Everyday Life – Page 5

Crafts, Everyday Life, Little Hands, Two Legged Fun, Uncategorized

Home Depot Kids Workshop

October 7, 2014 chantelledoll

Okay, technically it is no longer summer, but we did manage to finish one more item from our summer bucket list over the weekend: attending a Home Depot Kids Workshop.

Since getting possession of our new house, we have spent more then our fair share of time (and money) at Home Depot and Lowes. We always have the kids in tow and while they are generally pretty agreeable, they have made it known that visiting the hardware store is not the most exciting activity for them. And who can blame them, really? Riding in the racecar cart is only exciting for so long!

On one of our many trips to Home Depot this winter, we just happened to be in the lumber section towards the back of the store and my son noticed that there was a crowd of kids painting and building. He desperately wanted in on the action, but I was pretty sure it that you needed to have registered for it and I quickly steered him away. Expressing his disappointment, I promised it was something I would look into and that he could attend the next time. It took me a few months, but I finally make true to my promise.

The Home Depot Kids Workshops take place on this first Saturday of every month. The project details are always available on their website ahead of time and I was able to register for the class online via their simple form. I admit that when I have looked before the projects haven’t always appealed to me, but I was excited to see this month’s was something my 4 year old could build and actually play with.

We arrived at the store right at 10am. Once there, Camden was welcomed warmly by the Home Depot staff and given his official orange Home Depot apron with his name on it!

Our project for the day was building an Emergency Service vehicle. At each spot at the table was a complete packaged kit with instructions, stickers, wood, wheels and the nails needed to put the project together. The instructions were clear to follow and the wood all had pre-drilled holes that made it easy to get the nails started and in the right locations. It all came together fairly quickly and my son was quite proud that he was able to wield the hammer and actually help put the vehicle together.

Once assembled, they had a table full of paint for the kids to customize their creations. Camden stuck to his favorite color, green!

Instead of waiting in store for the paint to dry, we decided to bring everything home and finish putting the stickers on there. We were given a friendly good-bye from the staff and a cute little certificate of completion that Camden proudly held the entire drive home.

The kids were also each given a project pin that I assume are meant to be collected and added to their apron as they attend more of these clinics.

It was a fun activity for my son and made for a great little “date” for he and I to do without his little sister tagging along. And the best part is that it was all completely FREE!

We had it on our Summer Bucket List, but this is something you can definitely do in those upcoming winter months when you are all going stir crazy and need a reason to get out of the house. Yes, it means yet another trip to the hardware store for the kids, but trust me they won’t be complaining this time around!

Similarily, Lowes offers FREE Build and Grow Clinics for children aged 5 and up. There is a great looking haunted house coming up on October 18th and I have seen other movie themed projects such as Turbo or How to Train Your Dragon in the past. This is something I will definitely be checking later in the year after my son turns 5.

Have you attended one of these workshops in the past? Please describe your favorite project in the comments below!

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

Bubble Wand Light Sabers

September 15, 2014 chantelledoll

Have a Star Wars fan in your house? Planning a Star Wars themed party? By simply inserting glow bracelets into bubble tubes you can create your own cheap and easy DIY light saber!

My original plan from our Summer Bucket List was to actually make glowing bubbles but it was one of those things that looks great on pinterest, and didn’t quite turn out in real life. I tried to cut open the glow sticks and pour the “glow juice” into the bubbles to make the glowing bubbles, but the thin glow bracelets made it hard to pour any liquid out.

After some frustration, I decided to give up and just inserted the glowing sticks right into the bubble tubes. Voila! Instant light sabers!

My son was super excited to have his own light saber and the kids didn’t even notice the missing glow bubbles. They were just as happy to use their glowing light sabers to bat at the non-glowing bubbles and each other.

(My apologies for the crappy quality of photos in this post! It is hard to capture pictures of glowing objects and the kids were swatting the bubbles faster then I could blow them and take a photo.)

This was a cheap and easy activity and is something I am very likely to repeat again in the future. It would make a great accessory for a Star Wars themed Halloween costume and they made for fun in the bathtub in the dark later that night.

