Fourth Fun

This fourth of July I was honored to be able to make some cupcakes for a friend of mine and in doing so, I was also invited to be a part of the festivities.  My girls were super excited, they were able to spend the entire day in the pool.

I know it may seem ordinary for kids to be in the pool but this was a huge thing for us.  Because of my oldests Epilepsy, she is not supposed to be in water.  Don't get me wrong, people with Epilepsy are allowed to be in water but it can be deadly.  And I feel a little blessed in the fact that she hates water.  Ever since she was little, she has been massively fearful of water and would not go in so when she was diagnosed and we were told the dangers of her swimming, we were actually ok with it.  I felt like God made her scared of water because he knew that one day, it could be dangerous for her.  However, the house we were at has a hot tub and the water temperature was the same as the pool.  She started by putting her feet in, then moved to the steps and eventually was touching bottom in the middle.  Granted, the water maybe touched her shoulders at that point but that is a huge step for her!!!  I was pretty proud.  My middle child who is scared of absolutely nothing was a little fearful at first but before we knew it, she was swimming like a little fish.  And my youngest was the least fearful of all.  She was in a little round fish floater and I just kept hearing "look at me, I kickin' back" and "I swimmin momma", she had a blast.  And not only was it at a dear friends house, my family was there too.  The girls got to hang out with cousins and my Aunt and Uncle, which is always a good time!

And the best part?  We didn't have to go anywhere for fireworks.  The fireworks are shot off basically in their backyard.  So, after a short sing along by ukulele, we sat around the pool holding on to sweet babies and taking in a wonderful patriotic display.  It was a great time.  Thank you Mollie for having my girls and I over for the celebration!!!

Bachelorette Shenanigans

Over the weekend I went away with some of my very best friends and some of their friends all in the name of celebrating the upcoming nuptials of one of my best friends.  We loaded up a decorated van on Friday and weren't returning until Sunday afternoon.  I was pretty excited, I had never been to Santa Barbara, except maybe passing through and we have stopped in Solvang a couple of times but I have never stayed for the weekend.  The first night we ate at a super yummy Japanese restaurant called Something Fishy, they did the whole fire show in front of you and the food was delicious!  The next morning we were picked up and went on a wine tasting extravaganza.  We visited 3 wineries and one olive oil place and had lunch in between.  I think I fell in love!!  It is so beautiful up there and we had perfect weather to make it even better.  Don't believe me?  Take a look.......

As I had mentioned before, we made a stop at an olive oil place after the first 2 wineries and right before lunch.  The name of the place was Global Gardens and it was a quaint little store that doesn't look like much but it is amazing.  The store owner had a small table set up outside under a big pepper tree, she gave us each a roll and proceeded to let us tastes some olive oils, vinegars and my all time favorite, the walnut oil.  Everything she sells is organic.  You can find mustard's, nuts, soaps, dishes, all kinds of things.  I came home with a Spanish mix, it is mainly olives, garlic, olive oil and some seasonings, they say it is great on pasta and I am super stoked to try it out.  If you are ever in Los Olivos, you have to stop in and try some samples and pick up a few things and if you don't think you can make it, check it out online!!!!
After the day of wine tasting and a little bit of relaxing, we headed out for dinner and some dancing.  It was a great weekend that I will never forget and I am hoping wont be my last.  I think my girls would like a trip up sometime to get out in the fresh air and beautiful scenery!!!

Birthday Celebration #1

Yesterday we were planning on going to the zoo to celebrate our middle ones 4th birthday (we didn't actually make it, more on that later).  My mom was planning on going with us but when I was little she had a horrible car accident, she is lucky to be alive, and ever since her knee (she has had numerous major surgeries on it) and feet bother her, especially when walking around a lot or up a lot of hills.  He feet and knee had been acting up so she wasn't going to be able to go, so we decided that on Friday night, she would come over for dinner and cupcakes to celebrate our girls special day.  I made my yummy pizza's and some regular pepperoni because that's what the birthday girl wanted (even though her birthday isn't for a couple of more days, she still gets her special meals of course).  Her royal highness also declared that she would like strawberry cupcakes with pink icing and a cherry on top.  I didn't want to do box cake for the cupcakes so I thought I would venture out and make my own from scratch.  I looked online for recipes and found the recipe for Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcakes.  I also had a lot of "help" making them....or I guess cleaning up after.

The cupcakes were pretty good.  I think I was expecting more of a strawberry flavor and was in the mood for strawberries so I was a little let down that it was only a hint.  I think though, that if you don't process the berries so much and leave them somewhat chunky as well, it might taste better.  But they turned out good non the less.

The recipe I had been using for icing recently wasn't exactly what I wanted so I thought I would try a new recipe for that as well.  So, after watching Georgetown Cupcakes on TLC, I thought I would give their icing a try.  It was good too and made my cupcakes pretty.  Of course I didn't get the perfect swirl they use in their shop but I am ok with that.  And just a caution, the icing is super super sweet.  Like whoa holy moly sweet.  But, I guess since the cake isn't so sweet, it balances it out.

The color ended up getting even more pink, almost like a deep hot pink when it sat in the fridge for a bit.  And my girl was super excited to blow out her candles (days before her birthday) and have a cherry on top, just like she asked  demanded.  And she was even more excited when grandma gave her this.....

It has been in the house ever since.  Which of course means that Hayley needed her car inside too, which meant Cass needed hers inside too.  I think the day could also be called, give mom a heart attack and freak out clean mode day :)  Stay tuned for our lovely adventures on our non-zoo Saturday.....

Happy Fourth

234 years later and we are having ourselves a celebration.  And no, I did not know the anniversary right off the top of my head, I had to subtract 2010 minus 1776, world, please be happy knowing I am not homeschooling my children :)  Last year we celebrated by watching my amazing friend Erin marry the love of her life.  This year we are staying home, having a BBQ with the neighbors and heading up the hill later to watch the fireworks they shoot off over the pier.  Wherever you are, I hope you are having a great day filled with love, family friends and good food of course.  Happy 4th America!!!!!!!!!