Dare to Share # 18

It is Friday night, which means it is Dare to Share time.   Once again we had a very busy week here.

We had a fun time at Kara's Woodland Party.   You can see all of the pictures and what we did here at Our Woodland Party

A few days after that, we  had a very early morning at the train station to say good bye to grandma.  She was heading back  home after a 9 day visit.  You can read about it at Earl Mornings are for Birds and Trains.  I don't think we will be up that early again for a long time.  

We also  spent a few days this week at the county fair.  Kara was thrilled when she got to hold a monkey.  More fun pictures about our adventure are in the post Fun at the Fair.

Today was the first day in awhile we just had a quiet day at home.  Part of the reason why is because it was pouring out most of the day.  We did not mind a bit though, because the rain was very much needed!  We have had drought like conditions most of the summer.  I also love that the temps were not in the 90s today, and I could turn the air conditioner off.  We just got an electric bill that was almost $300 because of  the constant use of the air conditioner.  Ouch!!

What kinds of things do you have to share this week?

I don't have a lot of rules.  You can link up anything that you would like to share.  
There is not a limit in the amount of things you can link up.

I only ask that you become a follower and post my button somewhere on your blog.

It's now time to have party. Link up and HAVE FUN!

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Fun at the Fair

This week is our county fair.   We spent two days at the fair enjoying all that it has to offer.    

We always  try to go on the first day of the fair, because admission is free until 4 p.m.   The midway opens later in the day, so it is the perfect day to see all the exhibits and animals .   Kara loved the horse barn, and was thrilled when she told by the owner that she could pet her horse.

Feeding the animals at Barnyard Express

This little guy really wanted to see Kara.

You can't see the bottle, but she was feeding one of the baby animals some milk.

An elephant ear, the was about the size of a real baby elephant ear. It was HUGE, and took 3 of us to eat it.

Yesterday, on our trip back  she got to feed even more animals! Here she is feeding a week old piglet.

Sweet baby calf

Yesterday's visit  was not all about the animals though.  She spent hours riding all the midway rides with a friend. While the arm band was a bit pricey at $20, she got her moneys worth.  They rode all of the rides numerous times.   She is way up in the sky on this ride.

What an attitude!!

Do you see anything unusual about this picture?  There is something really cool if you can find it..

Look what I caught in midair on camera!  This was at the lumberjack show, and they were showing one of their professional  competitions which is ax throwing.  I was glad to be a very safe distance way during this part of the show.

A few more of the rides  

Kara's favorite part of the fair!  If you gave this monkey  a coin, he would tip his hat to say thank you.  Kara came back so many times during the two days she was at the fair, the owner gave her a special treat.  She allowed Kara to hold the monkey.  Kara  was so happy.  She told me she was "scarred by his cuteness, but in a good way".  I am not sure what that means, but it sounds cute.

What a great time at the fair!

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Survive in the Woods Trail Mix

As I am sitting here eating some of the leftover trail mix from our Woodland party, I realized that I did not yet post what I mixed in it.

Everything in our "Survive in the Woods" trail mix has a meaning behind it.

Chocolate mint marshmallows: stones
Pretzel sticks: sticks
Gummy Bears: Bears who live in the woods
 Cherry Craisins: berries found in the woods
Peanuts: while not found in the woods, reminds me of nature food you would eat in the woods
M & Ms: okay, maybe not everything has a special woods meaning. The M & Ms  were added because everyone loves them, and they taste great in trail mix.

What we ended up with was the perfect mix of sweet and salty, and sugary and healthy, which to me is the perfect snack.  Hopefully no one who eats this will ever be stranded in the woods!

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July BlogLovin Blog Hop

I am one of the  cohosts this month with Jenny of the The NY Melrose Family,   and her July  BlogLovin Blog Hop.  I am still relatively new to BlogLovin, but  I really like what I  have seen so far.   When Jenny asked if anyone wanted to cohost, I told  her I would love to because it a great way to follow many of my favorite blogs.


Now a few words from Jenny!

If you're looking for Whimsy Wednesdays you can find it here.



