Five on Friday

I don't know about you but it feels like this week has been dragging....so slow!  Perhaps its the weather, perhaps its because its the start of summer and things are slowing down but either way I'm feeling antsy and need to get out of the house!

1.  We had the most amazing clouds this past Tuesday.  I actually stopped in the middle of the street when I was driving to pick Simone up from school to snap this shot.  It totally reminds me of the Simpson's!

2.  Larry was busy Monday and Tuesday working on his car with a friend so it was just me and Simone hanging out.  Monday since it was gloomy and we had rain we ended up on the couch with a movie and popcorn.  We did the same on Tuesday, so on Wednesday I got her a treat, Jiffy Pop.  What fun we had popping that up!  I don't think I've ever popped one of those myself, it was a hoot.

3.  Someones sunflowers are coming along nicely.  Here they are on Wednesday

and today

4.  Yesterday after we dropped Simone off at school Larry and I set off on a little bike ride.  It was nice to be back on two wheels!

5.  I'm not one to judge and I love bacon just as much as the next guy but seriously, I think this bacon craze has gone far enough!  Spotted at World Market, in the well defined "Bacon" section.

I mean really, what a bacon latte?

On that inspired note, I bid you all a happy and wonderful weekend!  Maybe you'll have some bacon...?

Project Life - Week 22

Sorry this is a bit late posting this morning. Since Monday was so gloomy I just didn't feel like doing anything, so I spent most of the day hanging out with Simone and putzing around.  I worked hard yesterday to get this weeks posts done and didn't finish until close to dinner time.  Which left no good light for photo taking.

That being said here is the week!  I made another insert this week for our Yosemite photos, you'll see that below.

And the left side.

As usual, this was done last.  I had intended to use the sun cutout on another slot but it was too big so it ended up here.  It's a nice welcome to summer.

Most of this side ended up being about Sunday.  Since I added the insert for our trip I was free to use more slots than I would normally allow myself.  Gold Bug Mine was awesome and Simone loved it. 

A shot of the gold Larry bought for Simone and our sleepy girl.  She slept for 12.5 hours that night, growing, growing, growing!

On Memorial Day morning Larry took Simone to go see the Parachuters jump down in Lodi.  She loved watching them and it being a holiday there were a lot of jumpers to watch.

The slot next door is for the insert.  I realized after I made it that I didn't put any text, so I removed the photo that was there and put it on the right side and added a journaling card to tell the story of what was going on in the insert.

Another shot from Sunday, this ice cream place just opened in town.  It reminds me of a place we used to go when I was a kid living in the Bay Area.  It was awesome and I can't wait to go back many more times.

Monday, Memorial Day, it was an awesome, low key day at home and I loved that the Swackett app honored and remembered those that have served our country.  We made sure our flag was flying.
This whole slot is digital even the tape.  I just purchased the set of digital washi tape and loved playing with it.  It's from Robyn Meierotto at Design House Digital.  I IG'd her how much I loved it and she said she would make more, yay!

Here is the insert.  I used these protectors from Staples.  This ended up taking a really long time, mainly because I worked through it by trial and error.  Lots of do overs and changes made on the fly to accommodate what I wanted to accomplish.  I had thought of doing it all digital but then realized I couldn't really fold the photo paper they way I wanted to so that meant I had to first decide what size the photos needed to be, print them and then cut them all out.  It ended up great and was totally worth the extra time. 

The stamps on the front are part of the new Hey Day collection here and here if you missed that chevron strip when it was first released.  I also saw that they are doing yet another order of the Adventure and Good Stuff sets so if you want them hit the shop and hit notify me so they know how many to order.

Each section flips up and has photos.

The back are all shots from the valley.

Here is the right hand side.

We've been talking about getting our golf clubs out again and we finally did.  After we took Simone to school on Thursday we checked out the little 9 hole course in town and hit a bucket of balls.  It's been forever and it was hard but in the end it was fun and we want to do it again.  I may take some lessons to refresh my swing.

Another month, another list of shots to take on Instagram.  I really love this months list and can't wait for some of the prompts.

A few random shots from the week.  Starbucks Frappacino runs have become a part of our lives.  Not often but way more than before.  It all started during their half off Happy Hour week they hooked us!
A shot of our tomatoes, doing well!

I tried Blue Bunny ice cream for the first time when I was back east and loved it.  I found out the only place to buy it here in town is at Walmart so I picked up two to try.  I posted this picture of my Peanut Butter Panic to IG and also to Twitter.  I was surprised when I got a reply back from the Blue Bunny folks, love when stuff like that happens!

I made our first batch of summer bruschetta this past weekend, so good who needs dinner!  (More digital washi tape here too)

It was super hot this past Friday, I tried to keep cool in a light dress and it did help but it was hot, hot, hot!

Larry made Simone the cutest space ship out of a giant box that we had.  She has played in it every day since and loves it!  I colored in the veneer stars with a sharpie and then covered them with iridescent stickles for some shimmer.