Glow sticks/bracelets and bubble wands are easily found at Walmart, Target or Dollar Stores. Unfortunately bubble wands are usually a summer seasonal item so they may be hard to track down come late fall or winter.

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

A Trip Back in Time: Fort Edmonton Park

September 10, 2014 chantelledoll

Visiting Fort Edmonton Park was one of the items on our Summer Bucket List. After taking the kids the past two summers, it has become a bit of an annual summer tradition now for us and is definitely something I now look forward to in the summer months.

This year we made our way through the park travelling backwards through time. We began at the 1920’s midway, went down 1905 Street, stepped onto 1885 street and then made our way all the way back to the 1846 Hudson’s Bay Fort.

My kids are still a little small for some of the rides on the midway, but they were still happy to ride the beautifully restored carousel and go for a spin on the hand-cranked bug swing ride.

Camden was also excited to try his hand at the fishing game again this year. For prizes, each kid came away with a plastic horse toy they proudly held onto for most of the day.

After enjoying the midway, we headed down the wooden walkways towards a farmstead where Keira happily discovered a pen of horses. This is just one of many animal pens throughout the park and seeing their excitement over the animals is a large part of the reason I love bringing the kids here.

Next, we hit up the ice cream shop! This is definitely one of the highlights of a trip to Fort Edmonton. We enjoyed our cones outside the confectionary store and then made our way across the street to the movie theater where my 4 year old was quite fascinated with the whole notion of movies being in black and white. “But why do they not have colors mommy?”

We then made our way through the firehouse and to the playground where the kids ran, climbed and worked off their ice cream cones. It is not a fancy playground by any means, but the swings, teeter-totters, slide and jungle gym are more then enough for the kids. I also love that it is tucked back away behind the buildings under a canopy of trees and is a nice spot to enjoy a packed lunch.

Our next step back in time was past the tent city and teepee and onto 1885 street. While I was in University, I spent an entire summer baking cookies and working in the bakery on 1885. My attire included a long skirt, apron and a lovely bonnet while I spent the day in front of hot oven in the bakehouse. I was disappointed last year to see the bakery and bakehouse were no longer running and a new bakery area had been put in the hotel across the dirt street.

Some things that haven’t changed are the horse drawn carriage ride running through 1885 street and the delicious hard candy’s from McDougall’s store. We enjoyed a bag of the raspberry flavor as we were waiting for our turn on the wagon ride!

Even though there are all kinds of great old houses and buildings to look through, that day we didn’t actually view the inside of many of the buildings because the kids were too happy running around outside and finding animals. At the urging of one of the costumed interpreters I did end up getting them into one of the homes where they were excited to find a kids playroom upstairs.

Before we went to Fort Edmonton, I tried to explain to Camden where we were going and showed him pictures from our past trips. He was quite excited by a picture from when he was 2 and he got to ride a pony so I promised he could ride one again this time. It was Keira’s first time riding and I think both kids really enjoyed the experience.

Finally, we ended our trip through the park at the actual Fort. The kids were getting pretty tired by this point, so we didn’t do too much exploring but we did get a good glimpse into a few of the buildings to see what life used to be like for the early settlers here in Edmonton.

We then wrapped up our day with a trip back to the main gates on the steam engine. We had already gone on our train journey with Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions earlier this summer, but the kids were still very excited to get to ride a train. If there is a train involved, you can pretty much guarantee a successful outing with toddlers in tow!

If you haven’t been to Fort Edmonton Park, I highly recommend it. This is my third year taking the kids and each year just seems to be getting better as they are able to do more and are learning more. It is fairly widespread so I brought the stroller along for my youngest, but we were able to make our through the entire park without using it too much. There are lots of areas to stop along the way and there is so much to see and do that I don’t think the kids really notice how much walking their little legs have done.

And if you are an AMA member, don’t forget to show your card at the gate for 15% off admission!

Celebrations, Everyday Life, HOME, Two Legged Fun

Family Fun Down on the Farm

September 8, 2014September 10, 2014 chantelledoll

It has been a pretty great past several days at the Doll house. After sitting around all last long weekend waiting for a sod delivery that never came, we finally got our grass on Wednesday evening and were able to get the backyard all done Thursday afternoon. I love the grass and can’t tell you how happy I am to have the dirt covered up and finally feel like there is an end in sight to our summer long landscaping projects!

