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“Strawberry ponies
strawberry lambs,
dancing in meadows
of strawberry jam!”
-Jamberry by Bruce Degen
What’s better than sweet spring strawberries?
How about an even sweeter layered strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting?!
A couple of weeks ago, we received a brochure in the mail advertising the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s new “living plant sculptures” exhibit – Imaginary Worlds. I knew the kids would love seeing the larger-than-life storybook characters and animals made out of plants, so we planned a trip to check it out. Graham was especially excited to see the exhibit and grabbed a map when we walked in so he could be our tour guide.
Graham was actually a little scared of the woolly mammoth. I thought he was cute!
I was jealous that Rip Van Winkle was able to take a nap.
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We love spending time at our neighborhood pool during the summer. There’s nothing like sunshine and water to wear your kiddos out! (And to be totally honest, sometimes I even need a nap after spending some time at the pool!)
We’ve been members of our neighborhood pool for 3 years now and I’ve finally got a good system down for getting out the door and to the pool quickly and efficiently. The first summer, my kids were still little, and getting ready for the pool seemed like more work than it was worth! But now that they’re 3 and 5, we’re finally at a point where we can grab our bag, towels, a few snacks, and head to the pool for some fun in the sun!
Here’s a list of the things that I always keep on hand during the summer to make getting ready to go to the pool easy-breezy.
I hate having multiple bags to bring to the pool. It ends up being way too much to carry. I have one huge bag that I throw everything in when we’re headed to the pool. My bag is a Lands’ End extra large canvas tote bag, but there are some great options on Amazon!
Back in February, Josh and I took a kid-free weekend trip to Universal Studios in Orlando. We decided to stay at one of Universal’s on-property resorts, Loews Sapphire Falls. We were flying down and wouldn’t have a car, and we wanted to take advantage of Sapphire Falls complimentary transportation to the parks. The Sapphire Falls Resort is a moderately-priced resort that looked beautiful from the pictures on the website. We were really impressed with the hotel and would definitely stay there again!
The Loews Sapphire Falls Resort is Caribbean themed, and the decor and amenities are great! Our room was calm and inviting and there were lots of Caribbean details. Check out this video I took when we checked in:
Last weekend, the hubs and I were able to sneak away for a quick overnight trip to Helen, GA. My in-laws kept the kiddos and we enjoyed having some kid-free time to explore and relax! I’ve really been needing a break lately from the monotony of motherhood – the never-ending clean, drive, play, wipe, cook, argue, repeat!
Helen is a cute, quaint little German-themed town in North Georgia. It was a bigger tourist destination back in the 80’s, but these days it’s pretty quiet. Although it still can get crowded during the weekend! We love Helen because it’s a quick drive from Atlanta, and it has some beautiful scenic places to explore along the river, along with a few great places to hike.
After dumping…er…dropping the kids off with my in-laws, we headed up to Helen and checked in at the hotel. We’ve stayed at a few places around town, but this time we tried out the Hampton Inn. It was clean and newly renovated, and we had a beautiful view of the river from our balcony!
Another thing I love about Helen is that it’s small enough that you can pretty much walk everywhere. After checking in the hotel, we strolled through town to one of our favorite places to eat, The Troll Tavern. It’s the perfect place for a cold drink and some tasty German food. We love eating here during the summer. If you sit outside, you can watch people tubing down the river. The perfect spot for people watching!
