#NationalWaffleDay

Yesterday was #NationalWaffleDay.  I have been wanting a Mickey Mouse waffle maker and finally, I had a reason to buy it!   We had so much fun on our Disney Vacation, which was three years ago this week.  It is definitely time for another Disney vacation, but for now, we can eat Mickey Mouse waffles and look at our pictures!

If you want to treat yourself to some Mickey waffles, order the Classic Mickey waffle maker!

My babies are so little!!

Robots in the Park

Malibu Dolphins

We traveled to Las Vegas for Melia's dance nationals and after drove to California for a couple days.  It was the fastest tour of LA ever!  We managed to go to the Griffith Observatory, Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Malibu.

We got up early and drove to Malibu since I read dolphins hang out at Surfrider Beach.  As we were driving along the Pacific Coast Highway, Melia spotted something in the water.  We were able to pull over and get out and they were dolphins!!  Such an amazing view to see the dolphins swimming in their natural home!   Watch below:

Dolphins in Malibu, California 

Field Day Fun

As the school year is almost over, that means lots of notes for year-end parties, art projects, concerts, and Field Day!  Melia and Bladen had their field day this week, and we discovered Bladen is quite good with the hula hoop!  He tied for 1st place in his class for the hula hoop event!  Melia has now asked that we buy two for home so she and Bladen can have a competition.  Her little brother is catching up to her in height, so she wants to make sure she can still have the hula hoop champion title.

Chloe will have her Field Day later this month.  So for now check out Melia with some inflatable donut wrestling and Bladen's hula hoop skills:

Melia & Bladen - Field Day Fun 2016

Bladen vs. Invisible Man

Bladen is always coming up with creative ways to entertain himself.  Whether he is a lizard sliding on the floor, or a ninja in a battle.  I love how creative he can be, but often wonder why we have a playroom full of toys.

Bladen was in a battle with the paper towel roll last night, before practicing some boxing.  You can watch him battle the Paper Ninja Towel here:

Bladen vs. Invisible Man

Melia and Bladen sing M-O-M-M-Y

Melia and Bladen were excited to spend Saturday together while Chloe was at her last volleyball tournament.  They had lots of laughs!

Bladen's Rap

After watching Alvin and The Chipmunks movie, The Road Chip, our 6 year old, Bladen, was singing the Baby Got Back song for days.  He didn't know all of the lyrics, thankfully, so he made up his own.  I love how creative kids can be!

You can watch the rap here: Bladen's Rap

Honking the Chicken

We had to go to the local pet store to pick up some vitamin C for Brownie.  Brownie only likes a particular brand and when the new pet store that opened didn't have them, they offered to order them.  So a few days later, they called and left a message that the vitamin C tablets were in and ready for pick up.

We headed out after school for a family dinner to celebrate Chloe's volleyball win from Saturday.  Her team won the 1st place in that bracket.  The girls had wanted Black Rock so we decided to finally go with all five of us.  Now, this was big as I like to go places that have kids eat free.  Since this was a Monday, and my go to website (My Kids Eat Free) didn't list any close by Monday deals, we left for Black Rock.  I was impressed with the kids meals, the girls both had steak and the kid meals were reasonable and budget friendly.  Kenneth had a burger and I had a crab cake sandwich, while Bladen had the usual, cheeseburger.  The food was good and we had a nice dinner!

After dinner, we made a quick stop at the pet store to pick up the Vitamin C tablets.  While there Bladen found the pet toy aisle and was having fun Honking the Chickens. This was so funny to him, which made us all laugh!  I am thankful the pet store workers didn't seem bothered with his Honking of the Chickens!

Backyard Basketball

I didn't realize there was so much to learn about basketball hoops, but when we decided to get a basketball hoop, we had a lot of options.

Portable?
In-ground?
Size? 52 inch backboard? 54 inch backboard? 60 inch backboard?  What happened to the little white backboard that was the size of a door mat?

And the options didn't stop there. Acrylic backboard? Tempered Glass? Round Pole? Square Pole?

We wanted something that was stable and secure so we wouldn't have to worry about it falling over and we decided an in-ground was the way to go.  I had a coupon for Dick's Sporting Goods store so I decided to check out the selections.  They had one we almost purchased, but ended up with a Spalding 60 inch tempered glass hoop from Meijer.  It was on sale for $200 off, and I love a good deal!   Apparently, the ball bounces different on the tempered glass than the other options and we thought that was worth the extra money.

Our driveway is on a slight slope and a somewhat busier street for the subdivision so we submitted approval to put the hoop in the backyard.  Once approval was granted we were able to put up the hoop and start playing some backyard basketball.  We plan to install sports tiles but for now, you can watch some baskets being made at: Bladen Playing Hoops

How to Make an Arch Stretcher for Dance

Melia has been dancing since she was four years old.  She loves dance!  Her dance teacher told her she needed an arch stretcher so we googled it to find a $200 tool that wasn't in the budget.  There was a cheaper one, but also videos on how to DIY.  So we decided we could make one that would work.  With the exception of the board, the materials were all bought at Jo-Ann's.  We bought a half yard of material, a piece of foam, and some thick band elastic.  The board was bought at Home Depot. 

 Materials used:

1. 2x4 board cut to preferred length  

2. Fabric

3. Elastic

4. Foam 

5. Staple gun 

We cut the fabric to size and trimmed the foam.  The foam is used under the fabric to add a little cushion for your feet.  We used a staple gun to secure the fabric and elastic.  The staples seem more secure, but you could use glue.  The elastic needs to be tight to help stretch the feet and arches.

The video can be viewed at: Melia's Arch Stretcher

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Family on the Go

With work, school, kid activities, family events, our family is often on the go.  We enjoy every minute of it, but this creates for busy nights and weekends!  We created a YouTube channel to document our family on the go.  You can check it out here: Family Go Yo

I am thankful we are able to provide our kids with lessons, such as dance, volleyball, basketball, golf, etc, but I am more thankful for the time we spend together!  The memories my kids make just playing together in the backyard.  They love to make movies, videos, and we will share them on the YouTube channel. You can subscribe at: Subscribe to Family Go Yo

In the chaos of life, two things happen in our family: mealtime and bedtime!  I cherish each time we sit down at the table for a meal.  It is then that we can chat about the day.  Due to scheduling we don’t all sit down together everyday, but on days we can, this is important to our family.  I guess it is something I cherished growing up.  My mom always made dinner and we sat around the table to eat together as a family.  We rarely went out to eat, it was always a home cooked meal.  Looking back, I probably should have watched more and learned to cook.  I have created some easy go-to meals that I will share another time, but my kids often ask for me to make things, “like Mama does”!

I also cherish our bedtime routine.  Our kids at the ages of 11, 9, and 6, still want a bed time hug and kiss.  So no matter how busy the day is, in the evening, they hear “I love you” with a big hug and kiss before they go to sleep!  In busy times when I have work to finish or laundry to fold, or even a show I want to watch, I have to remind myself that moment we created before bedtime is all that matters, so hug them a little tighter, and let them share their favorite part of the day because I am so thankful for those precious moments! 

                                             Melia, Chloe, and Bladen