The Safari - Family Fun Day!

Big A is taking a couple days off work, so it's time for some Family Fun!  My kidlets are VERY spirited and vocal this week {aka not napping, grumpy and Little A has a cold - they are not shy in showing us how they feel}. I'm SO happy for the help and the distractions, let me tell ya!

Today we ventured to a local safari game reserve.  It was EZ's {and Little A's for that matter} first time seeing animals up close and personal!  

You can drive through the reserve in your own vehicle, but frankly we didn't want to explain to the mechanic that a monkey had ripped through the sunroof of the Baby Benz. We opted for the air conditioned and guided bus tour.

We started out all happy, but you've got to see the photos of how it ended {they are at the bottom of the post!}.

Despite her cold, Little A was happy all tucked in with dada, and EZ's foot...

Prior to the safari adventure, sustenance of a funnel cake was needed. One must always stop at a place called "Funnel Cake Factory" -- it's the law. And we're law-abiding people. Don't worry, we didn't eat the WHOLE thing!

Just as we were lining up to get on the bus, the elephants walked by us to go for their daily swim. EZ was THRILLED -- he LOVES elephants!

On the bus, brimming with anticipation! Oh! and a RARE photo of me. Big A says my shades are Elton John-esque. I think they are fab, and if looking like a gay man from the 1970s is wrong, I don't want to be right. And they match my cars and that's not a coincidence - yep, I'm vain like that.

And the animal-watching begins...EZ was so adorable! Everyone on the bus thought he was so cute {and no, we weren't the only people on the bus!}.

If you squint and tilt your head to the left, you will notice EZ's mouth is gaping open. You also notice that he is seeing "ROARS!" (EZ-speak for lions} for the 1st time.

Unfortunately because I'm a bad photographer my camera is slow, I wasn't able to capture the full-freaking-out mode EZ was in when we were in the lion reserve. So this is all I got!

After several photos mamarazzi-style, EZ was annoyed at me and literally took the camera out of my hand, and gave it to Big A, who them promptly snapped a photo of his grumpy and annoyed face. Parenting win - we've gotta show these kids who's boss! Haha!

One of EZ's favourite animals was the "babababooms". When I went to this place as a kid, I remember seeing the baboons jump onto people's cars. Today the baboons were reserved, and mostly napping in the shade.

These baboons were CLOSE to the bus. EZ was just so amazed.

Yes, THIS is why we didn't bring the Baby Benz through the reserve. We didn't want an ostrich tapping its beak on our windows. We watched this for almost 5 minutes. Apparently the ostrich saw itself in the reflection of the glass and thought it was another ostrich. In a related story, did you know that ostrich's brains are smaller than one of their eye balls? Fun fact from the farm {I say farm because that's what EZ called it. 'Cuz that's where animals live, dontchayaknow!}

The giraffes...this is where our camera battery was dying. EZ then wore out all the juice by taking photos which we realized later were about 75 photos of the sky and the grass. He's got a good eye for photography, that one!

The fam got close to a peacock. Beautiful creatures up close, but I still have vivid memories of the awful sound a peacock makes when I was at the kibbutz in Israel. That thing started squawking at 4am -- and when you had to get up at 4:30am, it was REALLY annoying. I still get shivers when I hear it!

I missed the elephant show because Little A was sleeping in the stroller and trust me, we didn't want to wake up Grumperella.  The boys said that the elephant show was awesome though!

To top off the day, EZ and his dad went on an elephant ride!

EZ was surprisingly zen about the whole thing. I thought he'd be freaked out or overexcited. But he was all, "Riding on an elephant?! No biggie. I do this everyday!"

I'm putting this photo in because I told Big A that he has to take us to Florida to see more flamingos -- this is me using the Secret to make it happen!

EZ also loved watching the elephants eat lunch. This elephant looked like EZ eating lunch -- getting it on his head, on his hair, and all over the general vicinity -- everywhere BUT his mouth. I think he liked the elephants the most -- he could relate.

So this is the mood the kidlets were in when we left. Overtired, overheated, overstimulated. He eventually calmed down when we strapped him in the carseat in the air conditioned car and fed him pizza.  When I asked him what he liked most about the zoo, he corrected me that it was a farm and he liked the cows, of course. Then he asked to go to his babysitter's house. Go figure.

Poor Little A was a wee bit under the weather, and she was a trooper being schlepped around the park in the heat today. But when her big brother started melting down, so did she. Don't worry she was fine within minutes and happily napped the whole way home :)

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Little A: 7 months

It's hard to believe that Little A is SEVEN months already! 

{Do I say that every time I write her monthly update?!}

Little A is now crawling and scootin' all over the place. We have a big new cozy shag rug in the living room, and it's her new favourite place to play. She loves her toys {well, chewing on them!} and she loves rolling over.

