Paradise...A SHORE Thing

Not a bad way to spend Easter.

What a crazy week. My parents originally booked this fabulous beach house with the intentions of a big family vacation and to get Lindsey some sun during her spring break from BYUI. After Lindsey relapsed a few weeks before we were to leave, it went back on the market with hopes that someone else would rent it. 2 days before our time slot was to start; still no renter = pack up the kids and head to the beach. Melanie and Aubs joined us for the first few days then took off to Memphis to find a house and visit Lindsey. I spent the remainder of the week as a single mother in paradise. The burdens I must bare.

Sand Angels (a Southerner's version of snow angels)

Lunch on the beach everyday. Added a little non-nutritive crunch to everything.

The biggest challenge of the week...finding a way to keep sand out of Adam's pacifier.

When we were heading home from the beach because Adam was having a meltdown, Shannon note, "I wish I didn't have a little brother so I could stay at the beach."

But what a cute little reason to take a break from the beach.

The classic building and destroying of sand castles was a daily activity.

The sun really drained the kids. Even with a morning nap, Adam fell asleep on the beach almost everyday.

Shannon started a game called "bubbles on my toes" last year in the Bahamas and continued the tradition this year, even without the unlimited pina coladas.

I thought once Adam tasted the sand, we would get a cute picture that would be it. But he kept on eating and eating and eating. It supports my theory that this boy will eat anything.

Our friends, the Robinettes, sent Shannon Easter polly pockets as well as this bunny house. She did a great job of building and testing the quality of the products.

But just a fun was demolishing the houses and "cleaning up" the remains.
The Taco Bar had awesome shrimp tacos as well as a photo op that Shannon actually asked for a picture in.

Rosemary had an endless supply of cute stores, including this toy store with the same name as Grandma Gruwell aka Gigi.

Frost Bite had endless combos of shaved ice, including this one of chocolate custard topped with pineapple upside down cake.

We had gelato for dinner one night.

Breakfast at Wild Olive.

The town has as many sidewalks as it does streets. Why drive when you can bike? Of course the first day we went on a long bike ride (downhill with the wind on our backs one way (hey, we could do this all day), up hill with the wind catching the trailer on the way back...did I mention the 60 pounds of kids I was pulling?)

We stayed in the cutest house, complete with a private pool and carriage house. Shannon now wants bunk beds for her birthday.

My new goal...own a beach house on 30-A (the "country" road that runs along the beach). I think this one would be a good starter home.

Let Them Eat Cake

AND WE DID!As Enrichment Leader I'm trying to beef up our clubs. So what better club for me than a cooking club? Last month's theme was soup, but this months was CAKE! It have me a good excuse to try out some recipes I've been dying to make but haven't been able to justify an entire cake for my little family. Coconut Cream Cake was prefect for the Easter season. It had just enough coconut flavor and texture but didn't take away from that cake feel.Second offering...Double Chocolate Malt Cake with Cherry Vanilla frosting. I adapted it from a cupcake recipe from the Ultimate Recipe Showdown. Another adaptation...I downgraded it from Double chocolate to just Chocolate when I forgot to add the mini chips. Oops, gotta goof up at least one time per recipe. The cake was good, but I don't know if I'll make it again.Finally, the 5 Minute Cake demonstration. It's a microwave individual cake and reminds me of the ones you can buy in the store. However, I would decrease the time to more of a 3 to 3 1/2 minute cake as I like mine more gooey and less spongy.It was a fun treat to have cake for lunch, but after sampling 8 cakes, dinner was very light that night. (Araksya is so focused on the deliciousness, who can blame her?) Adam was reunited with his girlfriend, who loved him until he cried. The girls just can't keep their hands off of him.

Easter Party

We just got back from spending a fabulous week at the beach. Unfortunately, we were without Internet, so I'm going to spend then next few days playing catch up blogwise.

Shannon surprised me when she came home from school last week and made no mention of the Easter Bunny that was to have visited her class that day. When I finally brought it up, she declared, "Mom, the Easter Bunny isn't real. It had a pony tail." This gave me a momentary flash back to last Easter, when we went to an egg hunt and Shannon questioned why the bunny had tennis shoes? This girl is too smart for her own good.

But the school party was cute, complete with shirts of bunny's the kids made out of their hand prints, an egg hunt, and lots of candy.

Impossible to get a group shot.

To try and distract Shannon from her new found love of Ramen noodles, I gave the Daring Baker pizza dough recipe a second shot. It was even better this time (seeing as how I followed the directs more...funny how that works out)

I gave her one of the balls of dough to toss herself. Fortunately none ended up on the ceiling and she had a great time. Unfortunately she overworked the dough and instead of a thin, fluffy pizza, we ended up with a small thick crust. Oh well, our human garbage disposal (Adam) happily ate Shannon's creation.

Hear Ye Hear Ye

In Adams never ending quest to prove that he is the exact OPPOSITE of his sister, he would like to announce that a tooth is COMING. No, not here, but coming. He would like everyone to know that it will be a long process, but he plans on providing everyone with sleepless nights and plenty of drool. In exchange for this gift he brings, he will let you provide him with undivided attention. (for historical purposes, Shannon's first tooth simply appeared. We looked in her mouth one day to see a pearly white, simple as that.) Wish us all the best of luck as we journey through this adventure as a family (because we have no where else to run).

Is 3:45 pm Too Early For Dinner and a Bath ?

The only source of comfort was the toast he clung too the entire bath...it's just toast Adam, not love.