Thanks for stopping by, its been a super fun week to document.  Thankfully the weather is warming up so our one day of June gloom is on its way out.  Cheers to warm weather if you have it too!

What is it with June...

This seems to be the norm, and so far, we are right on schedule.  Just when were totally diggin' the nice weather (i.e. hot) days we get hit with a bit of rain.  Today seems to be our day for the June Gloom.

Let's hope this moves out as quickly as it came in!

Yosemite

Warning: Photo Heavy Post

It's always nice when your kid has a day off from school and you can take impromptu trips to amazing places like Yosemite.  We are lucky to have such and amazing place so very close to home and no school this past Tuesday.

The morning started off like most do; coffee and emails for us and cartoons for Simone.  Thankfully Larry was feeling antsy that day and decided to look up a place he has been dying for us to visit.  The Evergreen Lodge is located just outside of Yosemite and he has been lucky enough to stay on two separate occasions while on his annual motorcycle trip.  He has raved about this place for two years and on a lark they happened to be offering a discount on rooms.  Having secured a room we kicked it into high gear; ate, showered, packed, packed a picnic lunch and were on our way by 10:00am.

I had no idea what to expect, other than this place had indoor plumbing so I knew I would be okay.  I'm not the "lets rough it" type like he is, this lady requires indoor plumbing!

This lady on the other hand requires on board entertainment and thankfully our ride comes equipped with a DVD player.

We got the the lodge early around 1:00pm and our room wasn't ready yet so we drove down a few miles to the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, had our picnic and checked out the scenery.  It was my first time seeing it and I loved it.  Simone loved it too, especially when she and Larry walked through the tunnel you can see in the photo below.  She saw a frog so to her that was awesome!

We drove back to the lodge when we were done but it still wasn't check in time (3:30pm) and our room wasn't ready so we walked around and hung out for awhile.  This place was AMAZING!  Larry was right when he said we would love it.  It's a large resort, all individual sleeping cabins and they even have a camping area all set up with tents and cots if you want to go that route.

This is the back side of the Activity Center and the fireplace was amazing.  At night they do s'mores for anyone that wants to help themselves.

We enjoyed some libations on the patio while Simone played in one of the near by play areas.

There are also ping pong tables set up and a complete rec center with even more activities.

In the kids play area they had these super cute tee-pees.

This cabin comes with a lovely hammock to enjoy.

Our cabin was a family cabin (the one on the left, L13).  It had a queen size bed, bunkbeds, a nice sitting area, satelitte radio (no TV's at this joint) and a Keurig coffee pot.  Oh and yes the beloved indoor plumbing.

I bet you'll never guess who loved the buckbeds...



I love that there were no TV's in the rooms I just wish I had planned better and brought a book or some magazines for the evening.  I did bring my ipad so Simone happily watched a movie up in her bunkbed that night.  There were also a few games in the room which was nice.  There is also no cell service at the resort but they have phones for you to use as needed and there is Wifi in the Activity Center so I was able to get connected that way.

There is a restaurant on site and we ate dinner and breakfast there.  The food is top notch and the service is fantastic.  They also just added a pool and hot tub which was amazing as well.  I'm bummed we didn't know about this the weather was perfect for swimming.  It had just opened the week before we arrived so it wasn't there the last time Larry stayed.  I definately want to go back for a longer visit very soon.  This girl was very impressed!  Indoor plumbing and all!

Wednesday morning after breakfast we packed up the car and drove into Yosemite.  We stopped at a vista point to take in the view and say hi to Half Dome.

I tried my best not to have a heart-attack watching her climb.  Momma has a mean fear of heights and this just about sent me into a full blown panic.

She is just like Dad.

We stopped again by a stream, if you look really closely you can see gold.  Man o man, it was just begging to be panned!

Oh and the smells....so good.

Our first stop in the Valley was at Bridalveil Falls.  The best pictures were found in the parking lot. The viewing area at the base was way to misty to get a good shot.

Yep, a climber just like Dad!

As we drove on we got to see El Capitan.  The weather was perfect, so blue and clear.  We didn't see any climbers though.

Yosemite Falls

I snapped most of the shots but Ansel Larry wanted to try this angle, he was right, it's amazing!

Yosemite Falls through the trees.

We drove over to the Ahwahnee Hotel for a look around.  I hadn't been there in years so it was nice to see it again.  I want to come back some day and stay in that room right there with the green awning.  Instead of staying, we had a lovely over-priced beverage on the patio and enjoyed the sun and the amazing view.

I just love how they have kept it so homey without being too pretentious.

We did stop on our way out of the park, Simone as hungry so we sat on a bench and had a little picnic.  She cried the whole way out of the park, she wanted to stay, and by stay I mean at the Ahwahnee Hotel.  Sister's no dummy, she likes indoor plumbing too, especially the fancy kind.