August 30, 2012

The Knight and the Dragon

We love the book  "The Knight and the Dragon" by Tomie DePaola. Our Dragon costume came from Old Navy and our Knight outfit came from Melissa and Doug. They are just perfect for acting out this book. Cooper loves to take turns playing each role. Now I am wondering which book we should try to act out tonight? Any ones you all like to do?

 

Photos taken by Tania Allen on her iPhone. Thanks for capturing the moments Tania!

August 28, 2012

Top Ten Climbing Destinations in Europe!

Thinking about taking a trip to Europe for some climbing? If so, you can't go wrong at any of the places listed below.  Siurana, Ceuse and the Calanques are also great, but I think these 10 are even better.

1) Arco, Italy. Located at the top of the beautiful touristy Lake Garda in northern Italy. There are hundreds of cliffs to choose from, and the limestone is high quality. The best part about Arco is the sights. Unbelievably beautiful, and plenty of fun towns, spas, and castles to visit.


2) Mallorca, Spain. If you are in to deep water soloing, this is the place to go. Amazing cliffs overhanging the Mediterranean, beautiful beaches, awesome food, this is one of our favorite places to go.

3) Frankenjura, Germany. This is home for us. Only 20 minutes from our front door and we have thousands of routes at our fingertips. Short, pocketed limestone walls. The towns nestled around the Frankenjura add to the charm, and don't forget to try the amazing beers! Home to the most breweries in the entire world!This picture we took in the adorable town Pottenstein.

3) Rodellar, Spain. We visited this place in spring and unfortunately were rained out. But the few climbs we managed to get on were so incredibly amazing. The best limestone I have ever climbed on. Beautiful hiking, and not terribly far from Barcelona.


4) Gorge Du Tarn, France. I must go back here. This place has so much potential, and the sheer volume of limestone is breathtaking. Not very close to any big cities, but for kayaking and climbing, this is it. A must for serious climbers.
5) Seynes, France. In the Provence region of France, this place is amazing! We went for Christmas and had such an incredible time. The wall stays in the hot sun all day, amazing tufas, and not a bad approach at all. The best part is the location. So close to Nimes, Avignon, Uzes, Arles. All amazing old roman French towns oozing with charm.

6) Zillertal, Austria. This place is exactly where you imagine Heidi growing up. Nestled deep in the Austrian alps, there are all kinds of small climbing areas to explore. Routes and bouldering. Granite and limestone. To get to this gem, you have to hike 17km. It is well worth it. This is the Berliner Hutte.


7) Fontainebleau, France.  Located only 30 minutes from Paris, this is the best bouldering destination in the world! Enough climbing to last you months, soft, sandy landings, and the trips and sights to see in the area are amazing. Paris! Need I say more?

8) Sardinia, Italy. I love this island. Went for our honeymoon, and returned again 2 years later with my parents. Amazing climbing on the Mediterranean sea. Ideal for honeymooners for sure. Stay in Cala Gonone if you visit. Perfect tourist town with access to tons of climbing areas.

9) Finale Ligure, Italy. This place doesn't get too much traffic from tourists it doesn't seem, but it really is worth checking out. Great climbing in a great location. We went for Christmas and enjoyed it tremendously. I love Finale Borgo. Artsy little town as you go down into Finale Ligure. Monaco is only about an hour away as well for a fun tourist trip.

10) Aland Islands, Finland.  Oh how I love this place. Quiet, beautiful, peaceful and really amazing bouldering, so great for families as well. We're talking tons of quality granite problems with great landings, and the potential for hundreds more.

Have fun planning your next adventure!

August 23, 2012

More Baby Shower Inspiration

I can't get over the details and creativity in the baby showers I have found online! I could just keep posting ideas forever. I am thinking I might need to join up to Pinterest so I can start pinning all the ideas. I haven't tried it yet, but seems easy and really useful.
This Baby Barbecue Shower for couples sounds AMAZING! I am starving just reading about the food right now. Check out the blog Le Partie Sugar! I love the idea of mini burgers too. Thinking it might be too cold in late Sept in Germany to have an outdoor barbecue though :(




I want to make these S'more Kits for Christmas Gifts! Too Cute.

For fruit salad, I will have to make the baby carriage watermelon thingy I have been seeing.

Now to still find out from Kumi what theme she would like and if she wants it to be for lunch or in the evening, couples or just girls.












August 17, 2012

Baby Shower Theme Planning

We have friends Mike and Kumi who are expecting their first at the end of October! When I saw Kumi last weekend at a party, I had to ask if anyone was planning her a shower yet.... Nobody had offered yet! I was so hoping I could plan out a shower for her! Yeah! They know they are having a girl, and she said she is doing some animals for the nursery theme, but I will see if I can get more specifics and plan a date. But for now, I am looking for inspiration, and have found an overload of amazing ideas! Check out the nesting inspiration, and help me narrow this down!

