EXPLORING NEW ENGLAND || PORTSMOUTH

Over the summer, the kids + I tagged along on a work trip to New England. While the Hubs worked his hiney off, the kids + I pursued Downtown Portsmouth. We even took a little road trip down Hwy 1A to Wallis Sands State Park where the kids got their first experience swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. It was too cold for me to join in but the kids had a blast. Here are some of my favorite photos from our time spent in New Hampshire.

The steeple in the background of this photo belongs to North Congressional Church, organized in 1671. I thought it was pretty neat to learn that some of the people that once attended were General William Whipple, signer of the Declaration of Independence; John Langdon, signer of the U.S. Constitution; and President George Washington.

The Wentworth Coolidge Mansion. "An 18th-century house + farm... (that) is historically significant as the only original surviving residence of a Royal Governor in the United States." - source

  

I had my first ever lobster roll during our visit. Because #wheninnewengland you eat #allthelobster. It was divine + you should eat at Surf if you ever visit.

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SIMPLY LIMES

 

Well, here we are - just a short four months since we celebrated my son's ninth birthday - and I've finally gotten around to collecting a few pictures to document his big day.

 

The birthday boy requested a chocolate chip cookie cake, but I wanted it to match the lime theme, so I tinted the icing a bit. I served a baked shrimp + homemade limeade, recipes for both came from Nellie and Joe's website. My daughter loved the shrimp + the limeade, but our guest wasn't a big fan, so hot dogs were a welcomed back-up. Later on during the day, we took a dip in the neighborhood pool. Mr. Big Stuff had a really fun day!

I took a few pictures of him the night before his birthday + these are a few of my favorites.

My big plan was to have a joint birthday party for both kids + combine all of the lemon decor from my daughter's party + the lime decor from this part. But when party time came around, I couldn't get any of the foil balloons to inflate (for a second time) so I quickly gave up on the idea of decorating, all together. But the party was a fun one!!

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SIMPLY LEMONS

My daughter just celebrated her 6th birthday this past week. Although we have a party scheduled for August, I still wanted our birthday girl to feel special on her big day. I invited her best friend over for the day + we celebrated with a simple lemon theme.

The plan was easy. Gather all things yellow + lemony. I baked a vanilla cake + I used this recipe to make lemon + cream cheese frosting. I picked up some yellow plates + lemon balloons from our local Five Below store. The number six gold foil balloon + striped straws came from our local Target store. Then we added the yellow daisies because you can't have a party without flowers.

The celebrate script banner + felt garland both came from Paper Source but I purchased them last year. I just checked their website + the banner is out of stock but the rainbow felt pom garland is still available.  

I mentioned earlier that she was going to have a party later in the summer. We are planning to host a joint birthday party for both her + her brother. And since we've started with a lemon theme, I'm thinking we'll do a lime theme for him on his birthday, then bring them together for the joint party - A LEMON LIME PARTY! I love me some themed parties. =)

Happy 6th Birthday to you, Honey Chicken!

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EXPLORING ALABAMA || CATHEDRAL CAVERNS STATE PARK

I recently spent my 35th birthday tagging along with my son's third-grade class for a field trip to Cathedral Caverns State Park. I'm a sucker for field trips, so this outing was a special birthday gift. Mostly, I hung out at the back of the group, snapping photos along the way. We had a tour guide but I didn't pay too much attention to the stories he told - I was more interested in taking in the sights.

The tour took us 3,000 feet into the cave and once we reached the endpoint, our guide turned off all of the lights. It was SO DARK - but then he surprised us with a little "light show." I don't want to give too much away just in case you ever go. Let me just say it was really neat. =)

Along the tour, we saw so many incredible things: some really cool caves faces, stalactites, stalagmites, a waterfall, a river... And in case you're wondering, we didn't see any bats.

Here are a few photos taken along the way.

Happy exploring, friends!

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