Thursday, February 24, 2011

Rainforest Adventure

The elementary school my youngest boys attend had a "Rainforest Adventure" tonight.

This is basically a bunch of fun obstacles and exercises that the kids have been mastering in gym class.

Tonight was their opportunity to show us what they have learned.




They had a great time!  Climbing rope ladders....



Swinging like these monkeys!


Oh wait....wrong monkey!

Doing the Tarzan


And canoeing the Nile....watching constantly for pirhanna!!

The kids had a lot of fun AND played hard  (which means they fell asleep without trouble tonight...YEAH).

Thanks for looking!!

Love,
Bronwyn

Sunday, February 20, 2011

A Walk in the Park

Today was a beautiful day in my neck of the woods......Pun intended :)
We took the kids to the Patapsco State Park and had a great time.
This is Brianna....she my best friends daughter but she's basically like one of my own.

They played on the playground for a while and posed for pictures...

and more pictures....


..I took almost 200 pictures....don't worry, I won't post them all ...



We also hiked up a little trail to a little waterfall.

I love being out in nature....

It refreshes my soul!





And the mud was fun to walk through too :) 

Hope your day was awesome as well!!!

Love,
Bronwyn

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Signs of Spring!!!!

Yippeeee, yeah!!

The air has been warmer the past few days and I would love to fool myself into thinking that the cold air won't come back.

Even though I realize that it is only February, I was tickled to see little signs of spring....so happy I had to take some pictures!!

These pretty little purple flowers are blooming on the side of my house.


I have no idea what they are.....I think I may have planted the seeds a few years ago but really don't remember. 

Anyway, I loved seeing these little flowers!!!

Come on SPRING!!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Cookies Favors

These cookies were made for a  little guy named Aiden's Christening.

I made a butter cookies and cut them in the shape of a cross.

Here they are fresh out of the oven.

After they cooled I made some Royal Icing and using a moderately thick consistency, piped an edge around the cookies.  Then I filled in the outlined area with a thinner consistency icing.

I had to make more icing by this point and made it a little thicker.  I added little dots all around the edge of the cookies.

Then I added some little blue marshmallow fondant flowers with a little nonpareils in the center of each.  I always try to give props to those who inspire my creations and this design is not mine....when I tried to find the person/business who made cookies like these I was unable to find them.  Sorry.  If this is your design, thank you!

I placed each cookie in a treat bag....

and then tied each with a pretty blue bow!  

All of this was done by the way while fighting off 4 cookie and icing hungry kids.....

Thanks for looking!!
Love,
Bronwyn

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentines Day

It's Valentines Day and I just want to share with you the Loves of my life.

First my hubby, Casey.....(and me of course)



Then my daughter Morgan.....my sweet girl...except when she acts like she knows everything (which lately is more often than not)...She's 14


And my baby Drew...he has the biggest sweetest heart.


Jacob my love.....he is amazing and creative.  His imagination is incredible.

My last baby Gabe.  If I'd had him first I probably would only have had one child!  He is fun, loving and sweet and......a handful.. 

I Thank God for the blessings he has given me!

Hope you all have a fabulous Valentines Day with the ones you love!!

Bronwyn

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The National Aquarium in Baltimore

I think I am getting tired of this cold weather and am longing for warmer days because this is another post about something we did last summer.

Do you ever find that you rarely visit the attractions that are nearest your home?  I live in Maryland and yet rarely venture downtown to the Inner Harbor and its attractions. 
So last summer when my one of my bestest friends, Paula, asked me if I wanted to go to the Aquarium I said "surely!"

We parked nearby and walked to the Aquarium with a bunch of kids.....8 to be exact....there was a fair amount of complaining from the kids about walking but... we love to torture ....

We walked past the Visionary Arts Musem on Key Hwy (if you have never been here, it is really neat and worth the trip!)

This is the side of the museum......very pretty and interesting design.

This decorated manequin stands gaurd outside.....very.....visionary I guess

And if that doesn't get your attention, this giant gold hand hanging on the wall will....

Here is a view of the Inner Harbor area in Baltimore

And another.....you can see the Aquarium in this shot.....

Kids all posed for a pic...don't they look happy?

This is a picture of the U.S.S. Constellation.  I think I've actually toured this ship once, when I was on a field trip in grade school. 


Finally we reached the Aquarium (and the kids were happy that the long walk around the Inner Harbor was over.....what they didn't realize was that we had to walk back....bwahahaha!!!)

I thought this was neat....the sting ray were playing follow the leader! 

We saw many interesting fish, coral, seahorses, etc....

And we saw some sharks....real ones too, but since the shark area is so dark, the shark pictures didn't turn out so great.....

They have a great area for kids to run and play.......

and to explore some of the sea creatures.....like this horseshoe crab...


I have stepped on one of these babies while playing in the ocean at Ocean City, MD....not a great feeling....all of those legs moving against the bottom of your foot......I can feel my flight or fight instict kick in just thinking about it!


And we saw the jellyfish!!  I LOVE the jellyfish....they are beautiful and can't sting me from inside their cases!! Can you tell I prefer to view nature (especially sea life) instead of interact with it..... 

And then we began the long walk home....it was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time at the Inner Harbor and the National Aquarium.   After a day like this, I always ask myself why I don't take the time to explore my city more frequently! 

Well thanks for looking....and C'mon warm weather!!

In the meantime, stay warm :)

Love,
Bronwyn