A Week at a Glance

We had a good week. A hike in the woods,

 A break while hiking,

Practicing some letters,

A new neighbor friend for Jackson,

Jackson dressed up for a visit to Yiayia and Papou's house. The second outfit was the next day.

Being goofy,

A casino, and game date night with my handsome hubby,

& a Sunday morning spent crafting with my little guy. 

Life couldn't get any better than this. <3 Enjoy your week!

Fresh Lemonade- A Summer Favorite

One of my very favorite things in the summer is sitting outside with a cold glass of something sweet and some good conversation. Lately, it's been fresh squeezed lemonade that has been my go to. It is so easy to make, and it's super refreshing on a hot day.

Jackson loves helping me make lemonade. His favorite part {and admittedly, mine too} is squeezing the lemons.He's so cute when he uses all his strength to push and squeeze the juice out.

 He also loves to stir.

It's amazing how many lemons it actually takes to make a pitcher of lemonade. I so long for a lemon tree in my back yard. 

I also love that you can add anything you want to lemonade to get different flavors. One of our favorite add ins is strawberries. I like to crush them up a lot, so that when I drink it, I get the strawberry chunks as well. Other good add ins are blueberries, mint leaves, sweet oranges, even cherries or tea!

So sit back the next time you have a free moment and enjoy a cup of fresh squeezed lemonade.

Our Super Easy Lemonade Recipe

4-5 Lemons (I usually have 3/4-1cup of juice) 

Warm water

1/2 Cup Sugar

Ice

Pretty Pitcher

Cut lemons in half. Squeeze out the juice using a juicer. Strain out the seeds. I like to use a strainer with large holes to let the pulp drain through too. Add the sugar. Add warm water to fill pitch about half way. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Taste to make sure it has the right ratio of lemon juice:sugar. It will be a little strong, but you should get a good idea of what it will taste like when done. Add in any flavors you want. Add ice until the pitcher is mostly filled. Stir. Pour into pretty tall glasses. Get a good book, go outside, and enjoy :)  

{Our Weekly Family Recap}

We had another great week. We had a lot of adventures and "firsts". 

Earlier in the week we visited the Grand Opera House and saw a showing of Pinocchio. It was Jackson's first trip to the theater, and he loved it. We also visited a local wild life refuge with friends. We had the most perfect weather for it, and we were able to learn some pretty awesome facts.

Kyle's family is very musical, and many of them play instruments. They love getting together to play bluegrass music. Saturday night we had a super fun family gathering that included live music, dancing, singing, laughing, kids running everywhere, and great food.

Even our little Jackson played music. He has a guitar, and he loves to sit in the circle with the other musicians and pretend to play. He actually keeps a pretty good beat. I see lots of music lessons in his future. 

I even played a little. Well, not really, but I tried. {One day I hope to learn to play too, so I can play with the family}

***

Sunday Kyle, Jackson, and I spent a few hours at Lums Pond State Park. We took Jackson on his first paddle boat ride, and we got to watch the zip liners fly across the pond over our heads. 

Kyle also spent some time teaching Jackson the fun of disc golf, a sport his family loves to play. Jackson loved the concept and enjoyed throwing his frisbee while Kyle and I played a few holes. This was Jackson's first disc golf experience of many.

Some more photos of our visit to the state park.

Words can not express the joy I feel when I get to spend time with my family, doing the things we love. It doesn't get any better than the days we had together this first weekend in August. 

{Sunshine Sunday}

This past week we've been on vacation. We spent 3 days at Rehoboth Beach in Delaware, our home state. It was our first hotel stay with Jackson, and our first extended beach vacation, just the 3 of us.

We had so much fun, and we enjoyed the time we got to spend together as a family. We really felt like we had to make the most of it before things get crazy the next few months when school starts for me, and as I look for a new job. 

We left on Wednesday morning, and had breakfast in Dover with MomMom Peggy, Kyle's grandmother, since her house was halfway way to the beach. We decided after that to spend a few hours at Killens Pond State Park, and visit the water park they have. It was really crowded with camp kids, but Jackson loved the little water slides they had for his age. 

