Geo Caching

Our family loves to go on Geo Caching adventures!  We haven't found any caches in several months, but over the past weekend got back into the fun and had a blast!

We went places with my "Mommy Van" that I never thought it would go on Monday.

We drove for over 2 miles down a ORV 2 track path in the scary woods of the great north!  I even had to hop out and move trees, but it was cheap, great fun!

We went tromping in the woods (the kids love it).

Mike added the Geo Caching app to his iphone and it was AMAZING!!!

Kate found the cache at the bottom of a tree.

Some caches are as small as a camera film case and can be as big as a sterelite container.  Some caches get creative and can be found in bird decoys or even a decoy rat!!! This one happened to be a tin car painted black.

Most of the time there are little treasures for the kids to rummage through and take.  There is always a log book to add your "family" name.  Ours is the Family Card Sharks.

The kids and Mike looking through everything.  It is cheap fun entertainment.  After you log that you have found it, you put the cache back.

If you have never tried Geo Caching before, give it a whirl, people of all ages can participate, babies to grandparents.  There are 100's and 100's of caches in each state, there is bound to be some near you!

A few Easter Pics...

We spent Easter up at the cabin this year, here are some of the pictures.

Kate getting ready to die Easter eggs.

Kate and Nick dying Easter eggs.

Kate, Nick and Grandma dying Easter eggs together.

Nick

Finished product!

Kate did a great job!

Nick finding eggs during the Easter egg hunt inside the cabin.

Kate with her Easter basket.

Kate and Grandma making an Easter bunny cake.   Kate did a great job frosting it.

Kate piping the eye.

The finished bunny (made with love).

We had a wonderful Easter weekend!



Five Question Friday

1. What is your favorite Easter tradition?
Of course the Easter Egg Hunt, it's fun to race around the yard (or basement if there is still snow outside) when you are 30, especially when there is money hid in some of the eggs!


2. Are you a "shower" or a "long, hot bath" kind of person?
Definitely a long hot shower kind of person.


3. Can you parallel park and if so when is the last time you did it?
Yes, I can parallel park, no problem!  I had to parallel  park last Friday when the kids and I got our hair cut.


4. What is your favorite Easter candy?
The mini-chocolate eggs with the hard candy shell.  Remember I got busted by Kate when I got out a bag and started snacking during naptime in the beginning of march.  Read about it here if you don't remember, or never read about it.


5. Easter: do you go all out with the Easter Bunny or focus on the religious part of the holiday?
Mostly focus on the Easter Bunny and yummy food part of the holiday.  I would like to get into the religious part some year.  Growing up we were always away from home for Easter for Spring Break so we never went to our church for an Easter Celebration.

A new addition to my Resume!

What is it you ask????
Last week I decorated for the largest dragshow (When men dress as women in costume with 3 foot tall hair and 8 inch heels) in the Midwest!!!!

...and it was ohhhhhh sooooooo much fun!!!  Not only was it a drag show with a catwalk and everything, but it also had a theme.  What was the theme?  CANDYLAND!!!!! My favorite childhood/adult game!! I had a blast planning and decorating for this event, below are some pictures, but they really don't do the decorations or stage justice, they were just taken with my cell phone, but I wanted to share anyway.

 You can't really tell in this picture, but there are two huge balloon clouds attached to the ceiling "raining" candy.  If you look close you can see BIG candy in the clouds.

I made all of the candycanes made out of 5" balloons (over 600 of them)!!!  Some candycanes over 10 feet tall!

Have you added anything new to your resume lately?



Vera Bradley Outlet Sale!

Wow! What an amazing experience I had today.  Myself, along with one of my best friends from college, Jennifer, left our hubbies and children at home today and hit the road on an adventure we will never forget! 

We are both fans of the purse/flipflop/stationary/wallet/napkin/apron/luggage designer Vera Bradley.  Most items are quite expensive full price, so when we heard the word " VERA BRADLEY OUTLET SALE" our attention was caught.
"WHAT? a Vera Bradley Outlet Sale?"
"WHERE?"
"WHEN?"
"HOW MUCH OFF?"


The first day of the sale was yesterday (4/13) and it will go through this Sunday (4/17) at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Yesterday and today were "ticket-holder" days, meaning that you had to buy a $7.00 ticket to enter the sale at a specific time of your choice, (ours was 3:00pm-5:30pm).  Friday, Saturday and Sunday you can enter anytime without tickets (you should go).  Based on my experience the $7.00 was well worth it, the selection was AMAZING!  As the days continue on, and pushing 12,000 Vera Bradley Shoppers through each day, the selection will get slim.


Here was our fun spring day...


Jenn and I met up at about 9:00am, we then dropped off her 11 month old daughter at Amma's house, then we started our easy 2 hour drive south to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Once we arrived in Fort Wayne at noon, we hit up a delicious Mexican restaurant for lunch.  After lunch we were able to stop at one of my favorite stores, Once Upon a Child, a resale children's clothing store.  After that, we drove 5 minutes to the Coliseum, paid our $4 for parking and started our hike inside the sale.  We arrived at 2:00pm, exactly one hour before the doors opened for the 3:00pm session.

The line was already RIDICULOUSLY long!

I would say that the line was at least a mile long wrapped inside the coliseum and eventually out the front door.  Once the doors opened to the sale at 3:00pm the line moved VERY quickly, we were inside the sale by 3:15.  Once inside the sale, we were all given huge pink garbage bags to fill with the most beautiful Vera Bradley purses and wallets of our choice.   There were literally hundreds and thousands of them to choose from!!!

                     Little Tote                                                All in One Wallet

                                                     This is an aerial few of the sale floor.

