Stay-cation

When Isabelle got into her new school, we had to make a quick last minute vacation plan. We didn't want to go far or spend too much, so we traveled north to Lake Erie. Since I grew up on the lake, I always enjoy going back and vacationing there is nostalgic for me.  My mom had a friend with a beautiful house in Lakeside, OH, where we stayed. My sister and her kids came for a day and my parents came at night to visit and hang out.  We went to East Harbor beach, where the kids had a great time! The water level was super low and it created about half a mile of shallow water, which was perfect for our young kids. We spent all day swimming, digging for shells, making sand castles, and hanging out with cousins. 

The next day we went to Soak City at Cedar Point. The kids had a blast swimming and riding the water rides. Grace is my cautious child, so we had to drag her kicking and screaming into the Lazy River, but she LOVED it after her first go around. And Isabelle was gungho about any ride they would let her go on. I took her on the two big waterslides that she was tall enough to ride and she was wild about them. Her favorite was a tall, fast slide, you lay on a mat and go down face first. The H20 Dragster, I think. I was worried she would freak out, but she was all like, "Let's go again!" They had a blast!

 As an extra bonus, there was a litter of fox born in the neighborhood where we stayed for the week.  And they were running around like cats all weekend long. We saw them all the time. In my limited experience, I have only seen fox a couple of times, they are leary of people. But these fox would come within 10 feet of us. It was so cool to see!

A Room for A First Grader

Isabelle has decided that she hates pink. That's a bummer considering her room is all shades of pink. And let's not even talk about her clothes!  Her new favorite color is purple  blue light blue.  And NOTHING else will do.  Many days she even refuses to wear a differnt color. Again quite a bummer, considering she has to wear uniforms.  (bummer for US, that is!!)

But, we did buy her new bedding for her birthday and a bunch of sweet family members bought items to go along with it. It's blue and red and pinks, which incorporates her pink walls..which I DID NOT want to repaint!

I also found this GREAT old dresser and bureau set at a garage sale and painted it robins egg blue to match the quilt.  I painted it with a brush and then overlayed it with a bronze gloss.  I removed the old brass handles and spray painted them a dark metallic color and finished it off by covering the back inside with the great material I found at JoAnn's. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out!

I finished off the room by painting her frames and side tables the same blue, and getting some ribbon blue ribbon for the lamps and letters. I was pretty happy with the result!

First Grade

We have had some ups and downs with schooling in our family, and poor Isabelle has had to bear with us, as our practice oldest child. She has switched schools several times, and this year she began a new year at a top rated charter school in Columbus. In fact there was a waiting list of 250 students and she miraculously got in at the last minute! So, she began the first grade, uniforms and all on August 6. Her day is LONG, as she starts at 7:45 and goes till 3:15. So far, she's doing great, even though she is exhausted at the end of the day. We are really proud of her!

 In the meantime, I have also been enjoying some one and one time with my baby (not so much a baby anymore!) Grace.  We have been running errand, taking walks, reading books, and having quiet breakfasts together. Love that girl!

Isabelle's 6th Birthday Party

I am slowly falling behind on blog world. I know. But I have been doing it for so many years, I feel like it's my digital scrapbooking and feel obligated to not let it completely die. By the way, my scrapbooking is also falling WAYYYYY behind.  My poor second childs life has been recorded with nary any creativity! *sigh* Oh well!

Isabelle's sixth birthday has come and gone. And my 30 something birthday too!  Isabelle requested a Mermaid party this year and I happily complied.  I know it's only a matter of years when my girls are not going to want parties with themes and tissue paper puff balls. Instead they are going to want trips to the mall and outings with friends, so my inner party planner is soaking every last moment of enjoyment out of these years. Yes, I enjoy it probably more than my girls. Who are mostly in it for the gifts, if I'm being honest.

We went with a blue and green theme and the highlight of the event were the end of season beach towels, that I rigged into make shift mermaid tails. A lovely favor, if I do say so myself. We also decorated water bottles and sunglasses with stick-0n bling. We had so many wonderful family and friends come from near and far, the house was FULL and Isabelle got so many great gifts. Thank you everyone for sharing in Isabelle's day!

Cupcakes by Mama. These are suppose to be mermaid tails!:)

Green and Blue was our theme



Gift bags with sunglasses and waterbottles inside.

 Isabelle's newly remodeled furniture pulling double duty as party decor!

Cupcake table.

 Mermaid Tails waiting for each little guest.

Wearing thier mermaid tails. Aren't they cute?

 Papaw and Abby

 Oma, Jack and Isabelle on her new bike!

 Waterslide, always a big hit. Thanks for the loaner, Oma!

 Sweet Jenna and Abby

Friends and Family hanging out.

Opa and Isabelle

Isabelle getting ready to blow out the candle on her cupcake.