It seems that Ellie is invited to a never-ending amount of birthday parties these days. We typically only have her attend the parties of the friends she is closest with however. It just makes things easiest on us…. and keeps gift costs down! This past year I’ve really tried to come up with some unique gifts for her to give her friends. I mean, I KNOW they all want the latest Barbie or newest Lego set. But from what I’ve witnessed at birthday parties, there is no shortage of toys that a kid will get! So recently when Ellie received an invitation to attend the birthday party of one of her BFFs, I came up with a fun semi-educational gift that will keep the girls active and practicing their spelling skills all through summer. We put together a fun pen pal kit!
Here’s what we put in the kit:
1. A nice wide lined pad of paper and white envelopes
Both girls are entering second grade, so spacing and letter sizing are still things they need to practice on.
2. Pack of colorful pens for writing and drawing
3. Washi tape
…for decorating the letters
4. Stickers
More decorating stuff!
5. Stamps
…of course
6. Lifesaver Gummies
A girl needs a yummy treat to snack on
7. Blank plastic box
To hold all her letter writing supplies or to hold her pen pal letters.
We also printed out a letter to send to her pal, explaining what the kit was for…
It was kind of fun putting it together and Ellie was so excited about having a pen pal for the summer.
Hope I gave you a fun idea to use the next time you have to get a gift for a child’s birthday!
We have never been real big on the “have a big birthday party every year” thing, for our kiddo. Both my husband and I never had large shindigs for every birthday when we were growing up. And we both feel it’s a bit excessive when it comes to our child as well. Instead, we like to do a larger party maybe every five years or so and then smaller things on the other years. Last year we did a small breakfast party with Ellie’s closest friends here at our home. It was super easy, Ellie had a great time and the whole thing was wrapped up by 11am.
The last few months Ellie has been none stop talking about surprise parties and how much she likes them. Not that she’s EVER been to one or had one mind you! I kept telling her that we weren’t having a large party for her this year, but that we’d do something special and that I had something planned. Which was a total lie because in actuality we were dealing with my husbands’ car breaking down and finding a new car to buy. Total car drama! So literally a week before her birthday I emailed a bunch of people and asked if they could join us at our fav Mexican restaurant for dinner and cake. Since Ellie’s birthday just happens to also be my birthday I tried to make it both kid and adult friendly. And luckily most of my close friends have kiddos who also happen to be close friends with Ellie. Win win!
So I got the biggest ice cream cake I could buy, hit the dollar store for lots of balloons and got to the restaurant early, so that we call could surprise Ellie when she walked in with her dad. Ellie was totally surprised and it was a fun early dinner with all the people we love!
{the new SEVEN year old!}
{the birthday girls}
Now on to the easiest cake topper EVER! I knew I wanted to get an ice cream cake for the party since we both LOVE ice cream and it just seemed appropriate for a week of 4th of July birthday party. But let’s face it, Baskin Robbins isn’t the best at the actual decorating of the cake. At. All. So I had them leave the cake pretty plain…just white frosting, blue detailing and some pastel confetti candy accent. But then I made my own glitter cake topper and it turned out so cute!
Take wood baking or cake pop skewers
And some glitter chipboard letters
And hot glue letters to the tips of the skewers! You could write out any message you want.
Fast. Cute. Easy.
The sparkler candles that I bought for TWELVE FREAKING DOLLARS however…total dud! They last all of about 2 seconds and you can’t really light more than one at a time. Don’t bother if you ever see them and think HOW CUTE! Waste of money!
HAPPY WEEKEND FRIENDS!
It has been a crazy few months to say the least! I figured the best way to catch you all up on what’s been going on is to share my iPhone photos with you. The beginning of June the hubby and I did our second triathlon together in Huntington Beach. This one was a different challenge for me since the swim was in the ocean, the bike ride was on a PUBLIC path (very challenging!) and the run was on the sand. I was NOT prepared for the ocean swim at all! I had rented a tri wetsuit to wear and thought it would be no big deal since I surf and am very confident in the ocean. WHELP, the wetsuit made the swim so much harder for me and I had no idea that I would freak out putting my head in the ocean! I couldn’t do it! So I swam the whole way without really sticking my head in the water and consequently ended up pulling a neck muscle and was out of commission for about three weeks after that. Lesson learned. Train in the ocean stupid! But hey, I looked pretty strong right before the race huh?!
