Dayton Dragons Winner

Congratulations to Amy! You won the 4 tickets to the Dragons game on Saturday, April 30th.

For those who did not win, have no fear! I will do another drawing for tickets in the summer, plus, you can always get lawn tickets here for $8 each!

Thanks to everyone who participated and don't forget to 'Follow Me' so you don't miss out on the next giveaway!

Do you Think My Girls Are Ready...

For Summer??

(or a FAB vacation with mommy?)

Haha! This is how I found them the other day when I came into the room. I think they are trying to tell me something :)

Addy in her Chic new sunglasses

If only they knew how much momma wants to be in the sun also!

Faith relaxing by the, uh, dining room table....

Oh how I love these girls!

Top 10 Destinations for Family Fun

Addy in Myrtle Beach when she was 3. Could she be cuter?

I came across this article on Yahoo yesterday and was fascinated!

It list the Top 10 vacation places for families. I have been to 3 of the 10, and I would LOVE to visit the other places listed. I am especially now sold on Wildwood Crest, NJ and Ocean City, Maryland!

Have you been to any of these?

Do you agree that it should be listed as a Top 10 for families?

Anyplace else on your Top list of Family Fun places?

Enquiring Minds want to know!

Oh Summer, Where Art Thou?

I have kind of always been a warm weather kind of girl. Once, when I was about 6, on a cold, snowy morning, I told my mom that when I grew up I was going to move someplace warm- like Chicago. Guess I didn't really understand a lot about geography at that point :)

I do enjoy the change of seasons, like the colors that come out in the fall, the first snowfall of the Holiday season, and the fresh new scent that spring brings. But what I REALLY love are the warm sunny days of summer. My perfect day involves laying by the pool, getting a great tan, and laughing with friends while our kids play together.

Fortunately, I am able to do this pretty much all summer long because we belong to a great pool, Oak Creek Swim Club, and so do lots of my friends!!

We joined Oak Creek last year as temporary members. As a TM, you only have to pay the yearly fee, (you don't buy stock), and you kind of get to 'try it out' for a season before you commit.

It was a great opportunity for us, and while my husband was a little reserved about the whole thing at first, within the first few weeks he was convinced that it was one of the best decisions we had ever made!

Oak Creek has one of the best pools around. It is wide open, so you can always see your child, the baby pool is gated and I felt totally safe with my girls there.

It also has a huge covered patio area with lots of tables and grills that are free to use all the time. Many evenings, my husband would meet us at the pool after work and we would just grill up some burgers and hot dogs for dinner. It really fosters quality family time that everyone can enjoy!

Another plus for us is that the membership included free swim lessons! When we first joined, Addy wouldn't even put her head under water. But by the end of the summer, she was jumping off the diving board!

We were offered stock in the fall, and we scooped it right up. We know now what a bargain it is for our family to be entertained all summer long at such a quality place!

If you don't belong to a neighborhood pool, I urge you to check into it. (If you are local, Oak Creek is still accepting Temporary Memberships for this year). I am sure that your family will enjoy it as much as ours has!

Dayton Dragons Giveaway!

It's baseball season again, and this Thursday is the Season Opener for the Dayton Dragons! If you haven't been to a Dragons game before, you are missing out!

It is a Great time for families, and there really isn't a bad seat in the house, (lawn seats are awesome for kids who have trouble sitting still). Plus, the kids LOVE Heater and Gem, and all their crazy antics and also the Entertainment Fun Zone which is behind the center field wall. If you want more info on the Dayton Dragons, click here

To celebrate the new season, I am giving away 4 tickets to the game for Saturday, April 30th at 7pm. They are in Section 107, Row 10, seats 1-4 (on an aisle right on the first base line!).

You can enter a few different ways:

-You can sign up to follow my blog, (you have to crate a blogspot account to do this) If you already follow me, then see the other ways to enter!

-You can leave a comment below telling me about an experience at the Dragon's game or about how much you want to see a game

-You can link my blog to your facebook account (make sure and leave a comment letting me know you did it)

-You can link my blog to your twitter (again, make sure you leave a message letting me know you did it!)

But hurry! You only have until Friday to enter. Winner will be announced on Saturday!

A Weekend Full of Family

This past weekend was full of extended family time. My sister-in-law, Molly, was in town from California, and on Saturday, we got to spend a little time with her.

My mother-in-law made a HUGE meal and invited us all over, and it was wonderful! The girls had a great time playing with their aunt Molly and impressing her with their story-telling skills, (I think we heard the three little pigs about 5 times that day). And I was glad because all the excitement from the day wore them out and they went right to sleep when they got home :)

Jeremy's family

On Sunday, my dad and step mom came over to celebrate Addy's birthday, which was in January.

In all fairness, we had to cancel her original birthday celebration because of the previously mentioned lice incident but I will admit that April is perhaps a little late to still be celebrating.

But, of course, Addy had a great time, and felt really special to still be celebrating 3 months later, (how can I get in on that plan?).

We had presents and birthday cookie cake and lots of fun playing board games, and her new DS games with the grandparents.



For all the craziness that it sometimes brings when you spend time with extended family, I am so thankful that my girls have a lot of family close by who love them and want to spend time with them.

I really believe that is a gift to them, and that while they might not appreciate it so much now, they will eventually treasure the memories that are made.

Chuck E. Cheese- an Unexpected Date Night

The other day my sister asked me to watch her 2 older kids for a little bit in the evening, which was fine, but I didn't really have a dinner plan and it was during dinner hours.

So what's a girl to do?

Tell her husband that we were going to take all 4 kids to Chuck E. Cheese.

Let's just say he was a little less than thrilled.

Anyhow, I had some coupons, (NOTE: If you sign up on the Chuck E. Cheese site for emails, they send you GREAT coupons pretty regularly. You even get absolutely free tokens on the kids' birthdays and half-birthdays! Click here to sign up!), and the kids were SUPER excited.

Corey and Addy showing off their skillz

With my coupons, we ended up with a gazillion tokens, so we divided them up among the four kids, and off they went. It was Awesome because Addy and my nephew, Corey, are old enough now that they can go off on their own and they just know to come back every little bit to report in. Plus, my niece, who is in middle school, was able to hang out with my younger daughter the whole evening. We seriously were able to have like a whole hour to ourselves! And I know that you are wondering how good that hour could have been at Chuck E. Cheese, but since it was a week night, it really wasn't that crazy, and we had a booth with no one next to us or behind us, so it was actually pretty quiet, (or as quiet as Chuck. E. Cheese can be. I have also been in the mornings, and that is a great time to go too.).

Faith and Kami playing Air Hockey

My husband even commented that it was actually a one of the first times all week that we had been able to just sit down and talk to one another. I think he might be a Chuck E. Cheese believer now :)

The kids couldn't thank us enough for the fun night. And since I don't get hugs and kisses from my niece and nephew that often anymore, that was worth it all right there! So next time you are looking for some good family time -or maybe a date night- think about Chuck E. Cheese...you never know!