I’m Homeschooling My One Year Old

- Mama 2 Comments

Yesterday was the first day back to school for our 11 year old student… that means it’s time for all of us to hit the books and study countries and cultures, the topics of our curriculum this year. But that could mean that there’s a one year old feeling left out because attention is taken away from him. And that’s why, much to the frustration of many other parents, I’m starting him in a homeschooling study, too.

Let’s get one thing straight. When referring to the little one, I’m using the term “homeschool” very, very loosely. His homeschool consists of the following:

-Some reading time, both with mommy and by himself

-Some music time, both dancing to the rhythms on a CD, and making our own music with store-bought and homemade instruments

-Art time, allowing Zach to color, paint, look at paintings and photographs, and explore messy art activities (like shaving cream bath paints)

-Structured play, such as play involving sensory boxes, his sand and water table, homemade crafting, sensory games using taste and smell, and more activities that we play and work on together.

-Free play, where he can do whatever he likes (provided it’s safe!) both indoor and outdoor, whether he’s climbing or crawling or playing with the dogs, or choosing to spend more time making music long after our lesson ends.

Zach won’t be in any formal structured schooling for more than 45 minutes each day, split into 4 short lessons to keep his attention span, with plenty of free play, napping, and time with momma in between. For our homeschooling, we take inspiration from several books, from Pinterest, from other homeschool families and bloggers, and from my own creative inspiration.

I am not going to have lessons where I say “Okay, Zach, time to sit down and do math for 15 minutes.” Instead, I pose an invitation, such as “Look, Zach! Here are some pom poms and tongs. Can we put some pom poms in this muffin tin with the tongs?” I’ll demonstrate the activity, and then give him an opportunity to try it, or to make the task his own, or to work on a different task. If he turns down the invitation for an activity, we just move on.

It’s all about following a child’s leads and helping him have a positive learning environment, and giving him invitations to learn.

But why, you might ask. Why am I taking time to homeschool a one year old?

Because, kids get bored with free play. Zach likes to play with his cars and climb on his playset and spin around in circles, and roll balls across the floor. But after a certain amount of time, this makes him fussy and frustrated. Giving him structured activities throughout the day show him that mommy values him, and values learning, and wants to give him a new experience or activity.

Kids also look up to other kids. Even one year olds have their idols and heroes. Zach’s uncle is his hero, and crazy enough, if his uncle is working on a writing project, Zach wants that pen so he can do his own project. If Jeffrey is working with clay, Zach wants some clay. Learning is a very good skill to encourage him to emulate. I want him to know that it is very cool to mimic Jeffrey’s learning.

And, honestly, it gives Zach a chance to practice the skills he’s already good at, stimulating his self-esteem and sense of accomplishment. It also gives him a chance to be challenged and learn new skills he doesn’t yet have, which will help him develop.

When homeschooling a one year old, you have to remember that it is all about play. It’s about play that is just for fun, about play that helps teach new skills, and about play that really enforces skills we know. It’s about staying consistent, but also moving forward.

Holy Cake Mix Brownies, Batman! (With Cookie Dough Frosting, of Course!)

- Mama 5 Comments

I’ve found lately that I really like to make things in threes. Last week, you saw a dip trio from me. And today, I present you with a yummy brownie trio. Yes. Not one, not two, but THREE kinds of brownies.

And they’re so easy. As easy as buying a brownie mix even, except for the fact that these are WAY better, and have way more variety. It took me a couple of tries to get just the right consistency down, but these, these are just right. And delicious, and ooey-gooey.

Take a box of cake mix (My three varieties were dark chocolate, red velvet, and yellow, respectively). I use Duncan Hines, because I think it produces the moistest brownies, but you can go with whatever mix you have in your pantry.

Pour the box of mix into a big bowl. Add in 1/4 cup of oil (vegetable, canola, whichever floats your boat. Probably not olive oil. That would be weird), a beaten egg, and 1/4 cup milk. Mix it up. It’s going to be really really thick. Almost impossibly thick. That’s a-ok.

If you want to add anything, now is the time to do it. For my yellow cake mix, I added in 1/3 cup of sprinkles, and in the red velvet ones, I added in a couple of handfuls of something called “Vanilla chocolate chips,” which I’m pretty sure has no actual chocolate in it, just vanilla, but you get the point. I left the dark chocolate ones without any additions, because I gave it the royal treatment with some awesome cookie-dough flavored frosting.

Pour the batter into a greased 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. And then wait. And wait. And wait some more. These are so ooey-gooey that if you don’t wait, they’ll ooze all over the pan. If you wait, though, when you slice them, they’ll be perfectly gooey inside, but they won’t fall apart.

Oh, and you’ll want to know this yummy little tidbit. The yellow cake mix funfetti blondie? It doesn’t taste like cake. It tastes like BATTER. Pure, delicious, cake batter.