Little A is enjoying her food too. She's probably gained a lb {so she's 15 lbs!} and likes her cereal and veggies. She also started talking a bottle {hallelujah!}.  We're going to start fruit this week - and I'm sure she'll love that too! 

She's very chatty and loves to laugh -- especially with her big brother, EZ! She still hasn't mastered sleeping through the night, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of it soon enough...I hope.

I couldn't decide what photos to post, so I'll put up a few :) Enjoy!

 

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Out of commission?

Hello Bloggy Friends.

In an effort to get fit, I recently started running. Again. I love running, but running doesn't love me back. 

This past Tuesday, as my friend and I were enjoying our jog, we decided to accelerate a bit. My body did not agree with this decision, and I pulled a calf muscle. I heard a pop, but I didn't see any bruising, so I didn't think I tore the muscle.

I've been raised to "tough it out", so I continued to run till I thought my leg was going to fall off.  Later that evening, I took it easy and iced my calf. 

The next day was semi-ok, hobbling around in flat shoes as I ran errands and met friends for lunch. Later on, however, it started to HURT. I iced and rested the muscle, hoping for  quick relief.

The next morning {Thursday}, I could barely walk. Major limping and unsteadiness. I almost fell in a parking lot {luckily not carrying Little A, and it also reminded me of this experience}. I was with my dad at the time, and he insisted I get some crutches. It's also my "bad leg" that still has nerve damage from EZ's delivery fiasco {aka I still don't have feeling in parts of that leg after 2 1/2 years!}. Seriously. Who would have EVER thought that 2 1/2 years later, my nerve damage would STILL cause me problems?!

Anyway, I rented some crutches {major fashion statement by the way! "Injury Prone Chic!} from the same place where I had to buy this gorgeous seat when first had EZ, and went to the doctor. He told me that he thought I had torn the muscle because it was so tender and painful. Interestingly enough, he suggested that I keep moving -- not resting -- to prevent blood clots! Sounds good - shopping will be my cardio!

I hobbled around on the crutches, writhing in pain for the rest of the day. Then yesterday, I felt better. Like MUCH better. Just a wee hint o' pain, but no crutches required. 

It's a miracle! I was scared because I didn't know I was going to manage both kidlets and a bad, painful leg with crutches for the next two weeks! I even went for an "exercise walk" last night with keeling over in pain!

And today, I feel almost 100%. Definitely no crutches and no limping. Hopefully this means that I'm on the mend and I can get back into my regular cardio routine. I sure need to!

I never had an muscle injury before and I've run marathons! Hopefully this won't happen again!

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New Glasses!

Every now and then, my favourite online optical store - Clearly Contacts has a sale. Not like a 15% off sale, like a FREE sale. I ordered my free geek-chic glasses and they arrived the next business day. Seriously! 

All I had to pay for was shipping {$15!}.

Image via here

 I'm very pleased with them. I like my old glasses too, but it's so fun to have a pair of hip new glasses {although now that I have them on, they are probably a little too cool for me!}.

Clearly Contacts doesn't have the free glasses event on now, but they have selected frames for 3 for $99! GREAT DEAL!

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The Faces of EZ

Ez is a bit of a ham in front of the camera. He's got this quirky, cheesy grin that can't be tamed regardless of what emotion he's trying to convey - so long as there's a camera around.

Here's what I'm talking about.

Big smiley face Ez.

Stinky EZ.

Laughing Ez.

Sad EZ.

Back to Laughing EZ.

Tired EZ {he tilted his head back when I asked him to show me what "tired" looked like}.

Hungry EZ.

Big toothy cheesy grin EZ. My favourite.

 

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Bulletin Board Makeover!

Another day, another make-over here on the bloggy-blog!

This time it's a re-fresh of a Pottery Barn bulletin board for my little nephew. My sister asked me to come up with something to display my nephew's treasures {concert & hockey tickets, etc.} that would still fit into his modern orange and gray room.

Here is the BEFORE:

It's a ho-hum bulletin board, but the cork was very beat up. I needed to find a way to freshen it up, and have it coordinate with his new room.

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Here is the AFTER!

 Here's how I did it!:


1. To prep the wood for paint, I sanded the heck out of it. Just used sandpaper. Nothing fancy.


2. Then I used a spray paint primer - Kilz. Just from Home Depot. I think this piece definitely needed a primer because of the dark navy blue colour. It worked really well!

3. Then I sprayed three coats of RustOleum's Glossy Orange paint, and let it dry and cure overnight.

4. To cover up the banged up corkboard, I used some cotton batting and some left over fabric --  DwellStudio's Iron Gate material. I LOVE that fabric. I liked the bold pattern mixed with the bold orange colour!