Thursday morning was also a big day for Camden as he got to go check out his preschool classroom and meet his teacher for the first time. He seems pretty excited to start school next week and was even a little disappointed that Keira and I were staying with him for his first day.

Friday was my birthday. We celebrated with a low key lunch out at Red Robin (hello free birthday burger!) and a delicious cake my husband picked up locally from Wild Earth Bakery & Cafe. It was a delicious banana cake, coated in peanut butter buttercream with a covering of chocolate ganache. It was also adorned with chocolate covered bacon which we were a little unsure of, but my kids both can’t seem to get enough of.

I have been trying for the last couple weekends to get my husband to step away from the landscaping/yardwork and accompany the kids and I to the Lacombe Corn Maze. After managing to get the sod laid Thursday and using my birthday as a bit of a manipulation tool, I convinced him to take the one hour drive south Saturday morning to visit the Kraay Family Farm and get lost in the maze. The weather was perfect and I was happy to get some quality family time in on what could be one of the last fleeting days of warm weather.

My husband and I had been to the corn maze several summers back and I was impressed to see how much has changed in the 10+ years since we first went. From what I remember, the main highlight was the corn mazes and there were only a few small attractions for the kids. Now, the corn maze seems to play second to all the playgrounds, games, rides, animals, and other kid centered attractions throughout the farm.

There was a lot to take in, but one of the first things Camden decided to try was the giant bouncing pillows just inside the gates. Camden had fun, but you do get bounced around pretty good if there are other jumpers nearby.

Next up Keira led us towards the animals. There were ducks, chickens, pot bellied pigs, a miniature donkey and some goats. The goats have a nifty set of catwalks that go all over the animal pens and allow you to view the goats far up above your heads!

We then took a short tour around some of the farm in a tractor drawn wagon train. Camden was excited to point out the pumpkins turning orange in the pumpkin patch and Keira was just happy to go for a ride!

On the drive down I was feeling a little bad about not having completed quite a few of our Summer Bucket List items, but we were able to check off a few from this outing. Mini golf was on our list, and the farm had a great dinosaur themed course that is included with price of admission.

And while it isn’t quite go-karting, I am counting these pedal powered karts as going go-karting on our Bucket List. Camden was just big enough to be able to pedal them and was happy zooming past the other drivers as he made his way around the small track.

With slides, a tire horse merry-go-round, multiple play structures, a giant sandbox and unique crooked playhouses this is one of the best play areas we have been to all summer. There were no shortage of things to keep the kids busy and I am sure we could go back repeatedly and they would not be bored. We had a hard time prying them away to try some of the other activities we wanted to see!

One activity I was surprised by how much Keira enjoyed was playing in a bin full of dried corn. I think she would have happily stayed there for hours rolling in it, digging her toes into it and running it through her hands. There was a giant sandbox just steps away, but she was far more interested in the corn.

After a quick hot dog lunch, we made out way over to play a few games and get ready to watch one of the twice daily pig races. There are a couple concession stands throughout the farm as well of plenty of tables and seating if you wanted to bring in your own picnic lunch. The farm also rents out barbeques and there are tents available for special events such as birthday parties.

The pig races were short, but cute. “Boss Hogg” did a good job commentating and getting the kids involved, and it was funny to see some of the pigs not too sure of where they should be running.

Then, finally, we made our way through one of the three corn mazes. It was a lot of walking and both kids were getting pretty pooped by the end, but my husband did a good job of not leading us too astray. There are also clues and employees throughout the maze for those who might be completely directionally challenged!

And we ended our trip to the farm with, what else, but ice cream!! I think the kids would be more then happy if I built next summer’s bucket list solely on places we could go to enjoy ice cream.

