National Zoo in DC

I absolutely love going to the zoo in DC!!  The layout is beautiful, the animals are stunning and admission is FREE!!  You do however have to pay for parking (20 bucks for entire day)  but for a family of 6 that's not bad!
We usually just get the membership and then the parking is included so free trip (except for gas $$$)

And, since I can't stand the thought of spending $4 bucks for a hot dog, I pack us all a lunch!!!

We went just this past Wednesday and had a wonderful time, even though it was a scorcher of a day.  Here are a few pics from our trip.....

This was neat to see....the pride all together like this.  It was truly amazing!

She is absolutely majestic!!

Proud papa and his cubs!

Just some random flowers but they sure are purty!

I thought this was neat....an elephant sculpture made with twigs or vines.....very cool.

Right after this picture was taken, the Zebra made some loud noises and rolled around on the ground....I guess that's just what they do???? 

Oh a REAL elephant!!!  The elephant exhibit is new and very cool!

This is the mysterious Gabe-atron....he's like a gremlin...looks cute UNTIL..........

And the adorable Drew-bacha.....you do need to watch out though...as soon as you appear intrigued he will spit out random sports statistics.....quite scary!

The Jake-ster.....he's pretty cute and harmless....it's his little blue friend you need to watch out for!

And Morgana Lafaye.....she is the evil witch sister of King Arthur.....very dangerous!!

This is Michaela....(Morgan and Drew's little sister.....)  pretty as a princess and no alias right now....being nice since she was our guest for the trip :)

And some turtles :)  Can't forget the turtles....

Well the Gremlin.....oh, I mean Gabe is bugging me for ice cream so (since I want some too...) gotta go!

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!

Love,

Bronwyn

The Story of The Boy Who Ate the Cricket

Once upon a time there was a boy named Drew. He was a very kind, sweet, loving child who ate some very weird things.....for a kid.  He also came up with the title for this post :)

He was never afraid to try new and exciting foods, some of which his mother would not eat....., such as octopus, snails and the like.

One sunny day the entire family went to the zoo.  During this visit the family went into the zoo gift shop.  While other children were buying stuffed toys and stickers, Drew bought Crickets!!!  Dried crickets that were Sour Cream and Onion flavored!!!  Wonder if they taste like chicken??

Here is the true documentation of his experience eating a cricket...
First we have to see how nutritious the crickets are.....they actually have some fat grams (probably due to the flavoring)

Then Drew had to pick the optimum specimen for his taste test.

This little cricket is going down the hatch.....

very slowly!.....

Ok now he's chewing..... (mom gags)

and chewing some more.....

now he shivers a little.....not sure if he was doing this more for our viewing pleasure or if he really felt this way...

A picture is worth a thousand words :)

And the final decision is.....

maybe the sour cream and onion flavoring was bad???
I think the zoo made out on that purchase because the remainder of the crickets are in the trash!!

Drew rebounded quickly and is outside jumping around....like a cricket... (Hahaha......sorry, couldn't help it)

Hope your day is fabulous!!

Love,
Bronwyn

Pink and Black Birthday Cake

I made a cake last week for a young ladies 13th Birthday!

I usually make my MMF to cover cakes but life has been so hectic, I purchased this fondant...

The kids bugged me to eat the fondant and said it was yummy!

I made the bottom layer with 8 inch pans and the top layer with 6 inch pans.  Sliced and iced (hehehe) the cake (and added dowel supports to keep the layers together)

and then added the crumb coat with buttercream icing.

The best part of this fondant was that it was already tinted.....so much less messy!

So I covered both top and bottom layers with pink fondant and then cut Zebra stripes for the bottom layer...
The top layer I added a fondant "13" and some black buttercream dots. 

(the girls mom sent me a picture of a cake very similar to this one and I used that as my inspiration....not my own design.....I do like to give credit where its due but I don't know where she found the picture)

Thanks for looking...
Love,
Bronwyn

Textures

I have been playing around with editing pictures with Photoshop.

I tell everyone..... "I really don't know what I am doing..."

I have gotten some free textures in the past and would apply them to my pictures using the long way....


Of course, I didn't KNOW it was the long way but now that I learned a better way I can't help thinking "WOW.....I really don't know what I am doing!"

