the JOYS of Summer

the cows next door

backyard frogs

and lazy dogs

Happy Saturday!

* Happy 4th of July *

Have a Wonderful Day!

Dad's County Fair { birthday party }

Last Sunday our family gathered for a 
County Fair style Birthday Party 
for our Dad { AKA: County Fair Grand Marshal }

Snacks included mini corn dogs...

...homemade Caramel Corn and Kettle Corn...

 { We all agree we like Caramel Corn the best. }

...and lemonade served in mason jars.

I couldn't resist the cute plastic food trays and waxed paper liners. 

Single serving BBQ sauce to go with the oven fried chicken.

Fresh local Corn

Kosher style dill pickle spears.

I made 2 fruit pies { a blueberry and a strawberry } but unfortunately forgot to take pictures of either of them 

however 

I did get a photo of the fun hamburger cupcakes.

A fun summer birthday party for our
County Fair Grand Marshal!

DUBAI, UAE bizcation { part 1 ~ the Palm }

At the end of March our youngest child, who is now a college student, was taken on a much anticipated and very special business trip with her Dad.

{ and I tagged along too! } 

When our children were little we sent each one on a business trip with their Dad since his business requires a fair amount of travel. We thought it would be a great opportunity for them to see what he does while he is away so, starting with our oldest, we began our new tradition and over a span of several years, during grade school, our boys took their individual trips. In addition to going to conventions, meetings and business dinners with their Dad there was also time for fun since we were able to choose trips for each of them that were near theme parks. However, by the time Miss E, our youngest of four children, was old enough for a business trip our family calendar had inevitably become packed full of school, sports and church activities and despite our best efforts her special trip never fit into the schedule....until now. The perfect time had finally arrived and during Spring Break 2015 , we departed for....

Dubai, UAE!

Sunrise on the Palm looking towards the city.

This is the view from our beach on the Palm.  Across the water is a resort on another Palm and behind that resort is the city skyline.

It was amazing how much construction is currently underway in Dubai and on the Palm. There are buildings and hotels going up everywhere! If you look closely, in many of the pictures you will see cranes and construction sites. We were told that they are preparing for the 2020 World Expo which will be held in Dubai and their goal is to have most of the construction finished by then. 

Below: The Arabian Sea

Early morning clouds usually burned off to clear blue skies.

A long beautiful sidewalk stretches the length of the Palm with the Arabian Sea along one side and Resorts on the other side. I am sure once all the construction is complete this will be a bustling sidewalk but during our stay we had much of it to ourselves.

Yachts and boats cruised back and forth with tourists and vacationers while ships could be seen further out heading to and from the port.

Ron spent several days during our BIZcation traveling to Abu Dhabi and Oman for business. Since a driver was sent each day to pick him up and drive him to his meetings he was able to take some pictures and video along the way. Once outside the city he saw camels grazing near the road, which you can see if you look closely at the pictures below.

Of course the view for much of his ride was of the beautiful, vast desert. 

This is just one of the many, many amazing buildings we saw. 

Ron passed this particular building on his way to Abu Dhabi.

This is the AlDar HQ, the world's first circular skyscraper. It is almost 400 feet tall and is covered in 3000 glass panels. 

I have more to share about our trip to Dubai however there is too much for just one post so I  am working on a couple others and will be back soon with more highlights of our bizcation in 

Dubai! 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Breakfast at Tiffany's { Crown }

Each year I make a CROWN for our Tea Party Guest of Honor,

 our Mother.

Every crown is handmade ,  theme related and no two are alike.

I begin by sketching out my idea, then making a sample and finally I make the Crown that will be given to her. 

This year I thought it would be fun to make some simple tiara's to give to the other Tea Party guests so at the last minute I squeezed what should have been a quick and easy project onto my to do list. Unfortunately, in my rush, I forgot to put the paper lining on the backs of the tiara's before I glued them to the hair combs and as a result they did not stick well to the combs.  After trying one on I could tell that they would not work without the paper backing attached and by this point I had no time left to go back add it so, needless to say, I did not give out the tiara's. 

Usually on the back of each crown I attach a personalized label which includes the party information, however this crown was not as big as the others so I only had room for a small Tiffany & Co. label which I made to fit the space and then adhered it to the back. Also, since the crown was so little I attached it to a headband which worked really well.

Happy Friday!

Breakfast at Tiffany's { DIY programs, games }

This is the DIY Program 

I made for our 

Breakfast at Tiffany's 

Mother ~ Daughter Tea Party. 

There is a small pocket on the back of the Menu to hold the program as well as a quote that I like and thought related to our theme. 

Each guest received a strand of pearls as she arrived however, if you caught someone using the word "Mom" you could take her pearls. The guest who collected the most pearls was the winner.

We also played "What's in Your fabulous Purse"? 

Fun little gifts for the game winners which included a 

fabulous Eye Mask 

& 

utterly divine Soap.

I couldn't resist making more photo props.

Have a fabulous Wednesday!