I am super excited to be hosting a Bloglovin' Blog Hop with Cari and Courtnee from Two Sasters, Amy from While Wearing Heels, Pam from Pam's Party Planning & Practical Tips,  Kristy from Cup of Jo, Carrie from My Favorite Finds,  Megan from Our Pinteresting Family, Barb from Second Chance to Dream, Jacqueline from The Detox Diva and Megan from Shaping Up to be a Mom for the month of July. 
What's Bloglovin' you ask?  Well, only the greatest way to keep track of the blogs that you love.  With the discontinuation of Google Friends Connect, I decided that I needed to find another way to keep up with all of my favorite blogs that are not hosted by blogger.  I signed up for Linky Followers and I've had great success with gaining new followers, but I’m finding I don’t get any traffic to my site from Linky.  I also do not enjoy reading my favorite blogs from there.  I stumbled upon Bloglovin' and I am in love!  It is very similar to Google Reader, in that you can see the beginning of the post and the first picture attached to the post.  Plus, Bloglovin' automatically updates your posts, unlike Linky Followers, which you have to manually update each time you write a new post.  I don't know about you, but I just don't have the time to do that every time.  Another added bonus is there is a Bloglovin' application for IPhone and Android devices.  Woohoo!  Like I don't spend enough time reading blogs.  Now it's a simple touch.  Love it!


***These are the complete instructions for sign up, so skip to the rules if you already have Bloglovin'***

In order to participate in this hop you need to sign up for Bloglovin’.  Go to Bloglovin'.   Hit the green sign up button in the right hand corner.  Next enter an email address and create your password.  You will get a confirmation eamil that you will need to follow a link back to Bloglovin' to continue the process.  Once you click on the link you will be brought to a page where it says to choose blogs to follow.  You don't need to do this.  Click next in the bottom right hand corner.  The next screen let’s you know about the mobile app so just click next again.  This screen will show that you are not following any blogs.  Click on Account in the upper right hand corner and toggle down to widget.  Choose the widget you want displayed on your page.  Put your url into the search query and it should pull up your site.  Click on your site and it will say display this icon.  The next page should bring you to a screen that has you display it into your layout.   Once you hit publish you’re done!  If you view your blog you should see the icon and now your followers can add you to their Bloglovin’ feed.  Seriously, so simple.  So let’s get to the blog hop.  This is a party so make sure to have some fun and mingle.


 There’s only a couple of rules:

1.       Please follow your host – The NY Melrose Family 
&
Your co-hosts Two Sasters, While Wearing Heels, Pam's Party Planning & Practical Tips, Cup of Jo, My Favorite Finds, Our Pinteresting Family, Second Chance to Dream, The Detox Diva and Shaping Up to be a Mom.

2.      Add Bloglovin' to your blog.
3.      Post our button for the blog hop on your page to promote the fun.

 <center><a href="http://thenymelrosefamily.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="250" src="http://i1226.photobucket.com/albums/ee412/TwoSasters/JulyHop.jpg" style="border: none;" width="250" /> </a></center> 

If you're interested in co-hosting next month shoot me an email at russej10@gmail.com.  I also have some sponsor spots still available for August, which you can find here.  Alright, so let's have some fun and mingle!  Please link up your bloglovin profile.




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Early Mornings are for the Birds and Trains

Remember last week when I posted about how grandma's  train was almost 2 hours late, and we didn't get home until 2 a.m.   We would not have minded if today's train was late, since she had a 5:55 a.m. check in time!   She was leaving from a train station about an hour from our house, and  we knew it was be really hard to get up and leave by 4:30 a.m. for the hour drive. We opted to spend the night at a motel near the station, so we would not miss the train.  We all tried to get to sleep at a decent time, but as you know it is often hard to sleep when you need to.  When the 5 a.m wake up call came early at 4:55 a.m (ugh!) I was not really a rested, happy camper.   I don't think any of us had more than 4 hours of sleep last night.  We got to the station right on time to check in her bags.  We had hoped the train  might be a little bit late, so we would have some  time to talk and say our goodbyes.  That was not to be..  The early morning train was right on time!  We only had a few minutes to take a couple quick pictures and have a few hugs, because it was time to board. She was boarding the train by 6:05 a.m. so this visit to the Toledo train station was extremely short compared to the 3 hours we were there the last time.  We decided to wait just a bit, in case there were any problems. There wasn't, so we were right there waving goodbye when the train left the station at 6:25 a.m.  We are not sure if she saw us waving, but we  hope she did!   

We had an hour drive back home, so we stopped for breakfast at McDonalds. It's a special treat to eat a bacon, egg and cheese McGriddle.   We also got to see probably the only summer sunrise we are going to see for quite awhile.  We are all night owls who like to sleep in during the summer, so a sunrise is a rare sight.  We were back home by 8:15 a.m, which is earlier than we normally get up on a summer morning. I took a nap, because I was so tired I could not keep my eyes open, but now my  daily schedule is all out of whack. Hopefully I will get back on track in a day or so.


We had  a great visit, and miss her already!    

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Our Woodland Party

A few weeks ago, Kara got her new buddy Silver.  She has always had a great love for woodland animals.  Last Halloween she even  had me make her a fox costume.  When I asked her what she would like for her theme this year, she said definitely a Woodland Animal Party.