How did I learn this easier way you say?  Well friend I will tell you (because I love to share tips to make your life easier!)
I found Jessica Drossin .....she has some really awesome, easy to understand tutorials on Youtube...she taught me the easier way!!  And then, I bought some of her textures :)
Check her out if you are interested!
I also wanted to share some of my before and after pics.....

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Well....you get the idea...

Thanks for looking!  Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful weather!!!

Love,
Bronwyn

Autism Speaks Triathlon

Wish me luck...

I signed up to do a triathlon for Autism....YIKES!!

Now, for those of you who know me you know I did a triathlon 3 years ago and I really enjoyed it...all except for the bike ride....and the run....ok, I just liked the swim. But I had set a goal and I finished!!

Finishing the swim!

Now, I have signed up to do another one.  To raise money for a good cause and to get motivated to exercise.

I figured by telling the world, so to speak, it will keep me accountable.....
Now you all know what I have committed to and I will have to keep going.

The triathlon is June 12th by the way!

If you would like to donate you can go to my page and I appreciate any amount!!  Truly!!  By the way, I'm still trying to personalize my page so sorry if it looks bland.

Thanks so much
Bronwyn

We Lit it Up Blue for Autism

Not so long ago I wrote a post about lighting it up blue for Autism.  I just wanted to share with you some of the pictures of how we lit it up Blue.

I went to my local Home Depot store and bought blue a light bulb....

Then I put it in my front porch light!

TADA!    It was that easy :) 

Love this one....

I think over the coming year I will keep an eye out for blue Christmas lights for my front window to use for next year!

All of these pics are SOOC by the way....no time to play with them in photoshop.....

Reminds me of the little white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland....I'm late...I'm late.... Speaking of that, I need to finish getting ready for work!

Have a fabulous day everyone!!

Love,
Bronwyn

Cupcake Contest

So...Jelly Belly is having a cupcake contest!
Simply decorate a cupcake with Jelly Belly jelly beans and you can enter!!!

Also, you can play an instant win game daily....for FREE!!
I have been wanting to make a cupcake to submit for the contest but have been so busy I have neglected to do so......until today.

I bought the ginormous container of Jelly Belly jelly beans at Costco and tried not to eat them all before making my cupcakes.  (to do this, I left them in my car until I was ready to use them.....)
So, today I made some cupcakes...
I just made them from a box mix....good ole' Betty!
and then whipped up some buttercream icing...

And played with the jelly beans.....and ate a couple or a few....I lost count...
I loved the little blue ones, they reminded me of Robins eggs...so....

I made a little nest out of brown tinted fondant and Voila!

I also tried to make a little bunny.....

Not so happy with how he turned out but have to be honest and show my failures as well as successes.

And these little green jelly beans reminded me of mini watermelons....SO

I chopped one in half, colored the inside with edible ink markers and made a little Watermelon stand!

This is the one I decided to submit for the contest!

If you want to find out more about the contest, check out this Jelly Belly link!


oh yeah....Jake made one too....a self portrait!! :)  He is too young to enter though, you have to be 13 or older!  

And he needed one with Woody in it too....

Thanks for looking!
Love,
Bronwyn

I am surrounded by BASEBALL

Baseball is turning into my life!!!
My husband has been away at Spring Training for 5 weeks!!! In sunny Florida....sending me pictures of himself by the pool....I deleted that one!!!
and on the beach....

and at the Stadium.....

Buck Showalter & Earl Weaver

And while he is away (working....HAHA) I am home with 4 kids,.......and 2 cats.......working full time and going to school!  (pity party....ok....too busy for pity....time to stop and get back to work!!)  But that in a nutshell is why there have been little updates to this blog lately.

Now to top it all off...my Gabe wants to PLAY baseball....so like a good mommy, I signed him up and have to take him to practice....

Honestly, I think Tball is the best entertainment ever!!!

The little kids trying to learn to play this game are so cute and funny!
Here is Gabe throwing the ball...

He actually has a really good arm!!!

And trying to see with the sun shining directly in his face....

And hitting the ball! 

These kids really are fun to watch and it will be even better when we get to watch a game with 2 teams of little ones running around trying their hardest to learn this game.

I will try to document some of the funnier moments with my camera....if I can stop laughing enough to take a clear picture!

Thanks for looking!
Bronwyn