Camera Phone Friday

my home sweet home

Summertime

I posted this last year, 2010, but the same applies this year...

I am so excited for Summer! I was inspired by Kelle over at Enjoying the Small Things and her post about Almost here... and her list of summer to-do's. I wanted to start a list of my own to check off throughout the summer. I feel like we got a jumpstart on our summer with our recent vacation to Myrtle Beach. Feel free to share your summer plans with me!

1. Birthday season is coming up yet again for us next month and a few in August, too. I love summer birthdays! I will plan to get creative and get back into having some really fun birthday parties for my kids.

2. We are planning on participating in Park Quest again! We will have to visit 10 of 24 Maryland state parks in order to be eligible to compete in the finale. This may or may not include camping. Maybe a Father's Day get-away? Camping at Assateague?

3. Speaking of camping, we are planning on participating in the Great American Backyard Campout! The girls, Rayzor and I are all making plans...so far they include friends, 2 BIG tents (1 for boys, 1 for girls), fun activities for kids...and adults! A fire pit, complete with smores and roasting hot dogs, and a big pancake breakfast in the morning!

4. A lot more backyard camping complete with snuggles in the cool evenings and looking at the stars!

5. We have joined a pool for the first time ever and are so excited to be with our friends and take some swim lessons and tennis lessons!

6. We will still be doing lessons throughout the summer and are looking forward to participating in the Summer Outdoor Hour Challenge!

7. Starting a garden, tidy up our yard by taking out ugly bushes and putting in new pretty bushes, and my sweet husband is putting up a clothesline...yeah!

8. Start cloth diapering again, (and hanging diapers on my new clothesline!) and start potty training Ev! Yeah!

9. Grilling outside almost every night!

10. Baby pool and sprinkler in our backyard!

11. Lots of PHOTOS!!!

12. Have a crab feast!

13. Add to my summertime playlist!

I will most likely add to this list as the weather gets hotter, and the days get longer! Summer, summer, summertime!

Camera Phone Friday

my home sweet home

{this moment}{baby boy}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same,visit SouleMama to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

*** *** ***

Chillin'

Eating a pint of blueberries


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Test ~ BlogPress

This is a test post from my iPhone to see if this works!

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Easter Parties 2011 - Week 3

Here is our week 3 celebration from last year: Baby MC - 4 weeks old and The Good Shepherd's Pasture - Week 3 - The Heaven's Tell God's Glory!

Check out Catholic Cuisine to see more!

CAM 2011 - Purse State Park

From the geocaching website: Purse State Park is located on the Potomac River on Wades Bay. Purse is a wooded undeveloped area that is used for hunting, bird watching, fishing and fossil hunting. Purse is available for public use year round, sunrise to sunset. You are looking for a camoed lock and lock .3mi from parking near the end of an easy but not wheelchair accessible trail. In the park the Aquia Formation which was deposited about 60 million years ago, in warm shallow water, a wide variety of organisms lived including sand tiger sharks, mackerel sharks, Eagle Rays, Cownose Rays, and Turritella (snails) among many other lifeforms. A pond that is stocked annually is an ideal place for anglers, young and old alike. Picnic tables are located throughout the park, and include accessible tables. Four pavilions are available for family and group picnics. One features a huge stone fireplace. Another has a panoramic view

of the pond. Two pavilions are located in close proximity to the swimming pool.

Our experience: This was our second stop on our southern Md CAM tour. This nice park made the long drive worth it. We really enjoyed walking along the wooded trail as the dappled sunlight came thru the tree canopy. The bigger kids enjoyed running up ahead and exploring and the little ones chased behind. They overshot GZ in their excitement of discovering the beach so we got to find this one with the help of our 3yo Ev ;) this was our 9th CAM cache and was on the Friday before the picnic. Unfortunately, other activities and responsibilities prevented us from getting to the 10th and final one to earn our way to the picnic, but we had a great time traveling the state once again visiting all of the great locations selected by this years group of dedicated hiders. Thanks for all the hard work and planning. Can't wait till next year!

Bird Nest Helper

I'm itching to get started on summer again, just like last year. The weather here in Maryland has been beautiful all week!

I am looking forward to doing a post on our summer plans, but in the meantime this craft over at WhiMSy love caught my eye: how to make a bird nest helper! I loved following WhiMSy love last year during her Summer Break diary. A mother of 2 girls, Nikki kept a diary on her blog documenting a different craft/activity for every day her kids were on summer break...for 90 days! It really was amazing and we had so much fun reading and crafting along with them last summer. Nikki's tutorial on how to make a bird nest helper can be found here. And here is our final project: made by Joz, B-Rad, Seany, Ev, and Benny!

CAM 2011 - Newtowne Neck

From the geocaching website:

Newtowne Neck Sate Park is one of the newest state parks in MD. Located in Compton, MD, it is the location of one of the oldest settlements in the state. The following is off the state website: Newtowne Neck State Park is a 776 acre peninsula surrounded by Breton Bay, St. Clements Bay, and the Potomac River. It has seven (7) miles of ecologically and recreationally important waterfront. Newtowne Neck was home to the Piscataway Native American Tribe and their ancestors for many centuries before its settlement by the colonists. The property, Newtowne Neck, is the site of the first settlement in Maryland after the original settlement in Saint Mary's City. The original colonists landed on St. Clement's Island in 1634. In 1640, William Bretton was granted 750 acres from Cecelius Calvert for the Newtowne Neck tract. In 1668, the Society of Jesus acquired the property from William Bretton in exchange for 40,000 pounds of tobacco. William and his wife, Temperance, donated one and one-half acres of their property in 1661 to the Society of Jesus to establish a chapel and cemetery. The property was maintained by the Society of Jesus until they withdrew from the land in 1967 to work in other areas.

Our experience:

In a last ditch effort to finish CAM, we headed to southern MD on the Friday before the picnic. Newtowne Neck SP was our first stop. The kids enjoyed an impromptu picnic near the waters edge with their happy meals while we got the stroller and babies ready. We were a little skeptical about walking on the road but it was a short walk and no cars even passed us. We ditched the stroller when we started into the woods from the field and made the quick hike thru the shaded forest. Joz made the find and the routine battle for the best prizes began. Snapped some pics and were off to Purse SP. TFTC!