The frosting is equally easy. Cream together a stick of room-temperature butter, just under 1/2 cup of white sugar, and just under 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Really cream it together until it’s light and fluffy (if you’re using a hand mixer or stand mixer, it’ll take a couple of minutes). Gradually add in 1 cup of flour mixed with 1 cup of powdered sugar (confectioner’s sugar). Stir in 3 Tablespoons of milk (until it reaches desired consistency) and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Make sure it’s all well mixed, and you’re done! After frosting whatever you’re frosting (in this case, brownies, but this frosting is awesome on cupcakes, spoons, and yes, even cookies), sprinkle it liberally with mini chocolate chips. Yum.

And, without further ado, here are the full recipes:

Funfetti Cake Batter Blondies

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1/4 Cup Oil
1/4 Cup Milk
1 beaten egg
1/2 Cup rainbow sprinkles

Mix together first four ingredients in a bowl to form a thick batter. Stir in Rainbow Sprinkles until fully combined. Spread into greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing or serving.

Red Velvet Brownies

1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix
1/4 cup Oil
1/4 cup milk
1 beaten egg
2 large handfuls of vanilla chips or white chocolate chips

Mix together first four ingredients. Add in vanilla or white chocolate chips and mix until fully combined. Spread into greased 8×8 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving.

Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix Brownies

1 box chocolate fudge cake mix (or dark chocolate cake mix, or chocolate cake mix)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 beaten egg

Combine ingredients and spread into greased 8×8 pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving.

Cookie Dough Frosting

1 stick butter (room temperature)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mini Chocolate Chips (about 1 tablespoon per brownie, cookie, or cupcake)

Cream together butter, brown sugar, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
Gradually add flour and powdered sugar.
Stir in milk until mixture reaches desired frosting consistency, then add vanilla extract and stir.
Frost items, then sprinkle on mini chocolate chips. Or, eat with a spoon. Or your fingers. Whatever.

The possibilities are totally endless when you’re making a brownie out of cake mix. Strawberry blondie? Totally do-able. Spice brownie for fall? Yup, you can do that. German chocolate brownie with coconut frosting? Yeah, I’m pretty sure that would be awesome. You could even mix nuts into that batter. Yummy. Carrot? Apple caramel? Banana, orange, lemon, strawberry supreme? The possibilities are literally endless. If you can find a cake mix for it, you can probably make a brownie like this out of it.

What flavor are you going to try first?

Delicious Cookie Dip Trio

- Mama 8 Comments

What’s better than one dip or two dips? How about a trio of delicious sweet dips!

Seriously, I had been staring at Pinterest a few weeks ago, and stumbled on the very-popular cookie dough dip. I got the bright idea that one cookie wasn’t enough. Two cookies might have been enough, but I had this handy dip container that has space for three dips, and, well, why not serve three pretty dips?

I’m going to tell you right now… these are ridiculously easy recipes. I’m going to start with the hardest recipe, but it truly isn’t hard at all.

I love cookie dough. Seriously, love it. Half the time, when I go to make cookies, I don’t even get actual cookies. I get a dough-covered spoon. So if someone tells me that I can make a dip that tastes like that cookie dough, but is eggless and safe to eat, I’m on board! The problem is, a lot of recipes I had been finding tasted a lot like cream cheese with chocolate chips added. There was one key ingredient of cookies missing that really helped make a cookie taste like a cookie. After a lot of trial and error, I bring you…

Cookie Dough Dip that actually tastes like a Cookie!

Grab 1/2 a cup of butter (yup, that’s about 1 stick). Melt that in a saucepan, and add 1/3 cup brown sugar, whisking it in until it’s all blended together completely. When it starts to bubble over the heat, remove it from the heat and stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

In a separate dish, cream together an 8-ounce block of cream cheese and 3/4 cup powdered sugar. Add in the brown sugar mixture and stir until it’s thoroughly blended.

And here’s the part that makes it into a cookie-flavor. Add in 1/3 of a cup of flour. Mix it until it’s all smooth, and add in 3/4 of a cup of mini chocolate chips.

Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve, and top with a handful of mini chocolate chips.

You know those Keebler Frosted Animal Cookies? Those really addicting ones? Yeah, those. Well this dip is kind of like that, only a billion times better (and more addicting, of course).

And did I mention it’s only 3 ingredients? (Well, kind of, if you don’t count sprinkles and red food coloring, which are totally optional).

Take an entire bag of those animal cookies. Okay, the entire bag minus the five you eat during the crushing process. Crush those babies up. Mix that with one 8-ounce block of softened Philadelphia cream cheese. Refrigerate.

Right before serving, tint a tub of Cool Whip animal-cookie-pink. Yes, that is the technical term. Fold the Cool Whip and dip together, and sprinkle liberally with nonpareil rainbow sprinkles!

