Lazy, Hazy Crazy Days

I've been lazy this summer, not posting very regularly. But the weather has turned nice for a change and I just go through the day doing this and that and before you know it, it's time for bed. I know I haven't blogged in a while when I have to put my user name and password in. We've done a lot of family stuff, and I' ve NOT done a lot concerning anything creative. Except for this day:


when frayed edges spent the day at Sarah's dyeing fabric. This is one of my pieces which I have no idea what I'll do with. But it's pretty and gauzy so it will work well in something. Sometime.

Happy Birthday, Bruce

There's a birthday in our house today. Next year he'll be able to sing the real words to "When I'm 64". Yikes, we're old! But isn't this the best mug? Chalk talk. Just write your message, erase and write another depending on your mood. Hmmmm, you may see a lot of this. Thanks, Trish.

End of Vaca

Our vacation at Bayside is over for another year. We had a blast and made the most of all the family time together. We Tie-dyed T-shirts.

played wild and crazy games with our cousins,


attended a dance class,


decorated and flew the BEST gliders, a dollar store deal which provided HOURS of fun,

someone got engaged under the stars sparkling on the ocean, and we had a:

TOP CHEF COMPETITION!
(secret ingredient: blueberries)

Borrowing the idea from my friend Deborah, I planned one of our many dinners to be a friendly competition. A couple of weeks ahead, I told all 8 couples what course they were responsible for and what the secret ingredient would be. I was not disappointed with the wide range of entries. For appetizers we had Stilton Blueberry Cheese and Crackers, and fruit kebobs with blueberries (of course). We had two delicious green salads with blueberries and different dressings. For bread we had mini biscuits and blueberry butter, along with blueberry and ginger muffins. We had three entrees: pork with a blueberry sauce, black and blue sliders (delicious!) and chicken crepes topped with a blueberry sauce. Dessert was either a chocolate chip cookie topped with fruit and blueberries, a blueberry tart, or the most amazing blueberry cheesecake thing. Oh yeah, the special cocktail of the evening was pomegranate-blueberry martinis. Gone in a flash!
During the cocktail hour I had made up different games to entertain the kids. We had three 'write the answer' games: Identify the cooking implement, identify the pastas, (Deborah's idea) and a taste test consisting of 5 different potato chip flavors.

(guessing the chips)

The last and best game I called, "Play with Your Food", a take-off on the original game. Each kid got a base of a rice krispie treat, some toothpicks, and a bevy of building blocks. Marshmallows, gum drops and candy corn.

And prizes were awarded in a number of categories:

most delicious

stickiest

tallest, without falling over

most toothpicks

another stickiest

widest

most celestial

We also had prizes for the least toothpicks, best first eaten, and best hairdo on a structure. Silly games but lots of laughs and memories.