{fresh faced before the race}
Ellie finished first grade the end of June and we had a great last day with a big party on the beach with other families from her school. It’s been a tradition that a few families started a couple years ago, but this was our first year going. What a fun afternoon! We couldn’t stay for the bonfire and bbq however, because we were leaving bright and early the next day to go camping in Sequoia National Forest.
{ellie with her awesome teacher!}
{end of the year beach party. someone said the count was 70 kids!}
We decided to go back to Sequoia to camp like we did last June. This time we were able to secure a spot higher up the mountain. And our camping spot was AMAZING to say the least! We were right next to a small river/stream which was great to play in during the day to cool off and boy did it sounds nice at night. The other cool thing was the amount of wildlife we got to see. A young stag came right into our camp the first day! And we got to spy on a momma bear with her two cubs playing by the water. It was such a cool experience for us city folk!
{part of the view from our campsite}
As soon as we got home from our camping trip, Ellie started a fun beach camp that is put on by her swim team. She is such a little fish just like her mom and dad, so to say she had fun is an understatement. Her cuteness the first day of camp kills me. I know, I’m biased…but seriously..the hat is just adorable on her!
Well that gives you a little snippet of the first part of our summer. Come back tomorrow (YES on a Saturday!) and I’ll be sharing the most easy DIY cake topper ever! Happy Friday friends!
Sooo glad it’s Friday! But man, anyone else notice how fast the weeks fly by? I can’t believe how quickly this year has been going.
I’m looking forward to a mellow weekend. The only real thing we have planned is heading to the Bruno Mars/ Pharrell concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday. SO EXCITED! We always try to see a few shows during the summer at the Bowl. It’s just such a fun venue!
I’m a sucker for a good picnic, so below I’m giving you my must haves for a concert picnic at the Bowl. Yes, box wine. It won’t break or roll or any of that. Take it out of the box and just put the foil bladder into your cooler. * *A little tip** Place the foil bladder on the VERY bottom of your cooler and pack all the food and whatnot on top. If the Bowl is not a sponsored ”Bowl” event, technically you are not allowed to bring in alcohol. BUT this trick works EVERY time we go!
Happy Weekend Friends!
We tend to really switch our eating habits as soon as it starts to warm up. I am a BIG fan of comfort food and/or anything I can possibly cook in my Le Creuset dutch oven! But there really isn’t anything easier or yummier than grilled food in my opinion. A friend recently asked what I like to cook once summer rolls around, so I thought I would share my top recipes with all of you too!
{via myrecipes.com}
Our very favorite… Barbecue Roasted Salmon is a go to anytime of year. During the summer however, I like to soak some cedar planks in water while the fish marinates and then grill the salmon on the planks instead of turning on the hot oven. This is a total winner! No joke…better than a restaurant. Definitely one for when you have company over for dinner.
{via instagram}
Another easy and oh so good recipe, Grilled Apricots with Arugala, Burrata and Country Ham. I wing it a little more by sometimes using peaches or nectarines instead (whatever looks best at the store) and then I usually just drizzle good olive oil and balsamic on top. Oh and prosciutto…I always use prosciutto. Yum!
I’m married to a central Cali boy, so to say he loves artichokes is sort of an understatement. This Grilled Artichokes with Creamy Champagne Vinaigrette recipe totally beats out any other way of cooking ‘chokes. Delicious!
{via aphotographerscookbook.com}
I love making this dish when I really don’t feel like cooking or we’ve been at the beach all day and I’m absolutely beat. Roasted Shrimp with Orzo is full of flavor and great to make for a large group of people!
And this one I’ve featured on the blog before, but Grilled Steak Salad with Tomato Vinaigrette is SUCH a winner I had to share it again. My hubby demolishes this when I serve it and my kid actually likes it too and she doesn’t really like red meat or tomato!
{via Pinterest}
Oh and just a little something I pinned recently that has quickly become a morning staple in our house, this yummy Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie . Such a great post workout drink!
So, I hope I’ve given you some yummy new ideas for summertime eating! I’m sure I’ll be sharing more fun warm weather recipes in the next few weeks.