Before you entered the huge sale you were given a detailed price list and item location (based on colored balloons) to help find specific items.  This sale was extremely well organized with lots and lots of Vera Bradley helpers if you had questions, they were wearing Vera aprons.  Once we got all of the items that we wanted we were directed to check out.  Check out was also very well organized, and quick with well over 100 cash registers active at the same time.

Check out. (about half of what was available)

Both Jenn and I were very successful at our first Vera Bradley Outlet Sale.  I won't share exactly how much was spent, but I was able to buy a birthday gift for a friend, a Mother's Day gift for my Mom (Hint) a fun purse and change purse for Kate and a few things for me.  I will tell you that I saved 47% overall by purchasing the bags at the Vera Sale verses paying full price.  Most items were 50% off, some were only 35% off and some items up to 85% off!!! I do hear that prices get slashed on most items (and are marked with silver balloons) by Sunday.  Here are a few pics of Jenn and I after the sale. I know they are corney, but we had fun.

Me with all of my goodies.

Jenn and all her goodies.

After our bags were all packed up we headed north towards home, we ate out one last meal together then went back to reality of kids, jobs, husbands and bills...Oh well, we had a BLAST and can not wait until next year! 

Give me a shout if you got to go to the sale too!

Random A-Z

A. Age: 30

B. Bed size: King!

C. Chore you dislike: Emptying the dishwasher

D. Dogs: None

E. Essential start to your day: Diet Coke

F. Favorite color: Purple

G. Gold or silver: White gold

H. Height: 5'8"

I. Instruments you play(ed): Ha, none

J. Job title: Stay at home mom

K. Kids: Kate and Nick

L. Live: Michigan

M. Mom’s name: Kathy

N. Nicknames: Poopy Patty (Thnaks to my Dad)

O. Overnight hospital stays: Just when I gave birth with Kate and Nick.  I didn't mind it.

P. Pet peeves: Waking up to a messy house, so it MUST get picked up every night before bed.

Q. Quote from a movie: I don't really watch movies

R. Righty or lefty: Right

S. Siblings: one sister who lives far far away from me :(

T. Time you wake up: About 6:53am

U. Underwear: Lane Bryant

V. Vegetables you don’t like: Peas

W.What makes you run late: We try very hard to never run late, but...if we are late it's probably because of the kids.

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, ankle

Y. Yummy food you make: Taco Salad, Roast with Potatoes and Carrots,  french toast

Z. Zoo animal favorites: I don't like the zoo...I guess if I had to say something maybe the penguins.

Alfalfa spruts? Really?

The other day Nick had just woke up from his nap, while I was still taking mine.  Traditionally, right after nap, the kids eat their snack and watch a little tv. On this particular day I was still enjoying my quiet time and didn't have snack ready for them yet.  As I was still laying on the couch, but awake now, I told Nick to go pick out his own snack, and by golly he did!!!  He went to the refrigerator, grabbed his milk, his snack and a bowl then continued to bring it to me.  To my surprise he brought me this...

Me-Are you serious, you wanna eat alfalfa sprouts for snack?

Nick-Syes (yes)

Me-Really?

Nick-Syes (yes)

...and to my surprise the kid gobbled up a bowl full of alfalfa for snack, YUM (Gag me)!

     

Kate wasn't has thrilled with snack as Nick was...

Kate-Can I just take a "no thank you bite" and not eat anymore?

Me-Yes honey, that is fine.



82 Degrees, not a could in sight, definitely not Michigan

Introducing, as my guest writer, my hubby Mike!!

Thanks for taking the time to right this post about your boys trip.

After trying to mesh schedules and finances, I finally got a chance to take Nick down to my father’s house in El Paso, Texas for a “YO-YO” week (a play on the YA-YA sisterhood). This was Nick’s first plane flight, so I was somewhat apprehensive. He was such a trooper.

We made sure to chew gum; a trick to keep popping your ears before they hurt. We made it to Papa Fox’s house without any trouble. Nick spent most of his time reading the Safety Instructions for our plane. If we somehow crashed into an ocean while crossing Texas, we were definitely going to be safe with Nick leading the way. The trip was so fun and relaxing. Papa Fox made breakfast every morning (omelets, or Belgium waffles) and dinner was always on the grill (cheeseburgers, steak, or pork loin).

Our first day we went to an El Paso Community College baseball game (the only baseball in the area for another month). While the team lost, Nick had such a great time watching baseball and now has two game balls from foul balls.
                   
We also took a trip to the Chamizal National Park. This was a park created to help solve a border dispute from 1895 to 1963. This is an area that is actually a part of both the United States and Mexico. It was an opportunity to, safely, have Nick say he has now been to Mexico.

The three Roberts boys also went to the El Paso Warbirds Museum in New Mexico. This was an opportunity for Papa Fox to share a part of his knowledge and hobbies of military jets and planes with us, and it was very educational. We also tried to see a model airplane competition but the winds were too strong causing a cancellation to the competition.

We snuck up to Mesilla, New Mexico the next day. There was a craft market going on and we were able to see the end of the Catholic Church service in the basilica, which is a special church recognized by the Pope. Even though it may not sound like much, it was very interesting.

Finally, it was time to “head to the track” and show Nick the race horses. We drove over to the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino to watch some possible future Kentucky Derby Horses race. While Nick did like to horses, his favorite part was the ambulance that races behind horses in each race.
                               
After an amazing trip, we flew back into the snowy 30 degree weather. Nick was all vacationed out and slept the entire way home.

Boy, we sure miss the sunshine. Thank you for a great trip Papa Fox!!

 and Daddy Mike