Wild West Road Trip - Day 1 & 2

Day 1 - Chicago, IL - Cedar Falls, Iowa - 13th July

By some miracle and coffees in hand we set off from home around 10am as planned, we knew we were in for a few days of long car rides, we had over 300 miles to travel on our first day so after 3 hours on the road, we stopped for lunch at Denny's before continuing on, we drove through Illinois into Wisconsin and finally into Iowa, a new state for us all, and where our stop for the evening would be, in Cedar Falls, but before we got there, Mr C had discovered that en route to Cedar Falls we would pass the baseball field where they filmed Field of Dreams, so we stopped off for a visit.

And it was busy, people were playing baseball, walking through the corn, even a coach turned up with a bride and groom and all their guests, it was truly bizarre, but we got the photos taken, bought some postcards and drove away happy.

Outside the Field Of Dreams House

In The Corn Field

After a promised ice cream stop it wasn't long before we got to Cedar Falls, where the girls were excited to find out our hotel for the night had a pool and free breakfast, the priorities of kids eh? so of course after dinner, we took the kids for a good swim and play in the pool.

Day 2 - Cedar Falls, Iowa - Sioux Falls, South Dakota - 14th July

We'd had a relatively early night, so we were up early, we'd had breakfast and we were on the road to Sioux Falls, our next stop, by 8.15am not bad really, it did mean, we made great time and after our coffee and cinnamon roll stop, I took over the driving, the roads are so straight, I had cruise control on, the music was playing and the kids were busy with their little white boards (so far these have been the best buy and most used item) - happy days

As we were making good time, cruising along, we spotted a sign for the Jolly Green Giant - you know the green giant from the adverts - Ho Ho Ho Green Giant - think canned peas and corn - well we couldn't pass up this chance to see this beauty now could we, so after a little detour off the highway we got to see the jolly green giant - so surreal.

The Jolly Green Giant - ho ho ho

It wasn't long before we were leaving Iowa and into Minnesota for our drive to, another new state South Dakota, where Sioux Falls would be our stop for the evening, again this was just a stop for the night but we did find Sioux Falls (from which the city was named after) and we had a good couple of hours looking around.

Sioux Falls

Our evening accommodation was a rather nice place called Staybridge Suites - it was absolutely lovely and a pool too of course for the girls, we had dinner out at a favorite restaurant of ours Ruby Tuesday - Ruby loves it for obvious reasons, she's called Ruby, but she was also born on a Tuesday.

More exciting things to come.

Our Wild West Road Trip

I'm glad the girls had camp this week, even if it was only for 3 hours a day, it did give me chance to pack, sort and make things for our Wild West Road Trip.

We leave tomorrow and we're heading West, and we'll be visiting 6 states, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota. we'll be visiting The Badlands National Park, a Dinosaur Park (just for Tilly) Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone Park and so much more. I'm really looking forward to Yellowstone. We'll even be stopping at the "field" where the film The Field of Dreams was made just for hubby.

The packing side of things was relatively easy, as much as I love my kids picking out their own outfits every day, this road trip I have done this, they still get to pick out their own outfits they'll just be a little more organized, which is always a plus on a road trip.

I've also made 2 of these and I nearly used the exact same fabric combination but in the blue/grey I have stashed away, it's part of the Bella range by Lotta Jansdotter, but as I couldn't be bothered to find my interfacing, I went with a heavier weight cotton - this one is from the Outside Oslo range I picked up at the Needle Shop here in Chicago - I just love their range of contemporary fabric they even stock Prints Charming fabrics too bonus....

And in preparation for our road trip, I treated myself to some new Summer clothes, but my favorite buy of the Summer are my Merrells, I was after a pair of walking type sandals that didn't look Grannie-ish but looked nice enough to wear out to dinner, and were comfortable, yes I'm

getting old, and I found the perfect pair The Agave - perfectly designed for a women's foot and they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever had.

As we won't be relying on iPads or DVD players to keep the girls entertained,I've been looking at ideas to keep the girls entertained & busy in the car. So we've been to the library and got some books out, including some audio books, they have their markers & coloring pencils, journals to draw/write about our trip, plenty of white paper, a car i-spy/hunt, and our lovely friend Anna has lent us some other great books/games to play with in the car, there will also be plenty of games of I-Spy too, so I can say (fingers crossed) they have plenty to keep them entertained. 

The girls and I also went to the dollar shop and picked up this little pile of goodies all for $10 - now I really think we'll have enough to keep them entertained.

The girls have packed their own little suitcases of the items/toys they'd like to bring - a few things they can play with in the hotel, Rummikub is definitely coming too - it's a great game the girls love and we love playing it with them too.