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

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Dare to Share #17

It was a very busy week here..

After a day at the zoo, and a long wait at the train station grandma arrived.

During the week, we made fun things for the party including these moss letters that can be found in our Moss and More Moss post.

I replaced the screen in our screen door on the deck on Wednesday, and showed how on my how to fix a screen post.

Mom and I took a short road trip to IKEA. It was the first time for both of us.  I found some great things to use at the party which I posted about in Friday Fun Finds.

Today was Kara's Woodland Theme party. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun.  It was still very hot outside, but not quite as hot as it was at her Beach Bash Birthday  party last year.  

So what did you do this week?   I would love to see all of your great ideas and link ups!  

I don't really have any rules.   Link up anything you would like to share.  I would like you to become a follower so you know about the party.  

<center><a href="http://pamspartyplanning.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src=" http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/Kristisma3/button2.png " style="border: none;"/></a></center>

Please post my button somewhere on your blog and tell you friends, so more people will know about the party.  

Its time to link up!  

T

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Woodland Party Sneak Peek

It's getting late and we are exhausted here.. I will write the the full party post tomorrow.. Here is a sneak peek..

I made a cardboard tree that ended up being 2-3 feet too tall for where I had planned to put it in our family room.

Pin the Nose on the Fox, designed by Kara 

The guest of honor taking his bath.  Everyone loved meeting him.    Full details will be posted soon!

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Where's the Party?

Due to my getting ready for Kara's real party tomorrow, the Dare to Share Linky Party will not be posted tonight. Hopefully if I am not too exhausted after our guests leave, I will be posting the party on Saturday night..    Please be sure to come share all of your great links!  

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Friday Fun Finds

My mom and I took a field trip yesterday.   Neither one of us had been to IKEA before, even though there is one only about 40 minutes from my house.  

I was hoping I might find some great fun finds are Kara's woodland party.  IKEA did not disappoint.   Here is an  entire bin of hedgehog toys! Kara would be in heaven.   Only one hedgehog came home with us, for a great price of only $3.99.

I have been looking for something that I could use for a green backdrop.  I found these mesh fabric rolls for only $1.99 each.  Only $5.97 for a backdrop, score!

One of my favorite finds are these woodland themed cookie cutters I found in the kitchen area.   Again I was thrilled with the $3.99 price.  

In addition to the hedgehogs, I found a mama and baby fox set.  I had to get one because Kara loves foxes as much as hedgehogs. (Remember the fox Halloween costume from last October?)  She was thrilled when I gave them to her once we got home.

I did not buy this today, but it is now on my wish list. I have the prefect place for it, and hopefully I will be able to go back and get it someday soon.  

Considering all of the great finds that we found in addition to what is pictured, I was shocked that I actually got out of there paying only $27.  I definitely hope to go back there again soon.

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How to Fix a Screen

A few months ago, I mentioned that I hoped to do a series called Spring Time Spruce Up.  Well, that didn't happen, because there just wasn't as much time to get things done as I had hoped.  One of those projects on the list was to fix the screen to our sliding glass door.

When our cats were kittens, they did quite a number on our screen.  Our older male cat Milo really wanted to go outside one day. Since the screen was already weakened, Milo was able to push it open on the bottom with his head.  Ever since then we said we needed to have it fixed.

As you can see, our screen door has definitely seen better days!!  While at Home Depot the other day, I found a screen repair kit for only $8.99.  The great thing about this is that is also included the rubber spline and rolling tool.  Bought separately, it would have cost about $17.

Step 1.. Remove the old rubber spline. I had to use pliers to get it started, but it was very easy to remove once it a few inches were out.

The screen is totally out..  Already it is looking better. :)

We moved the screen to the deck floor at this point.  You want the frame on a flat surface when inserting the new screen material.  

I taped the screen frame with masking tape to the deck to keep it from sliding.  I also taped down the screen material on two sides at my starting point.  

Picture 1

Picture 2 

Using the rolling tool in picture 2  that came with the kit, I inserted the new spline that was also in the  kit in picture 1. 

Once I inserted the spline on the first two sides, I made sure to pull the screen tight as I could on the second 2 sides when inserting the spline on those sides. Once the spline was all the way in,  I then trimmed the extra screen material.  The trimming currently  does not look as pretty as I would like since I used too big of scissors.  I will touch it up more with smaller, finer scissors at a later time.  

We  then rehung the finished screen.. It looks so much better!   I love that it cost only $8 to fix.  Had I realized how easy it was, I would have done it  A LONG TIME AGO.  

One project done, only about 30 more to go! 

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