camp...The girls spent this week at the Y's dance camp, which is part of their summer sports camp. So I spent the week driving them out to way west Cary every day. They were off Thursday for the holiday but back at camp Friday. It was great because they had an end-of-week performance, and I was able to attend since I was off work.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9220378209/" title="IMG_2911 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2911" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7433/9220378209_6ec4e5cda6.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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They did know some of the girls at camp from their elementary school, which was nice. The group did eight dances for us.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9223248846/" title="IMG_2866 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2866" height="500" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5543/9223248846_17ec424bb6.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9223265764/" title="IMG_2861 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2861" height="500" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7404/9223265764_a54deb74fe.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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And here's a video. I had a few camera issues, so I pasted the clips together.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/E5-LJxrsFeE" width="480"></iframe>
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Then today we attended the Children's Matinee of the <a href="http://www.danzaerea.com.ar/" target="_blank">Brenda Angiel Aerial Dance Company</a> at the American Dance Festival in Durham.
The girls really enjoyed the performance and were just dying to get home and try some of the stunts in the backyard.<br />
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Luckily they had some activities in the lobby so they forgot all about swinging from ropes by the time we made it home.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9224578339/" title="IMG_2927 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2927" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7369/9224578339_6bfd03270d.jpg" width="500" /></a>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-5453100656239449362013-06-30T20:25:00.002-04:002013-06-30T20:25:29.686-04:00Little InventorsBack in March, Madeleine came home with a flyer from school in her backpack. It was information about a camp to be held at school during the summer called Camp Invention, and it pretty much decided for me what we'd be doing for child care this summer since I'd have to find other things to work around it.<br />
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I saved up a box of recycled materials, and they each took a "take-apart" item to explore and see how it worked. Maddie had my old desktop computer, and my brother's house flooded last week, so he had a dead one to spare for the cause as well for Lily.<br />
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They came home each day super-excited about their activities and wanting to go back the next day. Lily points out registered trademark symbols *everywhere* we go and tells me what they mean. They were excited about using real tools. I've heard a few more big words this week, and I know they'll want to go back next summer.<br />
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It was from 9am - 3:30 pm, so I had to enlist my parents to do drop offs and pick ups. Dad also attended their presentation of their duck launchers on the last day.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9161673061/" title="_DSC0104 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC0104" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3769/9161673061_375d64b125.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9163889734/" title="_DSC0107 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="_DSC0107" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3673/9163889734_d81a87f7d3.jpg" width="500" /></a>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-58170242182965211412013-06-16T20:25:00.002-04:002013-06-16T20:25:40.706-04:00MakersThis past weekend we attended the Maker Faire NC at the fairgrounds. Madeleine has been interested in inventing for years, so I talked it up as a way of seeing what other people are doing. She has a lot of ideas and ambition, but not so great on the follow through.<br />
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Luckily there was space available at the weaving table when we walked up.<br />
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That got them started and we were able to take home the looms and project with us to finish.<br />
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They were also excited to see the Scrap Exchange booth, but since we'd been up there last weekend it wasn't quite as exciting.<br />
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It was very crowded, so we probably only were able to see about 50% of the exhibitors and didn't get to watch any of the combat robots. Lily did like one of the robots wandering around that had cameras for eyes. They liked the giant marble contraption in the middle but didn't want to help in construction. They just kept picking up the dropped marbles.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9057838836/" title="IMG_2591 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2591" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3724/9057838836_10b286852d.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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We did finish our weaving when we got home though!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/9057806608/" title="IMG_2598 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2598" height="333" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2866/9057806608_4a6d1ce592.jpg" width="500" /></a>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-69048352318668618422013-06-05T18:49:00.001-04:002013-06-05T18:49:43.279-04:00Performance HighlightsLily and Maddie had their first grade end-of-year performance today. I asked them to select which songs were their favorites, and I've posted them here so as not to bore you unnecessarily. This is their first concert that they were close enough together where I could zoom in and get them both.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E7C343lI-po" width="560"></iframe><br />Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-65142234033253360102013-05-28T13:04:00.001-04:002013-05-28T13:04:36.284-04:00These boots were made for stompingIn case you don't know, we have a creek in our yard. With no fence. The girls have never wandered near it or messed with it without asking us. All week Madeleine has asked about going walking in the creek on Saturday, so after helping us weed the side yard they did.