With the girls being only 6 & 4 we don't do long stretches of driving in any one go - we found last year 2-3 hour skints max, but this year we'll push it out a bit more where we need too, if the kids start to get a little car crazy, a little park or ice cream stop usually works.

All the necessary supplies are packed away into their travel cases for the trip - I picked these up at Michaels, they are great for storing all the girls stuff, but double up as a table too.

As for me, I have my knitting bag sorted out, I've got my needles, my latest project that I'm finishing off, and a Debbie Bliss knitting book, I borrowed from the library. 

The first aid kit, kitchen roll, baby wipes, corkscrew, tin/can opener and tea bags are all packed, along with a couple of tubes of my favourite paw paw ointment, I never leave the house without this product, it is the best topical treatment for everything, insect bites, cuts and bruises, rashes, chapped lips anything and everything this ointment is truly the best and it's a shame it's not widely known outside of Australia.

We are packed, we've just got the car to load in the morning, a few jobs to do, then we will be all ready to go and enjoy our next road trip in America and have some fun.

More Knitting & Sewing

I love the Saffron Craig Fabric

During the month of May, I had a busy month enjoying myself knitting and sewing, our little friend Elodie turned 3 and we had Teacher Appreciation week.

In advance, I had already decided to knit Elodie, a Kina Cardigan,  I saw the perfect colour for her in a yarn shop, it was a lovely blue (duck egg colour) and I knew it would look great on her. Along with the cardigan, which I finished and blocked just in time for her birthday, I also made her 2 simple elasticated skirts that would go with the cardigan, but would also be great for summer, I even made the button for the Kina from the fabric of the flowery skirt. A perfect present for a gorgeous little girl.

Perfect for all seasons

I love the Skirt and Cardigan go together

 
As it was also Teacher Appreciation Week in May - I decided to make Ruby's school teacher Ms Scott a lovely zippered pouch  - I had seen a tutorial ages ago by Make it Perfect and knew it was the one I wanted to do, it's called the Easy Peasy Zippered Pouch and it was so easy to make.

I got Ruby to write Ms Scott in her own handwriting and I embroidered over it - it won't be long though before Ruby will be embroidering herself as she is enjoying learning sewing crafts.

All the fabric used (except the pink gingham) is from my favorite Aussie fabric designers Prints Charming - I just love their collections 

All Ready To be Sewn Up - Personalized by Ruby

The zippered pouch tutorial was so easy to follow and it didn't take long to rustle up the pouch and I was so pleased with the result, I just know I'll be making some more.

One Finished Zipper Pouch

My own jumper project - The Boardwalk Jumper still on the go - I've decided this will be my jumper for Fall, I used the Rowan Felted Tweed as my choice of yarn, and decided on blue as that would look nice with Jeans, and on my needles at the moment is a lovely little vest called Blue Skies which I'm making 2 of for twins boys due very soon and soon after, I'll make a couple more up for another baby boy due in August.

My Boardwalk Jumper slowly being knitted

1 Down 1 to go for the twins

I've also discovered a little treasure, my local library, just last month I got 4 knitting books out and I'm enjoying trying to decide what my next project will be.....watch this space

I do love having little people to knit for. 

75 Days of Summer Holidays

It feels strange to think that the Summer holidays are here and we are just over 2 weeks into them and this year the weather is all over the place, we have lovely hot days, then cold days and we've had lots of rain this year. Last year it was scorching by now, and I was raving how much like Sydney it was, so we are hoping it will still get better, not that we will let it get in our way though.

Now unlike the UK & Australia, the summer holidays here are long long long - this Summer they are 75 days long that's 10 weeks and 5 days, which is shorter than last summer but still long enough for any parent and child.

So I have myself prepared and I have a lot of activities planned for the girls, luckily I live in a kid friendly city, near a beach and lots of parks, I am sure we will fill our time and if the weather continues to get better, hopefully we'll be blessed with lots of sun filled days for all our plans & outdoor activities

Our Summer Plans 

Beach - we'll definitely be hitting the beach every week, the girls love the beach and water so I can see many an afternoon here.

Relaxing on the Beach

Parks/Playgrounds - like Sydney we are very blessed to have many great parks (playgrounds) here, I love nothing more than the girls being outside playing and exploring, whilst I enjoy a coffee, a bit of knitting and chatting to the mums. We can spend hours at the park, it's always fun and I'm looking forward to finding new ones to have fun at.

