Walking in the Woods

Sunday was a gorgeous day but The Princess Trio had an evening event with church so instead of hitting a trail in one of the nearby parks, we explored the woods at home. I took my new camera and played with it. We walked at random through a maze of pines, holly, some deciduous trees I didn't bother to take the time to identify, and thorns until we stopped at a stream.


The water level was up because of all the rain and snow we've had this winter; it was nice to hear the stream singing a happy melody to us. There were still patches of snow in the woods and we saw nests high up in the bare trees. Soon those nests will be hidden by green leaves. Bring on Spring!




Spring really is just around the corner; we spotted a butterfly on our little walk.



This tree near the stream caught my attention



Here's a closeup I took to test out one of the settings on the camera



Cloud accompanied us on our walk through the woods. We don't usually take cats hiking with us but he was determined to go. I was glad he didn't jump in the stream the way he jumps in the bathtub.

Vacation Chatter

Earlier this week, reservations were made for our families first ever overnight vacation. T and The Princess Trio have never seen the ocean and I, myself, haven't been to the beach in over a decade. We typically take day trips to hike in the mountains so this vacation will be a big change for us. A week long vacation requires a lot more planning than a day trip.

As the planner & researcher of the family, I had devoted some time to finding us a place to stay. I knew I wanted access to a stove and refrigerator so we wouldn't have to eat out all the time. I finally settled on a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo across the street from the ocean in Garden City, South Carolina for around $600. Checkout maid service and linens are included. With the condo, we'll have a full kitchen, a pool and a short walk to the beach. I've heard the beaches in Garden City are less crowded than Myrtle Beach; I hope that's true. We'll be a short drive from Myrtle Beach so we can still visit some of the attractions there.

The attractions the girls are most excited about are actually located closer to Garden City in Murrells Inlet. They want to visit Brookgreen Gardens and spend a day at Huntington Beach State Park where we'll tour Atalaya. A dolphin cruise is a possibility, too.

Sew Fun

Yesterday was my sister's birthday. When her work day was over, I treated her to a late lunch at Longhorn. She rarely goes out without one of her three kids along unless she's going to work so we extended the outing with a little post-lunch shopping. I bought a sewing machine and an accessory kit with 165 pieces. I had researched sewing machines a while back and one of the top candidates was on sale at Target so I sent T a text message to clear the purchase with him before checking out. I like to check-in when I'm spending more than $50 on one item.

The Princess Trio is thrilled, particularly M. She's really developed an interest in needlework over the past year. I find scraps of cloth sewn together in the dirty laundry at least once every week. Her hand sewing has improved with practice; she's probably better than me by now. It took longer to set the machine up and get it ready to go than I expected and M was in bed by the time it was working correctly. I'm not ashamed to admit that T was ultimately the person who got everything set just right so the machine would work.

This morning before school, M did a "practice piece" on the sewing machine. She didn't want to wait until after school and homework. They missed the bus so T took them to school. He told me M talked about the sewing machine and what she's going to learn to make the whole way to school. Doll clothes. Blankets. Purses. Skirts. She has big plans.

After school, I let each daughter wind a bobbin. I talked them through the process as a first step to learning more about the machine. After we finished doing that, A did her first practice piece. S opted out of the actual sewing for now but she thinks winding the bobbins is a lot of fun. M and A took turns practicing for a while this evening. I think they tried out all of the different stitches. They cut large squares from clothes that M had claimed for scrap cloth and sewed the squares together. I gave them safety instructions and then left them to experiment while I did things in the next room. When I heard them talking about why it wasn't working correctly, I waited for them to ask for my input. They didn't need it. A pointed out that M hadn't lowered the presser foot and asked if that could be the problem. They cleared away the mess, got everything ready and tried again with the presser foot lowered. It worked so they now believe that's an important step to take before beginning.

Trekaroo KidsMobile -- Charlotte, NC

I was invited to participate in Trekaroo's KidsMobile Blog Carnival. Who doesn't love a blog carnival?! When you pair the blog carnival with Trekaroo...well, that's just spectacular.

What's Trekaroo? Only the neatest site around for sharing/reading reviews of places to go with kids. A Mommies group fundraiser introduced me to Trekaroo over the summer. I love it! Yesterday, I found some promising places to add to my Destinations Notebook. I keep information (place name, address, phone, url, price, activity, maps) about places I think the family would enjoy visiting in page protectors in a 3-ring binder. When we have a chance to take off for a day, we always have lots of options. I do a lot of my research on 'stay home' days like the ones we just had compliments of a foot of snow. When the weather is pretty and the family is ready to go, go, go; who wants to waste time trying to figure out where to go?


Trekaroo -- Kids. Trips. Tips.

Wanna know something really neat? They just launched my home state of North Carolina. The KidsMobile Blog Carnival stopped in Charlotte, NC which gave me the opportunity to share a list of places to hike with kids around Charlotte.



Trekaroo just launched in North Carolina! Here are quick links to the wonderful recommendations from Trekaroo Families and those of local North Carolina bloggers who jumped on board the Trekaroo KidsMobile during it's stop in Charlotte, North Carolina

* Best Activities for Kids in the Piedmont Triangle – voted by Trekaroo parents

* Places to Hike with Kids Around Charlotte, North Carolina by Roses and Brambles
* Cheap Things to Do in Charlotte, NC with Kids by Charlotte on the Cheap
* Kid-friendly Hotels in Charlotte, North Carolina - Carolina Nomad
* Fun for Dudes, Both Kids and Bigs Near Charlotte, NC by A Dude's Guide
* Snow Tubing and Sledding Hills in North Carolina by thelees3


Read all about Trekaroo's KidsMobile Stop in Charlotte, NC


Other Resources for the Piedmont Triangle in North Carolina

* All 273 Activities for Kids in and around the Piedmont Area (Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh)
* Kid-friendly hotels in and around Piedmont Area (Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh)


Next stop for the KidsMobile Blog Carnival - Orlando, Florida

The Trekaroo KidsMobile is a blog carnival with a twist. It’s designed to provide a unique opportunity for mom and dad bloggers to be featured on Trekaroo while 1) expressing their unique point of view. 2) getting a web of link exchanges. Jump on board!