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/8860594039/" title="IMG_2256 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2256" height="333" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3783/8860594039_cbfe8ae0e0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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I was unable to find rain boots for Madeleine this year, so she's wearing a women's size 7 garden boot from Target (the smallest they had).<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/8861162050/" title="IMG_2263 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2263" height="500" src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3756/8861162050_ea3711c45b.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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Guess who got deep enough the water went in over the top of her boots?<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/8860629303/" title="IMG_2249 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2249" height="333" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7385/8860629303_5aca3b25d3.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/8861220286/" title="IMG_2252 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2252" height="333" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5339/8861220286_3318a41a2c.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/8861115224/" title="IMG_2266 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_2266" height="333" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8413/8861115224_da60359805.jpg" width="500" /></a>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-15057850975927807132013-04-30T20:10:00.003-04:002013-04-30T20:10:58.178-04:00Young Author's DayToday was Young Author's Day at school. This year the girls prepared facts about an assigned animal. They showed us their facts and then we attended a presentation in their classroom where they'd done a slideshow with voice overs.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/8697564982/" title="IMG_1795 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1795" height="500" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8260/8697564982_51263b04fe.jpg" width="333" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/8697582034/" title="IMG_1780 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1780" height="333" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8405/8697582034_767e9c7363.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/74992504@N00/8697582832/" title="IMG_1779 by mmbench, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1779" height="333" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8254/8697582832_ebbb234d8a.jpg" width="500" /></a>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-76172817523927831412013-04-23T20:13:00.001-04:002013-04-23T20:13:34.242-04:00Weekend GetawayA couple of months ago, when I was looking at the YMCA site for information about summer camp, I came across the link for <a href="http://www.campkanata.org/" target="_blank">Camp Kanata</a>, the YMCA's closest overnight summer camp. Not ever having been to summer camp, I was curious and clicked to see what it was about. On their page they were advertising a "mother-daughter weekend" camp in April. I wasn't sure about it since the girls had not been camping before, but it seemed doable since we'd be in a cabin and the camp staff would be providing meals, etc. A coworker's daughter had been a counselor at Kanata for years, so I'd only heard good things about it.
So we signed up.<br />
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Given the events of last week, it was the best trip ever. Just to be able to get away from the world for a few days with the girls and do activities together was the best gift.<br />
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We did archery.<br />
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I taught them volleyball.<br />
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We did arts and crafts.<br />
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We canoed.<br />
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We played music.<br />
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We were just together.<br />
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My only wish would be for more sleep!Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8058084523512779358.post-69379585966857668282013-04-17T21:54:00.000-04:002013-04-17T21:54:06.000-04:00I Can't Smile Without....my girls.<br />
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Last week's other big activity was the school talent show. They went last year and immediately started planning what they wanted to do. Mostly it involved gymnastics/dance, but once I explained to them that it had to be a repeatable routine, they leaned more toward singing.<br />
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I was kind of hoping they'd forget about it. We had 5 more years in elementary school to take on this challenge, and most kids appeared to be older anyway.<br />
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Fast forward to this year. Notices about tryouts were sent home, and they came home all excited. We talked about the best kind of act that they could do, how much they'd have to practice, and the tryout/rehearsal schedule requirements. They assured me they were up to the challenge.<br />
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We picked Barry Manilow's I Can't Smile Without You. With mostly a chorus, they knew all the words. I would be able to buy an instrumental karaoke version for them to sing with. Forty acts tried out, and only 18 were accepted, and the girls were thrilled to make the cut.<br />
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Rehearsal went well, and they couldn't wait to go shopping for outfits. Lily picked these out at Old Navy. What you can't see is that they're wearing their first heels.<br />
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They were the first act of the night and did great. I think they had a hard time hearing the music (as they get ahead of themselves at the end), but as one of only two first grade acts, it was awesome.<br />
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They're already plotting next year.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6Kj0Ur1urtk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15642037345765524150noreply@blogger.com0