Museums/Zoo - we are blessed with a free Zoo - Lincoln Park Zoo which is fun to visit, and lots of museums, including the Children's Museum, of which, most do resident free days we will be taking advantage of these for a free day out.

Horse & Carriage Ride - Ruby has wanted to do this in downtown Chicago for over a year so this year I will definitely take them on one.

Open Top Bus Ride - as we have plenty of visitors coming over the summer this I thought is a must and a great way to find out more about our beautiful city.

Craft Days - I love doing craft with the girls, especially now as they are older, I have some great ideas and will be perusing Pinterest for more

Summer Camp - oh yes the famous summer camps -  Both girls started their two week summer camps this week. They are only 3 hours a day so it's a little break for me and them, Ruby chose the Lego-Mania camp - she is Lego mad, and although Tilly would love to have done Lego too, the Lego camp for her age group wasn't the same time as Ruby's so she is doing an adventure camp, and so far they are really enjoying it and me too.

Summer Journal - I thought we'd do a summer journal this year - somewhere the girls can document their adventures, by writing, drawing, sticking, collecting etc, it'll keep them busy.

Road Trip - yes we have a family Road Trip planned 3000 miles of exploring more of America, this time we are going West, into the wild wild west of America

Visitors - We have a busy Summer of vistiors, Nanna, Pop and my friend Vicki have just been over for a 2 week stay. And my friend Simon arrives later in July, this will keep us busy and we are excited.

Nanna & Pop taking a rest

Urban Treasure Hunt - I am really looking to planning this one, I have some good ideas and can't wait to do our first one and I am planning on doing one for the car to keep them busy whilst we are on our Road trip.

Bowling - a friend forwarded me these details - Kids Bowl For Free we've signed up and we definitely plan to take advantage of it.

Waterparks - we are blessed with a few waterparks in the area so we will be checking out these this Summer

Playdates - oh yes we will be arranging a fair few of these

Picnics, BBQ'S, Ice-Creams and dinner on the beach - a must

Chicago Botanical Gardens - the girls love it here, they love looking at all the flowers and doing the Garden Treasure Hunt - which involves finding all the items on the sheet, it's great fun. Plus if we get the bus up it's free to get in.

Swimming - the girls absolutely love swimming so we are continuing with our weekly swim lessons throughout the summer.

Pyjamas Days at Home - no summer holiday isn't complete without a few Pyjama days, staying in, in our Jim jams I'll probably save them for the rainy days.

Cinema - our local cinema is doing movies for $1 thorough out Summer, they are not the latest releases, but it is a great cheap way to keep 2 girls entertained.

Also check out my Summer Holiday Ideas Pinterest Board - I've been collecting a few ideas in here for trips out and about Chicago we plan to go on.

All in all I think this will keep us very busy indeed, the girls will be grateful to go back to school for a rest and as for me, I'm just hoping I can get some sewing and knitting done occasionally.

Have a great Summer everyone

They Did it - The Chicago Women's Half Marathon

Today my mum and one of my best and oldest friends Vicki, ran the Chicago Women's Half Marathon and I am so proud of them. It was quite a feat, a long way 13.1 miles and in hot weather too.

They, with Pop, arrived last week on holiday from England, we had a quiet week all in preparation for today, they only managed to get out once for a run in the Chicago climate as both were struck down with a sore throat and cold symptoms, but a few early nights sorted them out enough to be able to run today.

So they were up at 4am this morning, and I in my pyjama's, up before 5am drove them into the city centre with Pop, and dropped the nervous pair off. We then ventured home, the race began at 6.30am ( too early for us) and at 5.45am it was already 23c (73f).

It was a hot day for them, all the week the weather has been up and down, mainly warm but with a few thunderstorms, and on the one day they didn't want to be running in 32c (90f) heat was today and of course it was heating up to be that.

Their supporting team consisting off myself, Mr C, Pop (also known as Mick) and the girls wanted to cheer them on at the finishing line, so we headed down around 9.30am, the marathon had officially been running about 2hrs 50 mins.

Here they come

And the finish line is near

And over the line they go

We nearly cheered on two complete strangers thinking they were Vicki & Mum, but no it wasn't, but we gave them a cheer anyway. It wasn't long though before Pop spotted the running pair and the cheering team got to work, we had the big hands waving and our voices out cheering, it was great watching them run past and over the finish line in their times of 3.07.28 & 3.07.29 - a wonderful result for a wonderful pair of runners.

They looked knackered, they felt knackered, they said it was tough, but they are glad to have finished it, so we celebrated with breakfast at Lou Mitchell's (start of Route 66) before taking them home for a very well deserved rest.

