BBQ...It's what the month of May is all about

Isn't it amazing how a little bag of charcoal and eating your dinner lakeside can transform your regular dinner into an amazing one? In a spur of the moment decision, and a quick call to our friends, we turned a regular Saturday night into one of the best nights ever!!

A little chicken and steak, a little salad and watermelon....

A kite, a wagon and s'mores...

A few friends and the great outdoors...

This is what childhood is all about!

Scout Safari

Every year, the Roger Williams Zoo hosts a Scout Safari Day. It's always in the Spring when eveyone is super busy with sports and such, but this year my troop was somehow able to fit it in...and I'm really happy we did. We learned so much and were able to see and touch many new animals!

Just in case you've never seen Elephant pajamas!!!

You know it's a great day when you can hang with your friends and earn a badge at the same time!!

Spring has Sprung

Over the past few weeks the rain has fallen, the air has warmed and our yard has bloomed.

The garden has been raked and fertilized and the seedlings have sprouted.

The sun has shone, the sprinkler has spun and bathing suits and shorts have emerged.

All sure signs that Spring has indeed, Sprung!

Relay for Life

Updated: We now have more reason to walk than ever...On May 5th, we learned that Dan's father has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The same cancer that killed his grandfather.

Original Post:

This year, for the first time, our family will walk in our local Relay for Life event. Last year, when Lauren was in Kindergarten, her wonderful teacher was diagnosed with breast cancer and we will be walking in support of her and the thousands of other survivors and victims.

My Girl Scout troop will also be participating with me this year. I have hopes that this event will teach them the amazing power a community has when it joins together.

Please consider sponsoring me in this wonderful cause by clicking on the button on the right side of my blog.

Thank you!

Tide Pools

New England FINALLY surpassed the 70 degree mark this weekend, so we thought it would be fun to head over to the shore and do some exploring. We clamored, climbed, searched, and seeked.

The ocean is an amazing place and the girls were beyond thrilled...we collected shells, climbed on and around the rocks, scraped our tender feet, picnicked on the sand, fed the seagulls, screamed out in shock at the freezing temperature of the Atlantic, dug with our shovels, threw seaweed at each other, stared in amazement as daddy actually picked up that humongous horseshoe crab and ran and ran and ran...

Taking the Plunge

Yes, Dan is still jobless and yes our pockets are tighter than ever, but sometimes you just need a little release. CoCo Key Water Resort just opened a new location near us in Fitchburg, MA and they were offering a GREAT deal on an overnight visit over Good Friday...we didn't think, we didn't worry, we just took the plunge!

The best part was that we went with our good friends Sue and Scott White and met up with Lauren's Girl Scout leader Jen Adams and her family!! We had a great two days splashing with our friends...

Easter Tradition

If you know me, you know that I LOVE scrapbooking and all that is the wide world of crafts...most of which has to do with my childhood memories of my wonderful Aunt Frances who was for the longest time, my craft Idol. She was simply amazing in my eyes whether it was knitting, quilting, sewing like nobody's business or simply painting an egg.

A few weekends ago, my mom and I were going through some boxes looking for my baby album and we stumbled upon this 30+ year old egg. It's simply amazing that it's lasted all of these years without being crushed and what's more amazing were the memories it brought out for both my mom and I...

...Aunt Frances taught us to gently poke holes in the top and bottom of a raw egg, blow on one end until the egg was empty, then paint it with some enamel paints like these...

So this Easter, we decided to follow in Frances' 30+ year old lead and painted our own hand blown Eggs...

Thank you Aunt Frances for all of the wonderful new and old memories!