Menu Plan Monday June21

My last planned menu went okay. I made the ham then went to Disneyland! I had to freeze the whole thing and now need to use it up.

Sunday-fend for yourself. DH works Sundays so no big Fathers Day Dinner.

Monday-Ham and Potato casserole with fresh fruit

Tuesday- Mediterrean Grilled Chicken skewers with cucumber salad

Wenesday-Grilled Hamburgers with cantaloupe

Thursday-Cheese Tortellini with cream sauce and salad

Friday-Beef Tacos with guacamole

Saturday-Italian Chicken with Rice

Lots of ideas and menus at orgjunkie.

Love this blog for all the people who contribute

"Take me out to the Ballgame..."

Or otherwise known as Family Fun Activity #3! Saturday was Scouting Day at Raley Field. Girl and Boy Scouts from all over the area came to watch the game. They paraded around the field prior to game start ...

Maddie is here watching "Chalk Talk" which is were two players and a representative for the team answer questions from the stands.

Sophie settling in to listen to Chalk Talk.

Of course there was junk food galore at the ball park. The first choice-SnoCones! Wyatt, with a few bites to his Mom and sisters, ate this entire cup of Sno!

Troy enjoying a nice cold beer and a Dinger Dog. Obviously the thing is HUGE! All 5 of us shared this hot dog! I can't imagine eating this by myself..LOL

ANd at last, a photo of the family. As the family photographer, I'm not usually in front of the camera. But I'm trying to change that. It was so cold by the time this picture was taken. We were huddled together trying to stay warm! The weather has been absolutley crazy so far this summer- we had a high of 77 yesterday and it was 55 by the time we got home..Of course the breeze off the river didn't help us in keeping warm.

We had such a fun time at the ballgame! The one and only game I went to was back in 1998 when we went to the city to watch the A's and the Diamondbacks. PArt of the magic of the night was being outside and enjoying the camraderie of the other fans. We plan to take the kids to more games!

Summer Family Activity # 2

Yep, we went to DISNEYLAND! It was a very impromptu trip as Troy was able to get two days off (so total of 4 days together) so we booked it Tuesday and left on Friday. We had a fantastic time and we are already planning our next trip LOL. We would love to go at Christmas time to see the park sparkly and lite up.

Believe it or not, this was our first official family vacation. We have done day trips here and there, but nothing was more than a couple hours drive and we NEVER have stayed over anywhere. The trip down was good. The kids kept themselves busy by reading, talking or sleeping. Once they knew we were 25 miles away from the hotel, they got a little excited...Too bad that the 25 miles took nearly 2 hours! LA traffic is the worst!

Our first day at the park was Saturday. Tour Guide Troy decided to turbo us through the park at light speed. We came in at 8am and left at 10pm. Boy, did our bodies pay for it that night and the next day! We walked onto all the main rides though so it was great to get those in. The kids went on all rides without fear but Wyatt was very sure of the rides he "will not ride ever again" .

California Adventure was fun too. The best part that we experienced was Toy Story Mania. MAddie, Wyatt and I were the only ones to ride it, but it was by far my favorite! Sophie, apparently, is a little dare-devil. She rode California Screamin' TWICE! Maddie rode it once and cried before, during and after...Who would of thought my little girl who is afraid to sleep in her room al night, would be an adrenaline junkie?

Our 2nd day was sunday and we slowed our pace down a bit. We spent the morning and early afternoon at Disneyland and then took a break at the hotel for 3 hours. We returned to California Adventure until 10pm. By this time we were all tired and worn out. i think we felt like we were running in circles.

Monday was our last day and my birthday so we went for a few hours just to round things out and to pick up souvenirs for the kids. Oh and I was good all weekend and didn't indulge in treat after treat. I waited until Monday and I got a Dole Whip..LOVED IT! So glad I waited it was the perfect end to our day. I picked up a "It's my Birthday" pin and it was fun to hear all the cast members wish me a Happy Birthday!

I have only a few things I would do differently. I would take more time to watch the shows and parades. And I would have taken more pictures of the special things at Disney-you know all the things that help make Disneyland so special. Luckily Troy agrees with me so I know our next visit will be a little slower paced.

I'm sure our next Summer Family Activity won't top this, but I'm so glad we got to add Disneyland to our stash of memorable moments!

Menu Plan Monday

Very late but I actually have a plan this week! Loafed around the first week of summer vacation and now it's time to get back track. As always, check out Laura and all her "friends" for ideas and recipes!

Sunday- BBQ hamburgers, salad, & watermelon

Monday- Philly steak and cheese and potato crowns

Tuesday-Taco chicken salad for the adults & quesadillas for the kids with cantaloupe

Wednesday- Baked ham with mashed potatoes/gravy & a veggie to be determined

Thursday- Leftovers

Friday-Grilled steak and tortolleni salad

Saturday Ham and cheese quiche

Yummy Blackberry Cobbler

Ok so not the best picture..I'm working on my food picture skills! But this was soooo good! And EASY to make which is a major plus in my book. This is the blog where I found the recipe. The only problem I had(and totally cook error), is that the batter didn't spread all the way to corners and the butter sort of puddled up.

The reason, I think, is because I used a 13x9 dish. I'll use a smaller one next time.

I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but we barely even dished this dessert up. We all took spoonfuls directly from the dish! It was buttery and sweet and decadent. I think if we had it with ice cream, it would have put us over the edge!

A quick centerpiece craft

I put this together yesterday for my neices birthday. It's from Create A Critter. I used the same cut to make the invites. So cute..Everytime I use this cartridge, I just love it more.

For the base I used a drawer organizer from the dollar store. I covered a piece of flower foam with tissue paper and then secured the cuts on wooden skewers. I would have liked to cover the outside with something other than tissue paper but it's what I had on hand that looked the best.

The kids are spending some with their Gramma in a couple of weeks...I have many things in my head that I'd like to do: purging and organizing as well as some crafts! I hope to be posting a lot of projects soon!

Summer Family Activity #1

Troy has been busy at work, changing positions, taking on extra assignments etc that we have had a hard time getting him to take an extra day off. So we decided to make the best of his normal days off and are planning little mini trips around our area. Today we hit the Railroad Musuem in Old Sac. Now, as a native Sacramentan, I am embarrassed to say that I've only been to the museum once in my life and that was in elementary school!

I think the kids had a good time. The sheer enormity of the trains was enough to keep them interested.



This first picture is Wyatt holding on for dear life on the I St Bridge. He thought if he got to close to the water side of the walkway, he would fall in. Now this bridge rises in the air in order for larger vessels to pass through. As we were standing ther explaining the gates and why there were stop signs on the walkway, the joke-ster bridge workers announced on the PA to get behind the gates. I, always the good listener rushed the kids to the otherside of the gate. Then we heard them chuckling over the PA.

After a necessary stop at Evangelines, we took this picture with our purchases-MAddie got those cute polka-dotted sunglasses, Wyatt a Superman pin, and Sophie a bracelet and ring.

This of course is the only picture that proves I was along on this trip LOL! We are waiting for our "train" inside the museum.

This was the first train we stopped at after sitting through a 20 min movie on the history of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The kids were ready to get moving I think.