The farm and corn maze visit made for a fantastic day, but the icing on the cake was really in the evening when this happened:

While relaxing with some drinks in the front yard, I watched how well Camden was doing riding his balance bike and decided to take the training wheels off his pedal bike to have him give it a try. I was expecting some wobbliness and failed attempts, but what he did blew both my husband and I away. With little more then a small push from my husband, my little guy took off pedalling his 2 wheeler like a pro. Within minutes he was going up curbs and riding in circles like it was old hat to him! I didn’t even have the video camera ready to catch the first try because there was no way I thought he would be able to do it that easily.

I couldn’t be prouder of my little boy and can’t think of a more wonderful way to start off being 32. I am looking forward to more upcoming family adventures and am excited to watch as the kids continue to grow and surprise us in the year ahead.

For more information on the Kraay Family Farm, be sure to check out their fantastic website or visit the Lacombe Corn Maze on Facebook. As you can see by my many photos, there is no shortage of things to do on the farm and I would highly recommend it for anyone looking for fun activities to do with their kids in and around Central Alberta.

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

A Trip Back in Time: The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village

September 3, 2014September 3, 2014 chantelledoll

I have driven past the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, just east of Edmonton, several times and have always wanted to check it out. My mom lives out that direction, so this summer we decided to meet up and spend the day together with the kids seeing the sites.

It took the kids and I less the an hour to drive out to the village from the Southside of Edmonton and the highway is well marked as you near the Village to make it easy to find. There is ample parking and the staff all seemed very helpful and informative if you did have questions.

There were also costumed interpreters throughout the park that did an excellent job of keeping in character. My mom questioned the young lady in the grocery store about where they found the old packages and bottles and she would not break character, telling her they had just arrived via train.

The village is fairly widespread which means a lot of walking to get between the different buildings. Even to get from the main gates into the village is quite the little hike through a treed area and over a small pond. I brought my wagon along, but was quite tired by the end pulling the kids over the gravel roadways.

There is a horse-drawn wagon that runs throughout the park and is happy to help transport you through the Village. We hopped aboard it for a small loop just so the kids could enjoy a wagon ride.

There are two different churches on site and they have done a wonderful job restoring the religious artifacts and artwork inside. There weren’t as many buildings as I was expecting, but they all seem very well kept and authentic to the time period.

The village seems to be constantly adding buildings and there were quite a few under restoration when we were there so it might be worth going back in several years to see how it has changed.

The farm animals were, by far, the biggest hit for my kids. They were excited to see the pigs, horses, sheep and chickens. After spending the day chasing chickens, my youngest has now happily added “bock bock” to her vocabulary.

It wasn’t the most exciting of places to take young children, but there was plenty of space for them to run and explore, and we managed to find enough to keep their interest.

One of my favorite buildings was the old school house. We toured it just after a summer camp group had gone through and it looked like the teacher was doing a good job leading them through some games in the schoolyard. Keira was just happy to test out sitting in all the desks!

Overall it was a nice day and I am glad the kids got to spend some time with Grandma. After touring the village, we wrapped up our day by enjoying a delicious sausage, cabbage roll and perogy lunch from the food counter on site.

I was glad to finally see the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, but I don’t think we’ll make plans to go back anytime soon. As mentioned, it was not the most exciting of places for my young kids and I didn’t like the fact that it was so widespread. In terms of historic villages, my kids get far more enjoyment out of Fort Edmonton and I think that will continue to be our go-to in the summer. Watch for our review of that next!

Celebrations, Four Legged Fun, Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: BarkBox

August 22, 2014 chantelledoll

This week we celebrated a very special birthday in our house – our loveable hound dog turned 6 on August 19!

I have always made an effort to celebrate the dog’s birthdays in our house, but this one was particularly meaningful to me because it is the first 6th birthday we have gotten to celebrate. Our sweet Bullini sadly passed shortly before her 6th birthday.

For her birthday, I baked Nova a birthday cake and the kids and I went to the pet store and picked out a couple new toys for the dogs to enjoy.

On top of that, I had decided to sign up for BarkBox last month and our first one arrived at the end of July. As eager as I was to see what was inside, I decided to hold off opening it until Nova’s birthday. Both dogs, and the kids, couldn’t wait to see what was inside the box.