Then eat. Seriously, that’s it. So simple.

But wait! There’s more! This dip is made the same way as the Animal Cookie Dip, except… with Oreos! All you do is take an entire package of Oreos (hold back 5 so you can eat 2 and save 3 for a garnish) and crush them to bits. I like to use the rolling pin/ziploc bag method, but you can just shred them with your hands, or use a food processor or slap-chop or something.

Add in your block of softened Philadelphia cream cheese. Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve, then mix in a tub of Cool Whip. Top with your remaining 3 Oreos (of course, crumbled up, too).

Here are the perfect dippers. We loved pretzels, ruffly chips, graham crackers, and vanilla wafers.

So, what was the resounding favorite? It seemed like the Oreo and Cookie Dough were tied for first, but it varied day-to-day. Pretzels and graham crackers topped the list of best dippers for these. I was a huge fan of cookie dough dip one day, and the very next day, thought Oreo was the best. They’re all so good!

Try one, or all three, and comment below letting me know what you think!

 

Hungry for more cookie-inspired treats? Try my No-Bake Cookies and Cream Truffles, or my Cake Mix Brownies with Cookie Dough Frosting!

We Live For It

- Mama 4 Comments
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWmzNKugwHs]

My family takes that video pretty seriously. Whenever a Sporting Kansas City game is on television, we’re glued to the screen. If I were able to be at every single home game, or better, every single game, I would be. That’s why, when my family was given the opportunity to tour Livestrong Sporting Park, home of the team I love the most, we jumped on the opportunity.

Livestrong Sporting Park is the first, and right now, the only, major league stadium in the state of Kansas. All of Kansas City’s other major league stadiums fall on the Missouri side. But that’s not the only thing that makes Livestrong Sporting Park special. When LSP was built, it was made in partnership with Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong foundation, and over the course of the next six years, over $7.5 million dollars will be donated. You see, every time you purchase anything there, from merchandise to food, you’ll be helping support cancer research in association with Livestrong.

One of my favorite places in the stadium is the Member’s Club. After a win, hundreds of fans flood the Member’s Club for an all-out party, cheering, hooping, and hollering about our win, and singing the chants that express our love for the team. It’s in this club where you feel less like fans and more like a family.

One of my favorite features of the Member’s Club is the scarf wall. If you’re not familiar with soccer, you’ll need to know that instead of baseball caps for baseball, or jerseys for hockey, Stadium Scarves are the item to have at a soccer game. After the game, it’s traditional that fans will trade stadium scarves. For example, if we play Chicago, then after the game, I could chat up a Chicago fan, and we could trade scarves. The teams also trade scarves, which is where they got such an extensive display of scarves not only from the MLS teams, but from around the world.

From the Member’s Club, you can enter the Cauldron, which is arguably one of the loudest, rowdiest fan supporters in Major League Soccer. On many occasions, it’s been said that they are the 12th man of the team, intimidating the other team and supporting our own players so much. When the stadium first opened, the Cauldron was the only one who knew the chants and cheers of the stadium, but surely after a few games, the chants spread like wildfire, and now the entire stadium lights up with song at the games, starting with the legendary “I believe that we will win” chant, and not stopping until full time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sl4qTSwjh4]

Even the players recognize I Believe That We Will Win as the chant that really exemplifies the fan spirit, but each and every cheer for the team gets the players and the fans even more pumped up.

The Cauldron has a great view of the field, as well, overlooking the entire stadium. They are right there behind our goalkeeper for half of the game.

When the stadium was first built, there were 400 season ticket holders. The stadium was built to accommodate 18,467 seats, with additional space for standing room, and when I first got into soccer, there was a little bit of question as to whether or not it would really ever get filled. Kansas City had a very small, but very loyal fan base. In the second season at Livestrong Sporting Park this year, there are 12,000 season ticketholders, and almost every game ends up being standing room only.

On one wall of the stadium, you can see some of the championships that the team has won. In addition to the team being award-winning, though, the stadium is also an award winner.

Just this year, Sporting Club received four awards for Livestrong Sporting Park. First, the Venue of the Year award, which they beat out many other incredible stadiums to win, including the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in China. The CEO of Sporting KC, Robb Heineman, was awarded the Executive of the Year award. It won the Community Award, beating out Miller Park in Milwaukee. And, most importantly, in my opinion, they won the Product Innovation Award for something called Fan360.

Fan360 is an incredible fan experience, starting with a very technologically advanced park. Because of the multiple wifi routers, they have made it so that every fan in the stadium, all 20,000 of them, can actively be using their cell phones at once, for calling, checking in to the stadium with things like 4square, Tweeting, updating their facebook statuses, or whatever else they would do, and not a single call would be dropped or connection lost. In addition, the stadium is state of the art, allowing fans to easily interact with the stadium and with each other.