And Voila! I hope my little nephew enjoys it!

Linking up with:

The CSI Project's Orange Challenge!

A Bowl Full of Lemons Linky Party!
Thanks for visiting!

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Summer Updates - Decorating

I'm so shocked that it's the end of June! Where does the time go? Time flies when you're having fun, and we're having a BLAST! 

So in terms of the Honey-DIY List, here it goes:

All I can say is I've done MY jobs, Big A may be lagging a bit. But we'll give him a break because he's been really busy lately.  YES, EZ's room is STILL on there. We need to paint some touch-ups and we are still waiting for his bedding to come in.

I also started painting my door knobs from the 2nd floor. Remember when I painted the first floor door knobs a few months ago? Well, they've held up beautifully. They are still a stunning flat black and I'm so pleased, so I'm painting the 2nd floor as well. 

This time, however, I stuck the knobs in foam so I can paint all around without touching them or leaning them. GREAT TIP!!  The photo here is just from the preliminary spray. I've done them all in a few hours and I'm letting them cure overnight. Instead of the multi-day process from last time. But check out this entry for a longer tutorial. Easy peasy DIY project and your doors will get a gorgeous makeover!

 I've also given my summer mantel a refresh already! I added some more summer-y photos of the kidlets, etc. I think it looks a lot better now. 

Textured gray decorative balls were added, as well as the apothecary jar with the shell ball.

EZ finished his "cwass" this past weekend - a 10 week SportBall program for toddlers. He was very proud of his ribbon, so it was included in the mantel display.

I have some more updates up my sleeve {my living room refresh!}, but it's not ready to be revealed yet. Soon enough.

What summer projects are YOU working on?

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Thrifting Thursday - Kijiji Score! A Retro Find

As you well know, perusing Kijiji for amazing deals is one of my favourite pastimes. So when I happened upon a full bedroom set for $50 this week, I had to jump on it.

It's a totally retro, mid-century modern set. I love the clean lines and the legs! Ohhhh the legs! 

Here's the tallboy dresser. Love the simple details.

Here's a close-up of the detailed handles. I'm torn about what to do when I re-finish it. I can't decide if I should give my current dressers to my son, or if I should keep this for my room. I like the handles, but it would be too flower-y for his room so I would have to find something else.

Inside the tallboy - shelving and drawers!

The long dresser is quite long - like 6 feet or so. Too long for EZ's room, perfect for the master, so that's why I'm thinking of keeping it. So much to consider.

More hidden drawers in the long dresser too!

During transport, Big A & his buddy caused a HUGE scratch on the top of the dresser. Good thing we're painting it anyway!

Love the vintage-y instructions for the leg placement stapled to the back of the dresser.

Also included was TWO of these night tables. I think I'll definitely use on for EZ's room.

Also included was a GIANT headboard, but they guys couldn't fit it in the car {and it was for a double bed!}, so it was left behind.


Now to decide WHAT to do with the furniture. Where can it go? What colour to paint?

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Green Monster - Popsicles?

INDEED!

Like many kids, little EZ is a picky eater {totally not like me at all, I swear! haha!}. He likes what he likes -- which isn't much -- and he won't even try anything he perceives not to like. 

Again, totally UNlike me. Totally (ahem).

Luckily, he likes Green Monsters! You know, the tasty fruit smoothie loaded with a bunch of spinach and other veggie goodness in it? EZ loves it! Yes, we are all amazed!

I thought I could capitalize on the Green Monster success by making into popsicle form for the summer. 

EZ approves.

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Oil & Vinegar

This post may not be what you think it's about.

It's literally about oil & vinegar. More specifically, I'm going to show you how I've displayed it!

First, I started out with nothing and kept our oil & vinegar hidden. And for those of you who like a clean, tidy counter, that totally works. 

Me, I don't mind some artfully displayed items on my counter. One thing I've learned since beginning my home design adventures is that if you're going to display something -- anchor it with a tray or something. 

Here's how the oil & vinegar used to look.

Definitely nothing WRONG with it per se, but the tray was getting smaller and smaller with additions of other oils. I bought the tray at Goodwill, so it wasn't like I spent a fortune on it and I didn't mind replacing it!

 Then I went to my friend's house and admired her oil & vinegar display. It was very chic with a thick wooden cutting board. I needed to copy it!

So I did, but it didn't look just right.

So I added a more {and fancier!} spices and large spoon with a floating succulent. I really like it now. But I think I'd be even more enamored with it if I had the oils in all the same dispensers. So, now I'm on the hunt for those! If you see any cool ones {for CHEAP!}, let me know!

Now if only I could cook!

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