giggleface studios

A Perfect Sunday Drive to Echo Lake

Oh my how time flies, I just realized it's been almost two weeks since my last post! I have been so busy helping out with school functions, embroidering my Hocuspocusville blocks (like a madwoman), reading an awesome book (The Happiness Project...more on this in the future), and celebrating birthdays, that I simply lost track of the days!

This Sunday we decided to get away to the mountains to relax and see the changing colors of the Aspens. It's only a short 1 hour winding drive to Echo Lake. What a perfect and beautiful day it was! The weather was crisp, the Aspens were breathtaking, and the family time was awesome!

We pulled off to the side of the road mulitple times to take pictures and stand in awe of the magnificant colors! On one of the pull-offs we found this small forest of Aspens. The kids really wanted to go explore and guess what we found?

A teepee!

It felt a little magical, and reminded me of the stick houses in Where the Wild Things Are.

Echo Lake was stunning and the suns rays made the water sparkle like a thousand beautiful things!

There were plenty of large rocks to climb and jump on...

and we even stumbled upon a cairn that someone built!

Look at how incredible this lichen is taken with my super-macro lens!

All of that jumping and climbing made the kids hungry, and so we found a spot to eat our picnic. I spread the blanket on the table and within one second of the food hitting the table we were surrounded by birds (at least 4-5 large Jays)! I noticed while we were exploring there weren't any birds chirpping in the trees...could it be they were watching us high above, waitning for this moment? Oh, and this is how my daughter chose to eat her lunch...not a very effective approach!

This Steller's Jay is pretty steller I must say!

This smaller Gray Jay was not shy at all, in fact he was very curious and hopped up at the end of the table and watched us eat! My son left the table and decided he wanted to eat his lunch on a large rock near by, and while his back was turned...

Mr. Gray Jay decided to help himself to his lunch (not once but twice). He took a large hunk of bread and flew up into the tree. We were all shocked at his braverey, and watched him try to grab more with his mouth still full from the first attack!

Picnic's are great because they give you an excuse to pack wonderful mouth-watering sandwiches and desserts...you know, like this Hostess Green Lantern GLO-Ball! Nothing could be finer than coconut & marshmallow covered chocolate cake with a creamy filling right? This is sooo wrong and bad for you, thank goodness it is reserved only for those special family occasions :)

It was such a perfect day with perfect weather, but I have to make a small confession here...one of the reasons we decided to take a Sunday drive in the mountains, was because we just bought this shiny new VW GLI! Now, This might not be exciting to you, but for eight long years I have been driving a "well-loved" 1998 Nissan Quest mini-van and finally convinced Honey we needed a more reliable car for the winter season. So this is what we came home with...and I am so in love! It's such a smooth, sporty ride and best of all, it has plaid seats! All the kids are grown now and out of booster/car seats, so you know what that means...I am finally mini-van free! Now that's perfect!

Back From Vacationland!

I finally found my Playskool Vacationland and now my collection is complete! I recently swiped purchased this great set off of ebay for a hefty little price. Total price: $43...I won by $1 (sorry to all of the other bidders.) It was so close, and I  feel a little guilty for winning, because I know how difficult it is to come across this set in good condition...with a lighthouse, sailboats and a whale!

So here is my Vacationland all set up...Isn't it so cute? The set includes a fabric play mat (34"x36"), 180 wooden pieces, and a drawstring bag to put everything in!

The drawstring bag has a large frayed hole on the side that might not be able to be repaired. If that's the case I think I will cut out and save as much as possible and make a new sturdy bag. I love the images on the bag and the wording around the bottom: Build you own vacationland- make yacht clubs, boat houses, harbor layouts, have boat races, etc.

Ready to go on vacation and be a tourist for just a moment?

The light house is a very popular tourist attraction!

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This is one of the more expensive vacation homes! See, two chimneys's...fancy!

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The Playskool Yacht Club.

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Want to go swimming...or better yet, roller skating at the roller rink? (This is where I would be with my Strawberry Shortcake boot skates.)

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Main Street Sea Food & Quilt Shops

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Whale Watching...and really the best part of the set!

It is the whole reason I fought so hard to win. Silly but true!

* For anyone that is looking for these Playskool sets, I highly recommend using Stuff Alert to help you find it. It's a handy free tool that searches for whatever item you are looking for, and then alerts you when it has been found on ebay. I would have not been able to find this otherwise...there just aren't enough hours in the day!

School Supplies

I'm back from my blogging hiatus! Did anything life-changing happen? Unfortunately no, I just acquired a new hobby, found some more treasures at the Paris Market, and got some much needed embroidery done!

It's time for school start, with only one week left of Summer vacation...the kids are ready, and so am I! It sort of feels like being pregnant...waiting for those last two weeks before giving birth. You start to think it is just a cruel joke that someone is playing on you and it is N-E-V-E-R going to happen. And then in a blink of an eye it's here!