While we were at the stadium, we had a chance to sit in the very seats that the players sit in on game day. These seats are the same seats you would find in a Ferrari. I loved that my shirt matched the seats perfectly!

Right after sitting in the seats, we headed through the doors to the Field Club. It is a beautiful room off right off of the field, and it’s open to anyone who is sitting in a specific set of seats in the stadium (the average cost of those seats? $3,000 per game, and they’re sold out for the rest of the season and next season… popular place!)

This is also where the team prepares to head on the field before the game, with their young soccer buddies. Each player from the teams, home and away, walks onto the field with a child, and before the game they give the children words of encouragement, ask them about school and about sports, and really talk to that child one-on-one.

Right off of the field club is the interview room, where the coach and a few players talk to the media after the game. This air conditioned room stays very cold, but then again, if you had just finished playing a soccer game in 115 degree weather, wouldn’t you want a very cold room?

Our next stop on our tour of Livestrong Sporting Park was the locker room. I was so excited to get to take a peek inside the room, because I really feel like this is where players get amped up for the game. Each player has their own chair and locker space. The table in the middle is where they put their laundry (SKC has a kit man who takes care of the laundry, and he has a pretty funny twitter account). Like the chairs outside, these are also very expensive chairs from a sports car, and each chair has it’s own power source so players can plug in their iPod before the game and chill out, getting in the zone for the game. So who has the best and worst taste in music in the locker room? The players talked about that very subject on the Sporting KC Youtube channel.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On7JVQCU8ZY]

While the jersey for the great Jimmy “Puma” Nielsen and many of the other starting players’ jerseys were not there, there was one very special jersey I was excited to see…

Michael Thomas is one of my favorite players at the moment, and one of several hometown heroes on our team. There are five players from the Kansas City area on the team, and I love each and every one of them. He’s also one of the newest players on the team, and he went to school literally 15 minutes away from me. Too cool!

Before the game the players are only allowed to drink water or Gatorade. At half time, they have access to a smoothie station where they can get a smoothie tailored to their specific needs. If they feel a cramp coming on, they can have a smoothie with extra potassium. Are they needing to re-hydrate? There’s a specific recipe they can get for that, too!

The training room is another place that is crucial to the team, considering it’s where the players go when they need healing or relief. There are massage tables lined up so after a game the guys can get a massage and relieve the tense muscles. Ice baths and whirlpools are available to the team, and there’s even an on-site pharmacy in case anything happens. Players have to be kept at peak physical performance, and the training room is the best location for them to work on that.

From the Field Club level, we were able to go up to the Signature, Executive, and Shield club areas. Each of them has it’s own specific type of accommodations. In the signature level, there are suites available to rent out. Each suite in the Signature Level is controlled by it’s own iPad, and each has it’s own refrigerator. On nice evenings, the entire suite walls can be opened so you can enjoy the fresh air as you watch the game. The refrigerators are fully stocked with adult beverages, sodas, and water, and if you start to run low, all you have to do is order more via the iPad; it will be restocked, on average, within three minutes. If you have a Signature Level suite, not only can you use that on game day (they’re rented by the season rather than by the game), but you also have access to it any time for business meetings and more… you just have to give a little bit of advanced notice and you can head right into your own suite.

The Executive Level is very similar to the Signature Level, but there is one very important, special difference on that level.

Lance Armstrong, the founder of Livestrong, has a special reserved seat that he is welcome to use whenever he’d like. It’s the same sort of chair that the players sit in, but this time, his own seat is in Livestrong’s signature yellow color. The seat is the seventh seat from the end in it’s row, one seat over for each Tour de France Lance Armstrong has won. While Lance has not made it out to the park yet this season, there is talk that he will be coming in the fall. When the seat isn’t in use by Lance Armstrong himself, a special person is honored at each game with a chance to watch the game from Lance Armstrong’s seat.

Also on this level is the owners’ personal wine collection, including a very special gift. The bottle with the red leather around it was a gift from the German Bundesliga as a congratulations gift on the opening of the new stadium.

As the tour continued, we left the Executive Level and went to the Shield Club.

 

I feel like the ceiling is one of the coolest features of this part of the stadium. I seriously just love it.

Also in the Shield Club, there is a very unique painting. Last year, the MLS Super Draft was held in Kansas City. Each new player who was drafted was asked to go to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art to collaborate on this piece. Each of them dipped their toes into paint and touched them on the canvas. It is a very interesting piece of art, and you’d never know that it was done with their toes until you’re told.

The stadium is simply incredible. It’s beautiful, and fully-equipped. There are 370 televisions in the stadium, and the Members’ Club has 30 of them. Need to use the restroom? If you’re in the Executive or Signature areas, even the restrooms have televisions!