I was hesitant ordering the BarkBox, but after good reviews from my sister I decided to take a chance. I was super impressed with the first box and can’t wait to get our next! The dogs love the Bixbi Chicken Jerky Treats and the Healthy Dogma Coconut Flavor Barkers smell so good that I am not even disgusted by the fact that my 2 year old keeps sticking them in her mouth! I also was worried about the quality of toy, but the Loopies Floppy Fishbone passed my tug test and looks like it will actually stand up to my heavy pullers.

We are blessed to have Nova in our lives. She is so sweet and loving. The kids crawl all over her and she is nothing but patient with them. One of Keira’s first words was, of course, “dog” and she was quick to expand it to “hound dog”. Nova is a sensitive soul and hides if there is too much noise or excitement, but never strays too far from the family. Her favorite spot in the new house has become the back bench and it brings a smile to my face everytime I see her curled up back there as I am going about my day.

Happy Birthday Bassanova! And thank you BarkBox for providing such a great product for the fur legged members of our family.

Two Legged Fun, Uncategorized

Goin’ to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo….

August 19, 2014October 5, 2014 chantelledoll

One of our Summer Bucket list items was to visit the zoo. We have managed to complete this Bucket List item twice over, at two different and amazing zoos: The Calgary Zoo and the Edmonton Valley Zoo.

The Calgary Zoo

Back in June we made a weekend trip to Calgary to visit my sister. The main purpose of the trip was to pick out the paving stones we wanted to order for our patio, but we decided to make an entire weekend of it. I looked at other things to do with the kids in Calgary, but ended up coming back to the Calgary Zoo again because it was something we had done before and enjoyed.

I knew the kids were going to like it, but I was still surprised by just how excited my 2 year old animal lover got over seeing all the creatures.

I had brought our folding wagon along because I know it is a lot of walking, but my two year old was insistent on walking almost the entire zoo on her own so she could see all the animals up close. Nothing beats seeing the excitement come over a young child when they spot an animal in one of the habitats!

And, of course, like most of our outings this summer, there had to be ice cream.

After our ice cream break, we headed to the back of the zoo where I was excited to see they have added on some kid friendly attractions such as a carousel, train ride and a great playground. It was a nice break from the walking and the kids were excited to try out the rides and animal themed park.

Camden also discovered some large rocks that he happily climbed.

And in true little sister fashion, Keira had to get in on the climbing action too!

The dinosaur park has been there for as long as I can remember. I remember enjoying it as a kid, but since it is such a big zoo we have ended up skipping over it the last few visits. This time Camden seemed pretty interested in seeing the dino’s so we decided to take a walk through the Prehistoric area where we discovered all kinds of different dinosaurs along the path.

And, we finally got to see the penguins on our way back out. I think Keira could have spent the entire day just watching the penguins swimming and waddling and hopping around their Penguin Plunge habitat. I don’t blame her, this is one of my favorite parts of the Calgary Zoo now too.

Edmonton Valley Zoo

I can’t say enough about how impressed I am with the improvements to the Edmonton Valley Zoo. Before it didn’t even compare to the Calgary Zoo, but the new entrance and expanded facilities has it looking more and more like a “real zoo”.

I don’t know how, but some how we managed to miss seeing the biggest animal at the zoo – Lucy the Elephant. She must have been out when we passed by her cage and then we didn’t see her out on her walk as we made our way through the rest of the zoo. I was a little disappointed since we didn’t get to see any elephants at the Calgary Zoo either, but there were still plenty of other amazing animals to look at.

SONY DSC

One thing that hasn’t changed in decades at the Edmonton zoo is the petting zoo area, now known as their Urban Farm. Camden sat it out so he wouldn’t have to wash his hands after petting the animals, but Keira was right in there with the goats, sheep, ponies and chickens. This kid really has no fear when it comes to animals and I love seeing the excitement on her face and the jump in her step with each new creature she gets to come face to face with.

Another highlight is the train that runs past the Urban Farm and through a tunnel. It is a short ride, but the kids love it and there always seems to be a pretty good line-up to get on the train. I also love that this attraction is now included with admission, whereas we had to buy tickets to ride the similar train at the Calgary Zoo.

