Our Family Vaca Recap 2018

Earlier in the month we took off to celebrate our 10yr wedding anniversary! We knew all year we would make it a family affair and bring the kiddos because we just aren't ready to leave them for a long period of time.

We decided on Anna Maria Island after hearing how amazing it was from my sister in law and brother in law. After a couple months of worrying about red tide, we decided to go for it and hope for the best.

To our surprise when we arrived, the water (and weather) was perfect! I honestly do not know how we got so lucky since before we left there were still traces and after we left the hurricane brought some nasty weather

We rented a condo right on the beach, we were literally steps away. The best part of anna maria is there are no high rises, most places are not higher than 2 stories which totally keeps the old feel charm in affect. The beaches are gorgeous, white sand and so soft!

The island is small and pretty quiet/quaint with not a ton to do (which we actually loved!) but what there was to do, we did. We painted sand dollars, went fishing, we went to the aquarium a town over, we ate at the best donut place, we ate all the ice cream, and most of the food we ate was amazing!! If we weren't venturing around town, we would be lounging and playing on the beach every day! It was pure perfection!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I'm already planning when we can get back here!!

Coffee Talk 10.23.18

Today's edition of coffee talk is going to be all about this little blog of mine. Anyone who follows along has probably noticed my lack of blogging for a while now. I just can't seem to get it together and with all going on, this space falls to the bottom.

I love connecting with others and reading about everyone's lives, projects, vacations, etc and writing about my own but lately, I just don't have it in me to fully engage. You would think with 2/3 kids out of the house 6 hours a day I would have more time, but it actually seems opposite. I am really into volunteering at the kids' schools whenever I can and between running my Fb groups, the kids extra circular activities and my everyday life, I am just too exhausted at the end of each day and the spark to write up a post just isn't there.

I will still be blogging (and participating in our monthly Girl Chat) but right now in my life I can't even commit to 2 times a week it seems.

Even if I don't comment, know that I am most likely reading my favorite blogs that I've been invested in for years because I do still want to know what's going on. 

This isn't the end at all just more of a "hey, this is what's going on and why I'm not blogging so much"

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday and hopefully I'll be able to recap some of our vacation this week!

-Lizzie

Girl Chat {October 2018}

Here we are again, another installment of Girl Chat which means a month has gone by! How does that happen so fast!?!

This months topic is all about sharing a DIY product/craft and I cannot wait to read through the posts!! I love getting inspiration!

One of my favorite DIY's of this season is this Harvest sign I made - I am so happy every October when I realize I have this to put on our front porch with some mums & pumpkins!

You can read all about how I made this sign here

And for a craft, I still love this paint chip pumpkin/turkey we did a few years ago. I give myself credit because I actually thought of this one all on my own 😂 you can read how we made it here

Grab our graphic and link up below, we love to read about DIY's and crafts all the time!

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And don't forget to follow your hosts!

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Lizzie - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

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Ella's Bake Shoppe Party

Back in September we had Ella's 6th Birthday Party. For several months we talked about having a cake decorating party after seeing the adorable one Courtney threw. Ella was immediately on board and helped plan the entire thing!

I knew she wanted to do crafts, play a game, and decorate cakes. The rest of it kind of just flowed together so nicely and the party was AWESOME! Seriously, one of my most favorite parties I've thrown and there were only 5 little girls there.

For the crafts, we decided to decorate aprons, hats and the cake boxes the girls would take their decorated cakes home in. That is how we started the party

After crafting was finished, we had snacks! The party was from 9:30-11:30 so I didn't do a full spread of food, just some fruit, donuts, muffins and juice!





After eating it was time to play the game - the only game Ella really wanted was pin the candle on the cake and well, when I couldn't find it at the store or even Amazon, I quickly realized we can make it! I had Rick draw the giant cake on poster board and one night before the party Ella and I colored away. Is it perfect? No, but it was perfect for what it was! The girls were so adorable while playing this game and I'm glad they're still at an age where this was fun.

After the game came the best part and the part all the girls were waiting for - cake decorating!! I ordered those 6" baby cakes from our grocery store (they are the ones people buy for cake smash photos) I had them leave them white and bought a bunch of fun decorating supplies from Hobby Lobby. The night before the party I also made the frosting and the day of just put it into sandwich baggies - everything was prepped before the girls showed up which was key.

I was literally blown away by the concentration the girls had decorating their cakes! Each girl took their time, was very detailed and had so much fun with it!! Once they were done, I loaded up their cakes in their decorated cake boxes and the party was over. The girls all ran outside to play for a little before their Moms came (I did have 2 moms stay which was nice to have the help! - I made sure to have coffee and coffee cake for us)

This party will be one we always remember, that's for sure!!

Apple Picking 2018

I don't know what it is, but apple picking is one of my most favorite traditions we've started with our little family. I did not do this growing up but knew it was something I wanted to do once we had kids. Maybe because it's so simple, we literally just go and pick apples. There are no frills like at some places, it's just picking apples, grab some coffee/something to drink and some fresh donuts, let the kids jump on a huge pile of hay, and then we head home.

This year we had perfect weather - we went early September which usually is hot but it was our only weekend open to go and I was so glad it was a nice cool day.



 

  

  



Love making memories with my people!!


*linking up with Lindsays Sweet World