Every television, light, camera, wifi connection, or anything else is controlled entirely from an iPad. Essentially, if you were sitting over in the Cauldron cheering, if you were using that iPad, you could be turning the lights on and off in the Executive Level bathroom. You could literally be anywhere in that stadium and controlling everything.

Another unique thing about Sporting Kansas City? All of the owners, the builders of the stadium, and the designers who designed it are all from Kansas City. It’s the only entirely locally-owned team in Kansas City.

And, each of the five areas I told you about today (Member’s Club, Field Club, Executive Club, Signature Club, and Shield Club) can be rented out for wedding receptions and private parties.

Honestly, if you haven’t been out for a Sporting Kansas City game yet, I don’t know what’s stopping you. There are many great chances to check out Livestrong Sporting Park, whether you’re experiencing the roar of the fans at a Sporting Kansas City game, or headed to a concert, it is definitely the new hottest venue in Kansas City.

Want to see for yourself? Check out tickets to the Journey and Pat Benatar Concert here, find out about booking space for your upcoming event here, or, my favorite option, support your Kansas City team by getting tickets, single game or season, here.

And, there’s one very, VERY important event coming up for Sporting Kansas City.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frFYUyDFKXc]

This video from earlier in the season talks about how Sporting KC was on their path to the US Open Cup Final Game… and it’s here. We’ve made it, and there’s only two teams left vying for the cup.

August 8, the Cup comes to Kansas City for a final game. I only have one thing to say about it…

I believe that we will win.

Come Into My Kitchen

- Mama 3 Comments

If you’re finding my blog today from the Kansas City Star, I just want to say “Welcome!” I hope you’ll take some time to poke around, and see my other posts about food, and life in general. If you like what you see, you can check out the sidebar to like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or subscribe to my blog via email so my latest updates will come straight to you (and you can unsubscribe at any time).

Would you like to know more about my trip to the Duncan Hines Test Kitchens in New Jersey? You can view my blog post all about my trip over here: A Winning Weekend at Duncan Hines

Looking for more recipes from my kitchen? Here are my most popular recipes here on the blog.

Dazzling Duncan Hines Red Velvet Pancakes

Crystal Light Sour Appletini Ice Cream

German Chocolate Filled Cupcakes

Cherry Limeade Bars

More Duncan Hines Frosting Creations Recipes

I hope that you stick around for awhile, read a few posts, and get more peeks inside of my kitchen. I am so humbled and honored still that my recipe was chosen as a winner for the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations contest, and humbled that The Kansas City Star has chosen to honor me with an article. Seriously, guys, it makes me blush!

Here’s to hoping I see you around the blog!

Keeping Cool with Watersports

- Mama 4 Comments

It has been a very wet month around here. In general, of course, we’re in a pretty bad drought, but that doesn’t stop my younger brother and our sister from Germany from participating in some very fun water sports!

Sometimes, I get so caught up in traveling other places that I forget that some of the coolest things are right here in our backyard. The Kansas City area has some really great ways to participate in water sports, from the comfort of your own metropolitan area.

While my sister, Carolin, was here visiting from Germany, Jeffrey insisted he show her one of his favorite places… KC Watersports! KC Watersports is a cable lake near Paola that allows you to learn some of their watersports from the very beginning if you’ve never tried them out before, or to compete at much higher levels! Wakeboarding, wakeskating, waterskiing, and kneeboarding are all options you can try out at KC Watersports.

Jeffrey is a natural when it comes to the kneeboarding and other watersports there. As soon as he gets suited up, he’s ready to hit the water!

Sometimes, though, he hits it a little too hard. The first few runs, the cable can move a little unexpectedly, but soon after that, it’s easier to get the hang of it and make it around the lake.

Carolin was able to take one of the beginner classes, called the LTR or Learn to Ride program. It’s perfect because she could learn step-by-step how to hop on the board and go! Of course, in the beginning, it takes a few attempts to learn how to stay on the board.

By the end of their time there, though, both Carolin and Jeffrey had an easier time staying on the board!

My brother could stay at KC Watersports forever, and in the summer, it’s a fun way to cool off that shakes things up from the usual “let’s go swimming” sort of thing.

You do need fair warning, though… you will be sore the next day. From head to toe, you get a workout on these boards.

Honestly, KC Watersports is a pretty affordable place to spend the afternoon. An hourly pass is $19, or you can go all day for $39, plus there are several packages in between. You can even rent gear there, so if you’re just wanting to try it out, you don’t have to commit to purchasing equipment. If you do decide you’re a total addict, you can purchase gear and season passes there, to save a little money on your frequent visits.

You can keep up to date on their events, including Trifecta Tuesdays, day camps, ladies nights, and more on their website at www.kcwatersports.com. You can also like their facebook page here or find them as @kcwatersports on Twitter.

