Flashback Friday

This is our third annual voyage to Washington for a super-summer visit with our family here in the valley.  Today we flash back to our first trip; our first visit to the pool in the mountains.

June 26, 2009

 

{Brooke & Abby do Gymnastics in the Pool}

 

{Lauren & Heidi Soak Up the Sun}

{Basking in the Mountains}

Thank You Thursday

There are so many things to be thankful for this Thursday, where do I start?!

1. Thank you Gail & Dan.  Not only do you open up your hearts & your home, you make us feel as though we are at home.  I can't think of a better way to spend time with our family than living it up at the Phillips compound.

2. Thank you Geoff.  You work hard year round so that we can take these trips in the summer.

3. Thank you Kevin for treating us to The Hangover Part II today.  Just hanging out with you is enough of a treat, but we're never going to turn down a good laugh, even if it is sooooo wrong!

4. Thank you Grandma Phillips for taking the girls out for a special day, just you and them.  You warm their hears with memories that will last them a lifetime!

5. Thank goodness for Coca-Cola.  My stomach is suffering from altitude corruption.  Even at $6.99 a 12 pack, you are worth your weight in gold.

Dipped in Chocolate

Leave it to vacation to seize the opportunity to dip our world in chocolate.  After an afternoon voyage to the local Safe Way we collected enough goodies deemed worthy of dipping in chocolate.

Our collection ranges from the obvious to the questionable.  Some of our results were surprising.  The entire experiment, entertaining.

With six samplers on hand the rules were simple. Each specimen variety had to be dipped six times, one for each taste tester. Each tester had the right to pass, and the specimen did not need to be finished in order for the vote to be cast. Each sampler gets one vote; each star represents one vote.

Meet the Samplers....

Geoff: 34 year-old male. Father of the lovelies. Not a fan of salty & sweet combos. Skeptical of the bacon & cherry tomatoes.
 
Brooke: 33 year-old female. Mother of the lovelies. Ringleader and curious about the bacon.
 
Kevin: 32 year-old male. Uncle of the lovelies and willing to try anything.
 
Heidi: 31 year-old female. Aunt of the lovelies. Envisioned a beautiful spread of chocolate-covered creations and made it happen. Not a fan of fruit & chocolate. Curious about the cherry tomatoes.
 
Abby: 6 year-old female. Not a fan of chocolate, but ready for the chocolate party. Pretty much a fan of it all.
 
Lauren: 5 year-old female. Loves chocolate. Loves parties. Added a balloon for affect. So disgusted by the chocolate-covered cherry tomato that she locked herself in the bathroom and rinsed her mouth with mouth wash.  It was her final sample.
 
The results in no particular order....
 
Bacon: ★★★★★☆
Twinkies: ★★★☆☆☆
Bing Cherries (fresh from the tree): ★★★★★☆
Strawberries: ★★☆
Nilla Wafers: ★★★★☆☆
Double Stuff Oreos: ★★★★★★
Double Stuff Mint Oreos: ★★★★★★
Kettle Corn: ★★★★☆☆
Bananas: ★★★★★☆
Pirate Booty: ☆☆☆☆
Potato Chips: ★★★★★☆
Graham Crackers: ★★★★★★
Pineapple: ☆☆☆☆
Honey Combs: ★☆☆☆☆☆
Powdered Donut Holes: ★★★★★★
Goldfish: ★★★★★★
Cherry Tomatoes: ★★☆☆☆

 

 {Chocolate-Covered Cherries & Powdered Donut Holes}

 

{Chocolate-Covered Bacon}

 

{Heidi & the Samplers' Paradise}

 

{The Twins Fan & the Twinkie}

Ten on Tuesday

1. Mountain living is not for me.  Love the view, but not what it does to my head.

2. Something has changed in Abby.  All of the sudden, just in the last two days, she's matured.  I noticed it yesterday at the water park.  Then today when she was talking to the dog.  My little babe is not such a little babe anymore.


3. The only outdoor water park I've ever been to where you can see snow while you swim....

{Slide Waters Water Park on Lake Chelan, Washington}

4. Homemade clam chowder tonight.  Bliss.

5. How do I know the Twins haven't been winning?  Because I haven't gotten a $1 off text from Caribou.  Good thing I'm not in MN to collect my discounted drink.  C'mon, Twins!

