Weekend in Arnold

A few times a year we go to my family's cabin in Arnold.  It's one of my favorite places to be.  It's the kind of place where you can read all day long and not feel guilty about work/cleaning piling up.  It's the kind of the place where getting dirty is part of the fun, not having to worry about makeup or doing your hair.  The kind of place where my girls can run wild and not get in trouble.  I hope when they get older, they'll remember the fun times they had in Arnold.

It was a quick trip for us this time.  We drove up after work on Friday and came home Sunday afternoon, but we were able to pack a lot in.

Friday night was bonfire and s'mores.  This was pretty exciting since neither of my girls had ever had s'mores before and didn't even know what they were.  It was a big hit.

Saturday morning was spent on the back porch reading and playing games.  Saturday afternoon was spent at Beaver Creek.

Sunday was Fly-In Lake and lots of floating and sandcastles.

It was a perfect summer weekend and I'm already counting the days until we go back.

Project Life

I'm doing another Project Life album this year and I'm still loving the whole process.  This is my 5th year doing a yearly project life album.  As usual, I'm a little behind, but this system makes it so easy to get caught up.  I've stopped doing traditional layouts and there is so much relief not having to figure out a layout.  Just getting the pictures in the page protectors, writing down the things I want to remember and I'm done.

Here are a couple pages from this spring.

I have terrible handwriting, so this year I am printing all my cards from the computer.  I am using this tutorial and it is so easy.

Painted Oars

I've always loved wooden oars.  So when I saw all the cute painted oars on Pinterest, I knew I wanted to paint a couple to put over our TV.  I found both of these oars at antique stores.  One was $10 and the other was about $15.  I didn't care if they were exactly the same.  I just looked for two that were similar.

I painted two coats of white with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, then taped off different areas with painter's tape.  I used acrylic paint from Michael's for the stripes and number.  Then distressed everything once they were dry.

They were still a little boring to me, so I used some thin jute twine I found in the garage.  I held it in pace with tape until I had it where I wanted it.  Once it was in place, I used a little hot glue on the ends to hold it down.  I added triangle hooks on each end so I could hang it on the wall.

Love the way they turned out!  And it only took me an afternoon to finish the whole thing.  

Linking to:

Elizabeth & Co., A Bowl Full of Lemons, Coastal Charm

The Blackberry Vine, Sugar Bee Crafts, Between Naps on the Porch

DIY Showoff

Vacation

We just got back from our vacation in Southern California and we had so much fun!  The first half of the week was spent in Disneyland and then Santa Monica for a wedding.

Our first ride was teacups, and it was the favorite of the week.  We kept getting right back in line for the first half hour of the day.

Day two was spent in California Adventure.  The last time I was there, Cars Land wasn't open yet, so it was a first for all of us.  Madison is not a fan of most of the rides.  But I took her on the Radiator Springs ride and hoped for the best.  As soon as the cars started speeding up, she started screaming.  It was hysterical.  At the end of the ride she was kind of crying, kind of laughing, and said her tummy hurt a little bit but she kind of liked it.  After that ride she asked someone before every single ride if it went fast, sideways or had any drops.

A rare moment with no fighting.

Lunch with the princesses.  A big hit.

Madison and I watching Sidney and Oma on the Jumpin' Jellyfish.  Sidney got off the ride and said it wasn't very good.  It didn't go high enough.  She is definitely my daredevil. 

Day three - back at Disneyland and back on the teacups.

After Disneyland we headed to Santa Monica and spent Saturday morning at the beach.  We had a lot of family with us and cousins we don't get to see very often.  Sidney said it was the best day ever.

Saturday afternoon was the wedding and Madison and Sidney were flower girls for the first time. 

The bride with all SIX of her flower girls!

I love the little secret waves.

We had the best time, but Sunday morning I couldn't wait to get back home.