Saturday, May 30, 2009

Summer, Smiles, and Sprinkles

School is out. Summer has begun.

Relaxation...it's what I have been looking for for awhile now...after such a long hard school year- one of the worst in my teaching career- all I want to do is nothing.
Over the last few weeks when school was the hardest, the daughter helped me find ways to make it through...we went to the park on several occasions to nap on a picnic blanket, play in the water, and blow these humongous bubbles...



Then of course, we all celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary! What an amazing weekend...we spent it in North Carolina with family...and a fabulous meal at this place called the Gateway Club. It is a restaurant housed in a historical building that has been restored with state of the art amenities while holding on to the traditions of the past...simply amazing. My brother and sister-in-law did an anniversary video that brought us all to tears. We are blessed to have THE best parents in the world...I couldn't have chosen better parents myself.

Also, the daughter and I have been in the kitchen making all sorts of fun things...like these graduation pops for a friend of hers. We found them on one of my favorite blogs, Bakerella. Of course Bakerella's look perfect, and we were a little messy, but the effect was the same.

We have also been making....soft serve ice cream with mix-ins like sprinkles. That's enough to make anyone smile! The husband purchased this machine because sprinkles are the daughter's favorite thing and we love ice cream at our house...and last night we tried it for the first time. Peanut butter ice cream with rainbow candy coated chocolate sprinkles. I was so excited, I forgot to get a shot of the actual ice cream. Trust me, we had some, and it was yummy. What says summer better than ice cream?

I have several more days of work ahead of me, even though the school year is officially over. I am also teaching a class for teachers soon, so the summer is looking further and further away. I am trying to do little things to help remind me that it IS really summer. How about you? What fun summer things have you been doing?

2 comments:

Arizaphale said...

many teachers I know are saying this is one of their hardest years ever!(me included) It must be in the air. Those bubbles are amazing. How did you make them? As for the ice cream machine...decadent!

natalie said...

the pool. I'm going to spend lots of time at the pool.