6. Abby & I cannot help ourselves.  Harmonizing "The Lazy Song".  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-eah.

7. I have a love-hate relationship with avocados.... I love them, but hate the way I feel when I eat them.


8. I find clowns creepy. Circuses, too, for that matter.  So it isn't a stretch to say I was a bit leery about going to the circus Friday night.  Long story short, we had a blast.  Best circus, hands down.

9. Lauren's really into buns lately.  Shaky ones.  Particularly hers.

10. I'm pretty sure whomever invented the Keurig is a genius.

Flashback Friday

Today we make our third annual invasion of Washington to see Grandma Phillips & company.  So it is only fitting that we flash back to our first trip to the Pacific Northwest....

June & July 2009

Look out, Grandma.... Here we come!

Thank You Thursday

1. Thank you, Steph, for having the kids and the mamas over for supper & a playdate last night.  We always love getting together with our Owatonna friends, but a big girls night out is in order before summer's end!

2. Thank you, Mom & Dad, for letting us come home and invade your house.  I know you appreciate all of the cookies & suppers & decluttering I do, but I appreciate you guys so much more.  Wait, you're just letting me stay because I bring the kids, that's it right?!  Hahaha.  {I'm only half kidding about that one.}

3. I'm thankful for where I grew up.  Humble, small town roots, a close, fun-loving, connected family in the Cities.  The best of both worlds in middle America.  And I'm thankful for the people with whom I grew up who show me what growing up to be a good person means.  There's a reason I love Minnesota!

4. I'm thankful for little things. Like listening to KS95 & watching KARE11 news.  Again, there's a reason I love Minnesota!

5. I'm thankful for the cool temp. today, 12° below average....  A heat-hater's dream.  Yet another reason why I love summer in Minnesota!

Ten on Tuesday

1. The girls' first time at the races.  We had a blast watching their Uncle Jason zip around the track.  Had it not been for a faulty fuel cap he certainly would have come out with one of the top slots.

As you can tell, I've been having fun playing with the functions on Mom's camera.

2.  Abby decided she wanted to go on an adventure last night to look for deer.  She must have remembered that Papa told her the deer move in the evening.  She told me she wanted to get some exercise.  I think she wanted to exercise her independence.

3. One of my favorite things about the internet is being able to see what my family & friends are up to without waiting for the annual Christmas letter!  My cousin, Luke, is an editor for North American Hunter magazine and now has a blog to boot: http://www.huntingclub.com/articles/blogs/articletype/categoryview/categoryid/4050/the-venatic-addict-with-luke-hartle.  He's a great hunter & gifted writer!  I'm proud of you, little cousin.  {He hates it when I call him that!}


4. I've finally taken on the task of cleaning out the closet at Mom & Dad's.  It's much easier to get rid of other people's stuff than my own.


5. Who gets the most excited about the arrival of The Land of Nod catalog.... My dad!  I like to browse, Mom likes to shop.  Dad likes to page through for ideas.  Believe it or not, his creations are always better than the pieces that inspire them.


6. If I could inject Lauren with something to keep her just as she is, I might consider it.  She is so cute, so innocent, so funny, and sooooo snugly!


7. Abby could hardly contain herself while we were at the Pizza Ranch last night.  Dad was talking to an older gentleman he used to work with, and Abby got wide-eyed and tight-fisted with excitement and said to me, "He lost a tooth!"  She has no idea that at a certain age that just isn't a good thing.


8. 900° for 3½ minutes.  That's how long America's oldest pizzeria, Lombardi's, cooks their pizza.


9. I'm that mom.  As evident by Abby's first year in school, the girls need a good back pack; they take a lot of abuse.  Determined not to be forced into purchasing one of those ugly princess, Bieber, or other miscellaneous unsightly bags, I ordered the girls Duluth Pack back packs.  They got to pick their own color, and the bags were both specially made for the Abby & Lauren making them an extra special treat.  They've both finally arrived.  I'm hoping these will hold true to their reputation and put this back pack saga to rest!  And hold up for a good ten plus years or better.  Time will tell.


10. Soap Box Alert: It drives me crazy when people don't cut on the dotted lines.  What the heck do you think they're for?  Fun?!  Seriously, if you're going to bother to cut it out, the least you could do is follow the designated path.  I admire a trailblazer, but appreciate scissor educate more.