And I must say the Edmonton Zoo has Calgary Zoo beat hands down for ice cream selection. They have a concession stand dedicated solely to frozen treats where you can find any kind of popsicle or hard ice cream flavor you could ever want. Camden was pretty darn excited to pick out a Sonic popsicle complete with gumball eyes!

In the newer area of the Valley Zoo is a whole section of rocks and tunnels meant to be climbed through and explored. It made it a little hard to keep track of my two kids, but they had a great time. I particularly liked the giant beaver house the kids could walk right into.

Although they were two different trips, there were many common elements that made for a fun day. For my kids you seem to be guaranteed a good time if there are interesting animals, a train ride, big things to climb on and ice cream!

And the marker of a good time for me? Two happy, sleeping kids in the backseat after both visits!

Two Legged Fun

Happy National S’mores Day 2014

August 10, 2014 chantelledoll

August 10th is National S’mores Day. In celebration I was planning to try one of the many delicious recipes I have on my S’mores Pinterest Board, but decided to just keep it simple with these easy S’mores pops.

I chose this recipe because it was ridiculously easy and only required 3 ingredients – graham crackers, large marshmallows, and milk chocolate chips (I used mini Hershey kisses), plus sticks to skewer them on if you so desire. I was going to try something more complicated to get my S’mores fix, but this worked perfect to get the kids involved and let them have a little messy fun in the kitchen.

To make the pops, simply crush the graham crumbs in the food processor (or buy a box of crumbs) and set out in a bowl.

Next, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave in 1 minute increments, stirring between, until the chocolate is smooth.

Insert straws or popsicles sticks in each of the marshmallows then have the kids dip the marshmallows in the chocolate, then coat the chocolate in the graham crumbs. Be careful as the chocolate may be a little hot for the kids.

Set the finished pops aside for the chocolate to harden. I put mine on a cookie sheet and into the freezer for a short period to speed up this process.

Enjoy!

We made our pops yesterday so I could bring them along as a treat last night to watch Rio 2. Our private beach holds an annual summer event where they bring in a giant inflatable screen and residents get to sit out on the sand and watch a Movie at the Beach.

I wasn’t sure how my 4 year old would do since the movie began at 9:45, but he managed to stay awake and was pretty into it. I ended up enjoying it a lot more then I was expecting and can’t wait to go back next year. It was so nice to sit out on the beach and enjoy a movie and treats with my little guy, cuddled in blankets on the sand.

Have a great S’mores Day!

If you are still looking for more S’mores inspiration, please check back to my S’mores post from last year featuring my sister’s S’mores Themed Wedding Cake.

Everyday Life, Two Legged Fun

In Summer!

July 14, 2014July 14, 2014 chantelledoll

The weather this past week has been gorgeous, which has meant plenty of opportunities to work through items on our Summer Bucket List.

Plan a Beach Playdate

We are so fortunate to have access to the private beach at Lake Summerside just up the road. It is something we do pay for by means of yearly membership fees, but it is a price well paid for the convenience. The closest beach to the city would be well over an hours drive and this lets us be at the beach in 2 minutes!

It is a beautiful area with a playground, picnic tables and nice sand for the kids to play in. It would be a shame not to share so we invited a bunch of our friends and ended up spending 6 hours at the beach. I was going to leave sooner, but the kids were all having fun and the highlight of my day was finally seeing my son in the lake with more then just his feet wet! This definitely won’t be the last of the playdates we plan this summer.

Catch Bugs

This list item was one we were able to check off completely by chance.

After Camden’s outdoor soccer game a couple weeks ago we decided to take a quick trip to the mall. As we were driving, Camden goes “Mommy, what’s that green thing on your shoulder?” So I brushed my hand on my shoulder, assuming I was wiping off a piece of leaf or grass from the park, then continued driving. “Mom, it’s still there and it’s moving!” EEK! I brushed my hand around my shoulder again and sure enough I felt it and picked off a squirmy little green caterpillar.

Camden was so enthralled with it that we put it in a small container we had in the car and brought it home. Once home, I found a different container, drilled some holes in it, filled it with greenery and we had “caught” our first bug.

