A while ago Design Mom started a column on her blog about loving where you live.  I decided that’s a good idea.  In the past 4 years we have lived in 5 states and visited a few others.  We figured we would be in each place for a while and would have plenty of time to see things.  But we never got around to seeing more than the one or two main touristy things in the area.  So I’m going to join Design Mom in the quest of loving and learning about the places I live and visit.

Up the street from us there is this little hole in the wall ice cream shop.  We never thought much about it.  But then we were talking to some friends the other day and they told us we were totally missing out.  We finally decided to see what all the fuss was about at this little shop called Daddy’s Dairy.

Oh. My. Goodness you guys. If you like ice cream and you’re in the south-of-Boston area you HAVE to stop here.  They have 120 flavors of soft serve ice cream.  120!!  Take a look at the menu.

I decided on Chocolate Raspberry and it was heavenly.  It was a vanilla ice cream with raspberry jam and raspberry filled cups.  So good you guys.  This little girl really liked her Cotton Candy and ate every last drop .

Do you have a favorite local ice cream joint?

Our apartment building is right across the parking lot from a huge wooded area full of running trails and a stream.  I have not taken full advantage of having this great place literally right outside our door this summer.  So I decided it was high time to get out there and explore.  But I wanted to explore with a purpose so I did a little searching on Pinterest.  I found the perfect thing…

Camping Scavenger Hunt for the Kids via The Creative Homemaker

She has great a free download of a bingo type list of stuff you can find out and about at a camp ground.  We weren’t at a camp ground, but it was still just the thing.  So I printed one out, grabbed a little tote bag and told Abbi we were going on an adventure.

She was really excited about it and once she was properly attired (proper attire for my 4 year old girly girl is her tutu, crown and teal stretch pants) we headed on out.  Isn’t she adorable?

Abbi loved being able to find things without my help, except for the bug.  She made this really petite little scream and ran away when she picked up a piece of bark that had some beetles crawling around under it.  I may have giggled at her – but there was no way I was going to go pick that piece of bark myself .

Within about 20 minutes she had found everything on the list.  Abbi was one happy, dirty little girl all ready for a bath.

Have you ever done a nature scavenger hunt before?

I finally got around to unpacking all my nick-nacks last week (it only took 6 months).  When I saw all that bubble wrap laying on the floor I knew there had to be something fun to do with it, besides just popping it of course.  Then I remembered one of the very first things I pinned on Pinterest…

Bubble Wrap Hopscotch via GiversLog

What a great idea, right!

So, I cut up the bubble wrap into squares, wrote the numbers on the back with a Sharpie and laid them out down the hall.  Since Abbi’s feet are so little she got to hop up and down the board before they were all popped.  But here’s a tip we discovered early on – wear socks.  Sweaty little kid feet have a way of picking up and taking the squares with them with every jump .

Do you do anything fun with bubble wrap or do you just give in and pop it the normal way?

Guess what I’m doing today?  I’m getting on a train and making my way down to the big city of New York to attend

I’m soo excited about it!  My sister will be joining me on the adventure.  I can’t wait to meet a bunch of new friends, learn lots of new things and help out as a volunteer.  It should be a good time

I’ll be updating on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram if you want to  follow along.  Are you going to be there?  If you are you should stop by the registration desk and say hello!

So I went camping last weekend with our awesome friends.  My family was in charge of getting breakfast together, but the Hansen’s wanted to try out a little trick they’d seen on line.  I’m not sure where they got the directions on how to do these, but they’re pretty easy so I’ll just give you a quick run down.

First, you cut the oranges in half and scoop out the insides.

Then you fill one half with muffin mix and put the other half back on top.  We had some blueberry & some raspberry.

Now is when you should wrap them in tin foil. But we all forgot to bring some so we just made due.  Lay them in the fire and let them bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Then unwrap and enjoy!  They’re not that pretty, but even without the foil they were still delicious.

What’s your favorite campfire treat?