We Have a 1st Grader On Our Hands!

So this morning, Samantha accomplished another milestone in her life:  she not only rode the bus to school, but she is now officially a 1st grader!

We were fortunate to meet and speak with Samantha's teacher yesterday, and got the chance to look at her classroom.  Sarah is very anxious to hear if Samantha chose a pink locker, or a blue one this year.

Summer Vacation 2013

This past weekend, Jeremy, the Madore-ables and I went camping with our friend Jimmy and his daughter Shannon.  (Shannon and Sarah are less than 2 weeks apart and BFF's).  So the girls were happy to have someone to play with.

We had a great time.  The trip didn't start off too well however.  The bad part of the story is my brakes failed after coming off of a stop sign.  The good news is:  (1)  we weren't on the highway, (2) I was able to stop safely, (3) Jimmy was able to get authorization saying that he could borrow his work van to drive up with us.  (Jeremy and Jimmy attempted to fix the breaks before the trip, but to no avail.  Jere was able to fix them after though.)

So, after keeping 3 little girls entertained for four hours while the guys worked on the car, we transferred stuff from my car to Jimmy's van and headed on up to Allenstown, New Hampshire to Bear Brook National State Park.  We set up tent by headlights from the car, and the girls just giggled and ran around the campsite.  We really had a great time.

Bright and early Saturday morning after a good night's sleep.

Sarah and Shannon leading the way!

They called this "The Boardwalk"

(Bear Brook didn't warn us that they renamed it to "The Very Broken Boardwalk"

Jeremy found out what was underneath those broken boards unfortunately : (

"...I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference...."  ~Robert Frost

BFF's

Welcome to Bear Brook State Park!

Sam was excited that she could paddle this Summer.

Saturday night, we cooked steak tips for dinner and for dessert busted out with S'Mores.

Toasting me some marshmallows.

Jeremy woke up very early Sunday morning to capture this

The girls found a caterpillar and named it "Rosie"

Cheap Entertainment

I came to the realization yesterday: it's been 2 years since I last bought the Madore-ables any play-doh since finding a great home made recipe on Pinterest.

It's also been 2 years since I made my last batch.  The girls used it so much that it dried itself out.

The recipe is very simple (not too mention very inexpensive):

1 cup flour             2 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 cup salt           2 Tbsp baby oil
1 cup water         (optional) food coloring

(1) Mix the above ingredients (minus water) in a medium sauce pan.

(2) Add desired food coloring to the water in the saucepan.

(3) Stir ingredients over medium heat until dough forms into a thick ball and no longer sticks to the pan.

(4) Knead dough on a countertop...but be very careful!  The dough will be hot!!!

We store our cooled play-doh in Zip-loc bags.

You can substitute veg oil instead of baby oil, but I learned that veg oil turns rancid where baby oil does not.  (An added bonus: baby oil smells fantastic and softens your hands in the meantime).