In addition to hitting the wakeboard a few times during Carolin’s trip, they were able to try another new and exciting experience… Kayaking!

When Jeffrey and Carolin first decided they wanted to do some kayaking, we worked hard to find a place that they could actually try it out, but we kept finding places that were far away, or not really an option for kayaking in general. Enter Clifton Bencke, who teaches sailing classes at Olathe Lake, and also offers affordable kayak and canoe rentals at the lake!

When we first encountered Clifton at the lake, he was joined by a feathery friend, named after a character in Treasure Isle.

Jeffrey and Carolin were able to grab the kayaks and head to the water. They were ready!

I couldn’t resist snapping a pretty picture of a lone canoe on the shore.

Clifton ran through some basic lessons for them, and taught them exactly how to paddle and get going in the kayak. He even told them the best places to see in the lake (like a bridge they could cross under to see a waterfall and some wildlife!)

The lessons weren’t even necessary—both of them were naturals! They both knew exactly how to cut the paddles through the water.

They had a blast on their two hours on the lake!

There is so much to see on that lake, from natural features like the waterfall to the wildlife that makes the lake it’s home.

Kayaking is another great, affordable water sport that you can do to keep cool in the hot Kansas City summers, and honestly, they had a blast with it. You can rent the kayak or canoe for $15 per hour ($10/hour for Olathe residents!) If you’re not renting during a sailing class, there is a two hour minimum, but that’s really not bad—there’s a good amount of lake to explore. In fact, you can even fish from the canoe (I don’t know about fishing permits at that lake, but I am sure you can find out more about it).

As I mentioned, Clifton also teaches sailing classes in the evenings, for ages nine and up. It would make a fun parent-child bonding activity, or sibling activity, or just fun to go solo. You can find more information about canoe and kayak rentals, as well as sailing classes, on the Olathe Parks and Rec website, here or find them on facebook.

The summer is filled with great opportunities to try water activities out, and both of these were a hit with my brother (age 11) and sister (age 24), which makes them great fun for all ages. I promise you, you will not be disappointed if you decide to head out to KC Watersports or check out Clifton’s kayaking on Olathe Lake.

What are you doing to stay cool this summer?

Crystal Light Sour Appletini Ice Cream

- Mama 11 Comments

It has been 110 degrees here every day for about a month. I am dying. Seriously, even a dip in the pool is almost like swimming in a hot tub at this point, providing little to no relief from the really high temperatures around here. They’ve even been peaking to 115 degrees.

This is not okay with me. I prefer temperatures around 70 and 80 degrees, so this is just downright ridiculous. However, it has given me more than a few opportunities to break out my ice cream maker and play with it a little bit. It has resulted in some yummy concoctions, but none was more a hit than this one… a nice, icy, Crystal Light Sour Appletini Ice Cream.

I’m going to start here by saying that this recipe involves zero alcohol, so it is kid-friendly (I’m including myself in the kiddo category!)

As soon as Crystal Light came out with their mocktails, I was hooked on them. They’re delicious to whip up on a warm day and serve iced. I have always been a Crystal Light fan, mind you, but the new drinks really take the cake. The other day, I went to the mailbox, and found a fun gift from Crystal Light—a mocktail glass!

I’m going to be the first to say that, as a non-drinker, I have no idea how to even hold one of these pretty things, so while I immediately poured a glass of the Crystal Light mojito in it (yes, I’m aware, it’s the wrong glass to serve that in or whatever…) I actually kept spilling it on myself. I’m not kidding. But I wanted to get some use out of this fun glass they sent me, and I thought back to all of the times I’ve served desserts in glasses like that.

It hit me. I had to make a Crystal Light ice cream, and I had to do it right away.

At first, I had trouble deciding which flavor to use. I am absolutely certain this ice cream would work with any type of Crystal Light, but I really wanted to see how an Appletini version would turn out.

This is, honestly, the easiest recipe you’ll ever find for ice cream, hands down. There are no eggs. There’s really no measuring involved. All you do is grab your ice cream maker and your three ingredients, and you’re good to go.

Start by pouring a 2 liter bottle of ginger ale into your ice cream maker cylinder thing. (I think that’s the technical term for it!)

Pour in your Crystal Light Appletini Mocktail packets, or the Crystal Light packets of your choosing. (Note: I’ve found kids really like the punch that three packets of Crystal Light adds—it is a VERY sour apple flavor. Adults seem to prefer a recipe involving only two packets of the Crystal Light for the appletini recipe. It’s up to your own discretion, but the flavor of whatever packet you use will be stronger with the additional packet).

Add in a can of Sweetened Condensed milk. My grandfather swears by Eagle brand, my grandmother is a fan of Carnation, but personally, I buy the cheapest I can find at the moment, which in this case, happened to be generic. It will look something like this.