There has been much scurrying from store-to-store, gathering all the necessary school supplies. Getting supplies and clothes for three kids can be a real test of patience - for sure! There were two new items on the list this year: Makeup, and Haystacks! It's amazing what the teachers are asking for...oh wait, those are my kids requests!

School Supply #1: My oldest daughter is now a Middle-schooler! You know what that means right? A locker, some attitude, and make-up! Now, I'm not a huge fan of young girls parading around in garish amounts of make-up, so what to do? While shopping the cosmetics isle, (and just about to run out of all hope) I found...Pixi! Everything about it is absolutely perfect!

How can you go wrong with words like: Fuss-free, multi-purpose, fresh and natural beauty! That's what I'm talking about...Natural! This little box is the Pixi Wakeup Kit from Super Target, and costs about $34, and well worth it. The kit contains: 18 eye shadows, 2 concealers/eye primers, 8 lip glosses & 2 baked cheek powder duos - all in tonal hues to flatter every skin tone and complexion.

My daughter is having ball getting ready in the morning. I don't even have to have the please-get-ready-for-the-day battle anymore...it's amazing how a little make-up can suddenly make you more responsible and mature. I'm loving this little gem so much that I might splurge and buy one for myself! They have a ton of other products and scents too.

School Supply #2: Nothing says school more than Chocolate Peanut Butter Haystacks! What class party doesn't supply these tasty treats? These will obviously be gone before school even starts, but there is no harm in having a last Hurrah before it begins! While eating one or two or maybe three, with melty chocolate fingers, we all agreed they  taste a lot like chocolate frosted donuts! Yum.

Here is my recipe, although this is one of those recipes that there are a Ga-jill-ion of online. It requires all of three ingredients. Ready?

* 12 oz. Chocolate Chips (or you can do 6 oz. Butterscotch and 6 oz. chocolate)

* 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

* Bag of Chow Mein Noodles

1. Pour the chips into a large bowl and microwave in 30-40 second increments; stir after each session. Keep doing this until the chips are smooth and melted.

2. Add the peanut butter and stir. Microwave one more time for 30 seconds; stir again.

3. Stir in noodles until evenly covered.

4. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and drop the noodles by spoonfuls, creating mini haystacks.

5. Place in the refrigerator until chocolate is set. One note of caution: these melt on your fingers the second you touch them, straight from the fridge! 

6. Eat and enjoy with your kids!

Now, everything is taken care of on the supply list. All I need to do is label supplies and divvy them out to their rightful owners. Tomorrow night...Back to School Night. Total craziness (like monkeys and clowns) and lots of "What did they just say" going on! I'm sure a lot of you have already come across this hilarious list of 10 Misconception of Mom and Back-to-School, but for those of you who haven't...go have a good chuckle, and try not to choke on your haystacks!

Quilting, Rain, Fireworks and Thrifting

I finished piecing my pinwheels and polka dots quilt over the 4th of July weekend. Why was I not out BBQ-ing and enjoying the festivities? Because it was overcast and raining off an on through-out the day. That is okay with me though...it was just nice to complete something in one day, let alone one sitting!

The kids and Honey played video games and I sat at the kitchen table sewing away! We live one block away from the park that shoots off the fireworks. So, in between sewing and pressing I was watching people trounce my front yard with strollers, tents, coolers etc. only to see them all running back to their cars in the pouring rain...he he! When the weather is rainy or windy, the park will postpone the firework until the next evening (lucky us..we get to do it all over again!) We were all snuggled in our PJ's watching Star Wars when promptly at 9:30 we hear them shooting the fireworks off...in the rain! We put on our coats and ran out the door. There were only about 40 people standing around watching compared to the packed 8,000 (so the website states.) Another holiday done and over with...whew!

I was also lucky to attend the Paris Street Market over the holiday weekend, and found some great stuff! This outdoor flea market runs on the first Saturday of the month from May-October, and is packed with vendors selling anything you can think of... and more! There was a vendor selling these charming German oil-painted wall hangings for $5 a piece. There were many more, and I really wanted to scoop them all up and take them home with me...but I had just started and had limited fund$ many more vendors to go. Next month, IF they are there...they will have a new home!

 

What do you suppose these two are chatting about?

I found some small floral tin trays for my bathroom, one to display and one to hold my soap! I love these little trays, and you can usually find them in abundance. The small ones are great for serving little tasty snacks too! Yea, I have found another thing to collect (this would be where I smile and Honey rolls his eyes.)

Towards the end of my shopping trip, I spied this wooden peg doll mixed in with a pile o' junk. Does that tag really say $4? Yep...it's true, he's coming home with me!

Don't worry about the missing eye...I can fix that in a jiffy and he will be good as "New", but I also kind of like the "Old" too. Ohh, now I am torn! To fix or not to fix, that is the question?!

*I can't find out any information about this peg doll other than the tag around his foot. If anyone out there does pleeeease share your knowledge with me!

*As a side note: That blue polka dotted fabric behind my photos ...I got 6 1/2 yds. for $4!!