I'm back...........

Summer vacation is officially over :( We packed up and left the Cape this am to head back to Jersey for good. I have lots of pictures and stories to share so stay tuned :) xo, Brie

Proud as a Peacock

Finally all tucked into bed with visions of sugar plums and yes that is Homer Simpson she is cuddling with. She smuggled a dollar bill in her croc and won him with "the claw" in the hotel game room tonight. Not the 'play til you win' type either, the HARD one. To make victory even sweeter, her 8 year old brother spent a significant amount of time and tokens trying to win Homer today. This is one satisfied little lady.... today was great! xo, Brie

PS she hasn't a clue who Homer Simpson really is, which makes it even more hilarious to me

Girl's Day in Williamsburg

While Mr. KB was golfing this am, Gigi (my nice MIL) offered to take the 3 younger kids for the morning so Kay and I could have a girl's day in Williamsburg. Kayla chose to head to one of Yankee Candle's flagship stores for some fun and shopping!


There is plenty of shopping opportunities there and it isn't all just candles! They have a home goods section, toy store, Christmas village, cuckoo clocks, fudge, cafe etc etc etc... it's very easy to spend 2 hours there, there is a lot to see!

A new addition there (as in new since 2 years ago when we last visited) is a section called Wax Works where you can create your own scented jar candle for $10



You can choose your own scents and colors


drag a stick along the sides to create a little design and voila!


We each found out our PerSCENTalities - Kay is midnight jasmine and clean cotton which is described as elegant and classic. Mine was vanilla cupcake which is creative and energetic.

You can have your hand sculpted in wax in any hand gesture you like ..... ok, probably not just any hand gesture you like

Into the warm wax you go

It takes several dips in the wax

Now it's time for the colors.... wonder, what she'll choose?! Pink and............

Green of course!!! She IS her mother's daughter you know

Preppy Peace!

Kay in the Christmas Village where the stars are twinkling and snow is lightly falling inside

We come across some wooden cut outs for photo opportunities and I suggest Kay go into one for a snapshot. She says NO WAY, only if you go in one. I think she has now realized that I have no shame when it comes to photo opportunities...

YOUR turn :)

A very fun day!!! xo, Brie

Letterboxing in the USA

Again, I'm way late to the party on this one but in this case it's really a better late than never! Have you ever heard of Letterboxing? It's a super fun secret outdoor activity that takes you to neat places where you learn a little bit of history and/or geography while following clues in a little treasure hunt.

Here's the gist - Go the Letterboxing website to get started and you can peruse the clues in your home state or anywhere in North America that you might be visiting. People have hidden little waterproof containers or ziploc bags and will leave you clues how to find them. They are well hidden and most likely not be found unless you have the clues and are looking for them! The contents of the boxes you find will contain a rubber stamp and a log book.

What you will need to get started:

• a team name that you will use to sign others' log books - Kayla dubbed ours the Irish Rovers - love it!

• a rubber stamp of your own - the more interesting and impt to you, the better


• your own letterboxing log book to collect your stamps and keep track of where you have been

A few other things you may want to bring along with you

• water (some of these can be quite a hike through trails/parks etc)
• good footwear
  
• bug spray (we almost got eaten alive on one trip by mosquitoes)


• a pen

A few notes about the stamps - some people really get into this!!! We rushed out to get started and Staples offered very little by way of fun stamps to use. It was either PAID or a smiley face. We chose the smiley face, he's cute but quite generic and not nearly special enough for the Irish Rovers ;) This Irish Claddagh is on the way to us!

So while we are on vacation in Williamsburg, Va we decided to see if any were hidden close by and lo and behold there are! We made a visit over to a local state park with lots of hiking paths and some great clues and instructions to find 3 hidden letterboxes!

It is so hot here, I was a little nervous to start our trek, but the kids were really excited to go and it was surprisingly much cooler along the heavily wooded paths of this park!

The boxes should be well hidden, like this.... see you would never know unless you were looking!

After removing some leaves and sticks we discover we are in the right place!

Jackpot!We stamp our book first with their enclosed stamp which is a frog, we mark the date and sign our names along with the town and state we found it in

Next we stamp their book with our stamp and sign our names

We found 2 more boxes (all hidden by the same team) which took us full circle through the park with a short walk back to our car in the parking lot

We had a great time searching, stamping, and logging in the books

Be sure to reseal everything tightly and put the box back where you found it, be secretive and make sure nobody else in the park sees you! Conceal the box well so only others looking for it will find it :)

Upon returning home, you can log in your "status" of the letterboxes you found or attempted. It's actually a good idea to check the latest stats on the box your are heading out to search for prior, some go missing and you may end up on a wild goose chase.

It's very easy to create your own letterbox and submit clues through their database. I can't wait to get home and hide some boxes of our own for others to find! It will be fun to check the log from time to time and see how many travelling letterboxers have discovered ours!

Definitely try this!!!!!!! xo, Brie

Trip to Disney World

We are in the middle of planning a trip to Disney in Orlando sometime this fall. Ms. C just turned 4 and is totally into all the characters so the timing is just right. I know there are lots of sites with tips etc but I am reaching out to you guys to see if you have any family friendly (4 kids ages - 11,9,8 and 4) hotels, sites, tips, recommended length of stay, etc etc etc. Also - Animal Kingdom - yay or nay? Any and all input is appreciated! xo, Brie

We're Outta Here!

All six of us are hopping in the minivan and heading south to Kentucky to visit Mr. KB's extended family. While I AM looking forward to seeing everyone, I am NOT looking forward to the 12 hour ride. I have the ipod nice and loaded with good tunes and we have several movies and game cube too to entertain the kids.

I have no doubts that Kev will be singing along to "drinking whiskey out the bottle, not thinkin bout tomorrow, singing sweet home alabama all summer long" How do I know this you wonder? I know this because he horrified me by singing it on the way home from Cape Cod. You should note though, that it didn't horrify me to the point of turning off that song.... no can do, I LOVE that song :)

I'll still be blogging though via the Scheduled Poster - it's a beautiful thing! xo, Brie