Thursday wasn't a great beach day. It was cold, windy, and overcast with a constant threat of rain. We spent some time on the boardwalk playing mini golf, and enjoyed some arcade games. Jackson won an armful of stuffed animals, and couldn't have been any happier. Thursday evening we decided we didn't want to waste any more beach time, so after dinner we packed up chairs, and some beach toys and set up on the beach even though it was a little chilly. The sun was starting to peek through the clouds even though it was almost sunset. We hung out on the beach for a while, and had a good portion of the beach to ourselves. We didn't swim, but spent time relaxing, playing in the sand, and flying our kite.

On Friday, we had great weather, and we were on the beach by 9:30am, before most other people arrived. We got a great spot up front near the waters edge, and spent hours playing in the sand, and jumping waves. It was an amazing day. Kyle has never been much for the beach, but has recently started enjoying it. I was so happy to see him loving the ocean, and not wanting to leave. The rest of the day was spent having lunch, riding rides at Funland, and then stopped for dinner on our way home.

I am so happy, and grateful that we had those few days together at the beach, and the entire week together as a family. I love my little family so much, and can't imagine my life without them. Any
time spent together with them is time well spent. I hope I never take them for granted.

** 

This week we will be getting back into our daily hustle of work, and everyday life. I am working on some new designs for the Hoot & Bumble shop, so I'll be excited to show you what's coming next.

Don't forget to use the 10% off a purchase of $6 or more with coupon code VACATION2013. Ends Tuesday July 30th. 

Update + Flash Sale Extended

We have been away the last few days on our first real family beach vacation {more on that for the next post}. So I am taking tonight and tomorrow to catch up on some posts, and hopefully there will be another great series of posts coming up in the next week.

I just want to say how floored I am at the amount of page views I have received the last 2 days. I broke the 10,000 mark yesterday. It was so fun to watch the page numbers soar from just over 1,000 to well over 10,000 in less than 48 hours. All thanks to the shares from my 12 Things I miss about Breastfeeding post!! Yeah baby! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read that post, and the others.  Please keep sharing the posts you like with your friends.

***

& because of all the fun we had on our vacation, and to celebrate all my new fans, I am going to extend the coupon code for the 10% off your entire order over $6 until Tuesday night. Just use coupon code VACATION2013 at checkout.

a little reminiscing + reader poll

//Let me get this out. I love summer. I love the sunshine, the warm summer nights, and sitting by the pool watching the kids play. I love the cool drinks, and wearing less bulky clothes. I love the colors, and the thunderstorms. Oh, how I especially love the thunderstorms.

//I was and still am lucky enough to have the childhood and lifetime friend everyone dreams about. {More about that for another post}. My best friend,. Katherine {who lived across the street from me almost my entire life} had a porch on the front of her house. Over the last 20 years we have spent countless hours sitting, playing, talking, and dreaming together on that front porch. But we especially loved the essence of The Porch during summer thunderstorms. I can still feel the misty breeze coming to kiss my skin as we sat on that old front porch and told stories, while eating saltine crackers, and watching the storms pass. Sometimes her mom would sit with us, and tell us stories of her past, and her family in Greece.

//These times on The Porch are some of my favorite childhood memories. These memories that I hold close to my heart are like scenes from books I have read, except they are real, and house deep feelings that are mine to hold onto forever. They are what has shaped me into the woman I am today.

//Now that Katherine and I are "grown-ups", we still flock to The Porch whenever we have the chance. Katherine is temporarily living a few hundred miles away from {me}, but when she comes Home, we love to reminisce on that porch. If we are lucky, a storm will pass through to make our time together even more special. One day I hope our children will love and appreciate all that porch holds in its old wooden supports, and maybe they will even have a porch of their own to cherish as we will always cherish our porch that has given us so much.

*This is an actual picture of Our Porch*

//As I work on getting my online shop organized and stocked, I want to ask my readers for some input. In the comment section below, please let me know what your favorite summer color combo is. What colors would you love to see in a zip bag, wristlet, or other Hoot & Bumble product? I want to know what you like!

xxxx
Elizabeth