Well Mum and Vicki - I am so proud of you completing a half marathon, you have inspired me, but maybe not as far as doing a half marathon but we shall see.

Now for a well deserved beer

Ps my mum is 60 well done Mum

Chocolate Chip Cheescake Cookies

Oh boy these are good so good, they are truly my favourite chocolate chip cookie at the moment.

I found this pin on pinterest, pinned it and finally this week I got around to making them, so when I clicked on the pin and it didn't work, I was so disappointed, as this cookie looks seriously good, but not to be deterred I did a quick google search and found this - you want cookies - hooray I had tracked down the recipe even if it had a slightly interesting history behind it - read the link.

So on that note here is the recipe - I have slightly adapted the recipe, as I find Americans do like their food very sweet so I cut back on the sugar and chocolate chips and it was still plenty sweet. I also used light cream cheese.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose(plain) flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda (bi-carb)
10 tablespoons of softened butter (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons or 142g)
3/4 cup sugar (recipe calls for 1 cup of sugar but I found 3/4 cup fine)
1 egg
4oz cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup or 7oz chocolate chips any kind we like the semi-sweet variety (recipe calls for 12oz)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375f
1. Combine the dry ingredients (flour through to soda/bi-carb) in a bowl and set aside.
2. In a mixer, blend butter, sugar, egg, cream cheese and vanilla.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing with each addition, until all are incorporated.
4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Grease a cookie sheet/baking tray. Drop dough by the spoonful onto the sheet, at least 1inch apart.
6. Bake for 10-12 mins or until golden brown.
7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool
8. Make a cup of tea or coffee, sit down eat and enjoy.

My Little Helper - Baker Tilly

Tilly has the mixing jobs - all the dry ingredients in here

egg, sugar, butter, cream cheese and vanilla

I had my little helper on hand to make these cookies, and she always does a good job of mixing, weighing and making a mess, but we always have fun baking together and it's a great way to keep her entertained before pre-school. Here we had mixed all the dry ingredients together and got the other ingredients in the mixer ready to be combined.

Tilly adding the dry ingredients to the mixer

Tilly eyeing up the paddle for a bit of licking

Tilly adds the dry ingredients to the recently creamed ingredients, little by little, whilst I make sure each addition is fully incorporated before she adds the next one - it was great team work.

I did have to stop her from wanting to lick the paddle beater -with the promise she could have it once we where finished.

chocolate chips added

finally Tilly gets the beater to lick clean

Final step we added the chocolate chips in and gently folded them in, the recipe does call for 12oz of chocolate chips but I found this far too much, Americans do have a very sweet palate, but 12 oz is a lot of chocolate chips for this recipe, so I measured out 1 cup of chocolate chips (which equated to 6oz) and threw another oz in for good measure.

It didn't take long to dollop them onto the baking tray and cook in the oven - roughly 10 mins did ours just nicely.

look at all that yummyness

They really didn't last long even in the cake stand.

We couldn't wait for the cookies to cool down, so we enjoyed ours slightly warm, they were soft and delicious, oh so yummy.

They did not last long, between the girls, myself and Grannie and Grandad we polished off this batch in less than 3 days ooppps - we didn't even manage to save one for Mr C - who had been grounded in NYC.

I know for sure I'll be making these again very soon and this recipe will be my go to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Tilly Finishes For Summer....

.....and that's 94 days of summer holidays for Tilly before she goes back to Pre-School.

She has really enjoyed her year at Cherry and has excelled in many ways, it's been a big year for her as we have got her into speech therapy and she is really coming on great, really working on those "s" & "f" sounds at the moment as she has an articulation speech problem.

The kids at Cherry celebrated the end of their year with an ice-cream party and a little show for the parents. It was fab, they sang 3 songs all very cute.

Singing Away

And not forgetting the actions too

They are a really great group of kids, it was a lovely class to be in and Tilly made lots of friends, she really enjoyed "school"

To say thank you to the teachers, Tilly & I made some mini banana bread loaves, and packaged them up, and Tilly made each teacher a little Hama/Perler bead coaster with their initial on it.

Tilly finished off their boxes with a personal Thank You

We didn't quite managed to get a photo with all the teachers but we did get this one, which I think is lovely.

Tilly & Michaela

We are sad that this was her last year at Cherry and not because she goes into Kindergarten (the cut off date here is September 1st, she has to be 5 on or before that date, and she misses it by 29 days) but because we are moving her to a different pre-school, one that is closer to Ruby's school and one that does mornings only so by 9.15 am 4 days a week I will be child-free and hoping to work.

Roll on 94 days of Summer.......

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