I already know for sure I want to do freezer paper stenciling on onesies. Now to pick out the stencils. I love the idea of nursery rhymes like these from the blog Happy Together. How adorable! Each guest can make one. I might have to order fabric paints. I have acrylic and a medium, but fabric paints would be easier and better it sounds like. Here are the ones she made below.


Now for a theme. There are just so many amazing ones out there. The Storybook/Nursery Rhyme one would work well. Look at these ideas!

StoryBook Theme Baby Shower from Kojo Designs
I love so many of these books. But this shower for the Pat the Bunny Book is so incredibly adorable! I love that book by the way!

Pat the Bunny Baby Shower by The Smith Family
French Cafe Themed Baby Shower from Kojo Designs

Ah, mais oui! A French Cafe Theme. Love this. Although, not a real reason to go with this theme for Kumi and Mike, but I still think its great.

And another 2 from Kojo Designs that are incredible.

Elephants on Parade Neutral Baby Shower Theme from Kojo Designs

Retro Garden Theme from Kojo Designs

You must check out the details on the links! She really goes all out! If only I was so creative!

And I am definetly going to do one of these awesome guest book thumbprint picture frame ideas below

Mommy to Be Thumbprint Guestbook
I love the ones with the balloon fingerprints too. I'll add some more baby shower iinspiration this week.

August 14, 2012

More clothing projects!

Last night, I failed miserably trying to do a stencil with bleach. I wanted it to look something like this , but did not have a Clorox Bleach Pen. So, I ended up making a huge blob on my husband's T-shirt instead of a Figure 8 knot I was trying to make. I dabbed the Clorox on with a foam brush thingy and it just seeped right under my freezer paper. ARGH! I'll take a picture and add later. I have failed on two crafts now... But, I think I will retry and use his shirt as my practice grounds! I am wondering if I can fix it by doing something else now with the T-shirt. I like the quotes on the shirts done with Clorox, and with glue.

A few weeks ago, I made this owl appliqued onsie. Phone picture and I don't know why it is sideways!! Must fix later. I used the Lil Blue Boo Tutorial found here at Lil Blue Boo's Blog. She is amazing. I love her blog and her tutorials. Hoping I can one day create things as awesome as she does!

I had never done Applique before. In fact, I have never sewed before. I did this by hand, so its not that pretty. I really want a sewing machine for Christmas and to learn how to sew. It would be so awesome! There are so many things I would love to try to make (slipcovers, pillow covers, duvets, and clothing).

Hoping my paints come here soon so I can do some painting! Until then, I will mess around with T-shirts till I perfect one of these techniques...





August 7, 2012

Super Cooper

I have been seeing so many awesome photography ideas I want to try! So, tonight, I tried one out. I love it! So cute. I'll have to order and frame this one for sure for Cooper's room. I found the idea on Pinterest. Not sure who was clever enough to think this up, but thank you!


T-Shirt Crafts

Here are a couple of the things I have been up to the last couple of days. Once I get the kids to bed, I like to sit and watch a movie with my husband and do a craft. I can't seem to sit still and just watch a movie anymore since I have so little free time working full time and having two little ones!


I painted a rooster on a shirt for my mom who loves roosters. Unfortunately, I think I misplaced it a little too low on the shirt. I used a picture of a rooster from "Pancakes"  by Eric Carl, a new favorite book for me. The two blue shirts are Tye Dye Batiqued. Sort of.

I followed the tutorial found here at Ucreate by "Sweet Verbana" who guest posted, and it worked! I let my son Cooper use clear waterproof Elmer's glue on the shirt. He drew a fish and some bubble marks above it. I tried to help fill in the gaps he made just a little. We let it dry overnight, and today I poured RIT blue dye in a bucket with some hot water and we dipped his shirt in. Since we had so much blue, we grabbed another shirt and a onesie and rubber banded them up to tye dye as well. Cooper asked "Can we do this every night?". Needless to say, the craft was a hit. His hands are now blue and our water table is now full of blue water as well because when I turned around for just a minute, he was grabbing his bucket and making potions with the dye! I like how they turned out. Now to wash them and let him wear his cool new shirts! And tonight, I must just have to make one for myself. A quote, a picture, hmmm, the possibilities are endless!

I am linking up to the Saturday Seven at Positively Splendid. I love her Blog!

August 3, 2012

Summer Afternoons

Living in Germany, summers are short. It is sunny outside right now, and warm and wonderful, so we are enjoying the outdoors as much as possible! And our garden.

Yesterday, we got out the sidewalk chalk and made a "Pretend You are a ? Board game". We drew squares all around with different things in them that you had to pretend to be, or do. A chicken, a frog, a rocket, a plane, spin around, a fireman, etc.. I let Cooper make up the various squares and then we went around the whole board pretending for over an hour. I wanted to add a roll of a die, but, for a three year old, just the pretending part was fun for him.