The caterpillar didn’t survive long, but the kids have since found a ladybug that they chased all the way across our dirt covered backyard and managed to get in the bug container. He’s been in happy in there for the last week or so and Keira has now happily added the word “bug” to her small vocabulary.

Explore New Playground

There were no playgrounds within walking distance of our old house so last summer we got in the habit of driving to various parks in the area. We frequented a lot of the same parks, but I also tried to switch it up to keep things interesting. I figured if had to get the kids loaded in the car anyway, we might as well take the time to drive and find something new and exciting.

We have been walking to the park near our new house quite a bit just because it is so darn convenient, but I decided to set out and find us something new the other day.

I chose the park in the subdivision over because I read it had a splash park, but I honestly wasn’t expecting too much. It ended up being a fantastic park with plenty to climb and slide on, a decent little splash pad to cool down at and nice sand to play in. Even though it requires a little drive, it was well worth it and I can see me packing up a picnic to spend a few more afternoons there this summer.

For those in Edmonton, the park we visited was in Ellerslie located at Edwards Drive and 6 Avenue SW.

For a full listing of all the Spray Parks in Edmonton, I found this great list compiled by the city: https://data.edmonton.ca/widgets/jyra-si4k I honestly had no idea there were so many!

It also had a great little treed area and fence that I am itching to take the kids back to when they are wearing more then just their swimsuits and try to get some nice photos.

And that day also happened to be 7-11’s Birthday that day so I scored major mom points by stopping on our way hope from the park to take advantage of the free small slurpees!

~~Build~~ See A (Giant) Sandcastle

One other activity we did last week was to check out the Sand on Whyte Festival. I will be honest and say that I was kind of disappointed that it was just the three sculptures, but the three sculptures that were there were pretty impressive. It was free and gave us an excuse to get out of the house, so all in all it was worth the trip down Whyte Avenue to check it out. Hopefully there will be more to see next year as the festival grows!

This week looks to be another gorgeous week weather wise so hopefully we can knock another few items off our bucket list! It is supposed to be around 30 degrees on Wednesday so I am really hoping to swing that trip to an outdoor pool.

Remember to check back to the blog for updates on all the fun things we are doing this summer.

Everyday Life, Recipes, Savory, Sweet

Refreshing Watermelon Ideas

July 7, 2014July 8, 2014 chantelledoll

Although I am nearing the one year anniversary of my blog, I still feel pretty new to blogging and haven’t had much time to sit down and figure everything out. I am trying to be a little more involved in the blog world so I was excited to join my first linky party last week.

I am a huge fan of Spaceships and Laserbeams and was excited to read Stephanie’s post inviting others to join in to the Party Time Linky hosted by herself and some other fabulous bloggers. There are a ton of great ideas on there, but because I seem to be drawn to all things watermelon right now, I have picked out these great posts from some of the other Party Time contributors.

Here are my favourite watermelon themed ideas from this past week’s Party Time Linky:

Watermelon Cake Pops from Moms&Munchkins. These are adorable, but not something I will be attempting. I have tried cake pops before and melted chocolate and I just don’t agree!

Watermelon Granita from YummyHealthyEasy. This looks so refreshing and delicious for a hot day. This recipe is extra appealing with just 3 ingredients!

Fresh Watermelon Margaritas from Flying on Jess Fuel. Watermelon + Booze! Need I say more?

Watermelon Rice Krispie Treats from Gingerly Made. These are cute and look way more my skill level then the cake pops. I am always amazed how versatile Rice Krispie treats can be and have a whole pinterest board just dedicated to different Rice Krispie Treat Recipes.

Watermelon on a Stick from One Creative Mommy. I have always thought this is such a great idea for serving watermelon at parties!

Watermelon Salsa from The Scent of Oranges. I find this recipe most intriguing and can’t wait to give it a try. I enjoy mango salsa so I am hoping this is just as tasty!

Still not enough watermelon ideas? I posted these cute Watermelon Pops from Kraft on my Facebook page earlier this week. They are on my to-do list since my kids are all about the ice cream and popsicles right now!

Check out the Party Time Linky if you have a chance. I will definitely be contributing again and checking in on all the other great ideas from my fellow party loving bloggers.