That’s it. Put the dasher into your ice cream machine, put the lid on, and turn that puppy on! Use your ice and rock salt the way you typically would for an ice cream, and then wait. And wait. And try to avoid opening the machine to see what it’s doing (I am the most impatient person alive). I personally use a Rival 4-quart machine and it takes about an hour and a half, but you can use this recipe in any 4-quart ice cream machine.

When the machine is done with it, it is typically more of a “soft serve” texture. It’s yummy like this, but I like to freeze it a little harder, typically for several hours or overnight.

Then, you can serve it in your favorite martini glass, and enjoy poolside, spoon optional.

Nutrition and serving information: The dessert clocks in at about 92.5 calories for a half cup serving (closer to 95.5 if you use 3 Crystal Light packets in the recipe instead of 2), which is a good 35 calories less than plain vanilla ice cream at the store. This recipe for Crystal Light Ice Cream also contains 1.5g Fat and 17.5g Sugars. Not exactly diet, but not exactly tipping the scale, either. You’ll get roughly 28 servings from one recipe, or about 3.5 quarts total.

Monday at Dauphin Island

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After exploring the island on Sunday, our Monday tends to be more laid back.

We decided to spend some time at the pool. This is one of the few times that my mom actually left the condo, because she was struggling with some serious illness at the time. It was great to see her spending time with Zach at the pool– they had a blast!

My grandma was at the pool with us, too!

Later that day, we decided to head to the Treasure Trove. I love the Treasure Trove– it’s so much fun to spend time exploring the fun souvenirs that they have, from postcards and tee shirts to pirate coins and windchimes. The entire store is held in what used to be a church, as you can tell by the beautiful architecture of the building!

For me, it’s a tradition each year to buy one of the anklets they have there. Typically they have some sort of colored beads or shells on it, and the colors are said to each symbolize a different “wish”– wealth, or luck, or friendship, perhaps– and you tie it on. When it falls off, it’s said that your wish will come true. This year, I selected a pink bracelet for love.

Another great thing about Treasure Trove is that out front, they have one of my favorite kinds of flowers in the whole world! I can never resist snapping a picture or five!

Plus, the Treasure Trove parking lot is the perfect place to stop and get a great snapshot of the beautiful, iconic Dauphin Island water tower. The water tower is literally the first thing you see on the island, and it’s fun curvy shape and beautiful style makes it one of my favorite features of the island.

After our trip to the Treasure Trove, it was time to buy sno cones and head home, where we could spend the rest of the day napping, reading, or enjoying the day at our leisure.

If you’re interested in visiting the Island, you can check out more information on their chamber of commerce page at http://dauphinislandcoc.com or find them on facebook!

Stay tuned as I bring you more updates from our recent trip to Dauphin Island!

Compassion, not Judgement

- Mama 3 Comments

The parents of children at the Dark Night Rises premier are getting a lot of heat right now.

“Why did you take a 3 month old to a midnight showing? That’s practically child abuse.”

“You took a 9 year old to a midnight movie? You wouldn’t be home until at least 2:30!”

“What were you thinking putting your child in danger like that?”

You know what I want to say to all of that?

Shut. The. Heck. Up.

First off, not a single one of those parents who took their children to that showing knew they were putting their child in any sort of danger. None of them knew that some sort of crazy gunman would be going into the theatre, setting off tear gas and shooting the place up like it was nobody’s business.

Secondly, who cares when someone takes their child to the movies? I took my son to see the Hunger Games when he was just over 6 months old. Mind you, it wasn’t a midnight showing. It was a matinee. But that shouldn’t matter. Perhaps they had a child who is regularly up at that time anyway, so they knew the baby wouldn’t be kept up by the movie specifically. Maybe they knew their child was a sound sleeper and would sleep through the whole thing, so why pay the money for a babysitter to sit there and watch a sleeping baby you could have with you?

Thirdly, it was summer. There’s no reason a 6 year old or 9 year old can’t go to a late-night movie in the summer. My family goes to the Drive In all the time, and has for years, meaning occasionally during the summer, my brother (11 now, but many times much younger) wouldn’t get home until 2am after the drive in movies. The point is, sometimes there are special occasions that kids stay out late. No big deal. Is it a movie I would have taken my 6 year old to? Probably not. But that’s not my place to decide what movies they’ll show their children!

Parents judging other parents is, of course, nothing new. Parents judge other parents for many reasons, from the way they choose to feed their children from birth (bottle vs. breast), to the clothes they put on their backs, to whether they cloth diaper or use Pampers, whether they spank or use time out or none of the above, and a million other things.

All of this judgement only serves to make us less compassionate. These parents who took their children to the movies don’t need you to say “Why on earth would you do that?” They need you to say “I am so sorry this happened.”

