A is for Alphabet Activities!

A delightfully fun part of the "blogworld" is connecting with others who share your interests; yet another fun facet is finding and reconnecting with old friends. One reason I began to blog was that one of my childhood best friends, Lauren, has an adorable blog where she shares her artwork as well as tidbits about her life. We had been out of touch for the better part of 15 years, and it's been really neat to fall back into contact. I've been inspired in many ways by her blog, and wanted to create something similar. So, here I am, givin' it a "go!"

I check her blog every few days, and often find ways to use her creative and fun ideas for crafts here at our house.  Lately, she's been doing a letter of the day with her kiddos, and I thought since I'm home with the boys three days a week, Mason could really benefit from this.  At least it's better than sending him off to play by himself while I search the Internet!  Seriously.  ANYWAY, though. . .

"A is for Acorn!"

I actually "lifted" this idea directly from Lauren.  It was just TOO CUTE, so we had to do it!  Mason and Christina went to the park in the neighborhood to collect acorns, then brought them home and gave them little faces.  Their creations cracked me up!

Then we went into my office and practiced writing the letter "A."  Mason was so very excited to get to play student!  He sees all the "big kids" come in, and to get to sit in their spot in Mommy's office was a ton of fun for him.  We have the craft room upstairs with a jillion crayons, markers, glitter pens, pieces of construction paper, etc., but a plain ol' piece of computer paper is what he wanted. 

I plan to keep these activities going. . .Rip doesn't think I'll make it through the alphabet.  What he doesn't know is that I have big plans for "W is for Wine" when I get to that point!  Well, maybe I won't wait until "W."  Oh, hell, just give me a glass now!  Hah!

"O, Canada..."

A weekend away without the kiddos!!!!! (I could have had only that much information about our trip and been excited. But it was to an amazing and somewhat obscure destination in a different country? Did I luck out or what?)

Rip and a few others from various distributors were given the opportunity to go to Kelowna, B.C. with their wives, compliments of the Mike's Hard Lemonade guys. The same gentleman who started Mike's owns a boutique winery called Mission Hill Family Estates Winery, and we were going to be treated to a VIP tour. Like Rip told me before we left, "they're going to take very good care of us. . ."

Did.They.Ever. We stayed in a spacious & luxurious resort called The Cove, right on the shores of Lake Okanagan. The view from our balcony was of a pristine and sparkling lake, as well as of the mountains on the other side of the valley.

Who would have known that there was such a gem of a city just a few hours from Vancouver? There was a quaint and adorable downtown, the friendliest people, and spectacular vineyards all up and down the Okanagan Valley. It's a really unique climate (so I was told), as it's extremely moderate due to the mountains on either side of the valley and the lake right down the center. It's a desert, actually. Which is apparently perfect for growing grapes. "In Canada?" you ask? Oh yes!!!!

So we sampled wines from several vineyards, ate gourmet food (BTW. . .gross. I would rather have Subway than rabbit sausage, lamb, and venison carpaccio ANYDAY!!!), and actually got to sleep through the night. Wine AND sleep? Who needs more???!!!???

Sadly, poor Rip got an ear infection on the second day, so we had to take a cab to a health clinic, then the pharmacy. But I will say that the inexpensive Chinese food we ate that night while we waited for the prescriptions was the best food of the trip!!! Well, except for this delightful Mike's Hard *Pink* Lemonade sampler we had for dessert the last night.

All this, then a nice long flight home with no one climbing on me, begging for snacks, complaining, crying, or asking me to watch "Dora Saves the Mermaid Kingdom" again. "O, Canada!"