By giving them a slap on the wrist for having their child out so late at night, putting them in what everyone believed was a non-dangerous situation, you’re truly focusing on the wrong person. The shooter is the only person who we can place blame on for the Dark Knight Massacre. It was his twisted thoughts and ideas that made the theatre an unsafe place for children, not their parents taking them to a movie.

I don’t see how it changes anything in your life if some other parents chose to take their children to a theatre. As long as they were doing the right thing and stepping outside the theatre with a crying child during a film, and as long as theatre policy doesn’t prohibit it, there’s no reason they couldn’t take their kids.

I truly feel that if anyone thought their children would be in a life-threatening situation, they never would have brought their children.

Go easy on them. They’ve just been involved with what is easily the most traumatic event someone could go through.

Trust me, they don’t need your judgement. They are already putting themselves through so much emotional trauma for taking their kids, that you’re not helping by adding to that.

A Dauphin Island Sunday

- Mama 5 Comments

I know, I know, we’ve been back from Dauphin Island for a little while, but between Zach’s birthday, and family health, I’ve still been working on editing and uploading my photos! Can you believe it? Seriously… worst blogger ever. I swear!

Anyway, here goes, more of my photos from Dauphin Island.

Sunday was our opportunity to really explore the Island. Each year, we take time to drive around the Island and visit different things. We devote a couple of hours to looking around. We usually go for a drive and explore the streets and see what is up. Sometimes, Jeffrey makes fun faces along the way.

For being such a small island, there is really a lot of great things there, like the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Historic Fort Gaines, the Lighthouse Bakery, and more.

Our first stop was Historic Fort Gaines. We’ve been inside a few times, so we decided to skip the actual fort, which costs money (but is very worth it, especially if you have an interest in history, particularly Civil War era). Instead, we took a peek at the outside of the fort.

Fort Gaines was established in 1821, and is named after Edward Pendleton Gaines. It is best known for it’s role during the Battle of Mobile Bay (during the Civil War). It’s actually been on lists for most endangered historic places, because erosion and hurricanes have put it at risk of disappearing entirely. For now, though, it is an amazing fort worth checking out.

It even still features the original cannons used in the battle!

I snapped this shot of my sister peeking into the tunnels outside of the fort. I felt like this shot seemed very “Tomb Raider” of her.

On that same side of the island is a rocky beach, where the waves kind of splash up against the rocks, and you can really enjoy the view, or maybe even go fishing! (But don’t go swimming– seriously, that side of the island has a bad current!)

It’s also a great place to snap some photos. My brother was great at leaping from rock to rock to catch some shots of the waves. Unfortunately, I was a little less stable on my feet, so I either stayed off of the rocks, or tread very carefully!

After driving up and down the island, exploring, we decided to head back to our condo and go to the beach! I’ll tell you more about our condo experience in another post, but I will let you know that the beach was just about the only usable part of it, so a trip down there was a welcome release from sitting in our condo!

Aside from the night before, this was Zach’s first-ever experience with sand and the beach, so it was sure to be either really amazing, or really awful (you never know with kids).

Luckily, it was a HIT! Zach loved playing on the beach and building sand castles with Carolin!

Zach wasn’t the only one to enjoy the beach, though. Jeffrey and Carolin had a lot of fun, as well. The beach is always a great family fun activity. Jeffrey could easily spend his entire day out there, if he was allowed to.

Jeffrey is a huge fan of anything that involves a board… back home, he loves skateboarding, wakeboarding, and kneeboarding, and on vacation, he is all about the boogie board and skimboard!

When it came time for Zach to get to have some waterplay, he raced to the ocean as fast as he could!

I love these photos of Zach and I on the beach. Even though in some ways, I wish I weren’t in these photos because I feel like they’re not the “perfect” photos of me– I’m not at my goal weight, my hair is windblown, I’m so pale, etc– I feel like they are pictures that Zach will still be able to treasure, regardless, because they’re pictures of us together at the beach.

My favorite series of pictures was just adorable. Jeffrey had decided to dig a hole to catch some crabs. Sometimes, if you dig the hole, the crabs will skitter up with the surf, and get caught in the hole. He started digging, and suddenly, Zach was interested.

He looked at him like, “Hey, Jeffrey! What’re you doing?”

It was at that point that the plastic bag I had brought to protect my camera from sea and sand started blowing down the beach. Jeffrey abandoned his digging to chase after the bag!

What happened next was purely Zach deciding to do what he was going to do… my only involvement was to keep the camera ready.

It was seriously one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen!

Later that evening, Zach got to try out the pool for the first time! We had to venture over to the pool at the condo next door (like I said, I will tell you all about that crazy story soon), but it was worth the walk over there.

It was such a great day on the Island. I honestly can’t wait until we can venture back down there.