Visiting :: Sandestin, FL

Warning: this is a very photo-heavy post full of family vacation photos. If you don't dig waiting for your computer to load pics of other peoples' kids, skip this post and come back tomorrow when I'll be showing off our 'before' and 'after' photos of our master bathroom renovation!

For our family vacation this summer, we teamed up with some close family friends and headed to Sandestin, Florida. We rented a house (vs. staying in a hotel, best decision ever) and the kids got to take their first ever plane ride.

They behaved like angels.

The house was amazing.

The weather eventually cooperated (it poured down rain off and on for the first 24 hours we were there).

All in all it was a good time.

We arrived a few hours ahead of our pals and spent the late morning at the wharf seeing the sights and avoiding the sudden downpours that were still happening. Once everyone was together and we had checked in to our house, we did more of the same and got to bed really late (a theme we'd repeat every night we were in Florida).

Our second day was much sunnier and we tried to hit the beach, but the beach we picked was just plain crowded so we spent the day poolside. Our dinner spot had a nice slice of beachfront, though, so after dinner the kids got to put their toes in the sand for the first time.

To  get the Littles to finally head back for bedtime (late again), we promised a beach day the following day and set our sights on Henderson Beach State Park. We only made it a half-day, though, to allow for a nap and a visit to another one of the resort pools.

Our last day was filled with all the activities the kids had seen in passing but hadn't gotten to do yet- bungee trampoline jumping, more merry-go-rounding, feeding the fish, and of course the touristy photo op traps.

We  had a good flight back and we all parted ways still liking each other and vowing another trip next summer... and to me that alone makes it a success!

My New German Crock

I got a new fermentation crock from my mama! It's one of those German crocks with the little channel the lid sits in that you fill with water to keep the buggies out. It's so preeeetty.

We filled it right up as soon as I opened it (well, practically as soon as I opened it). I just happened to have a couple heads of cabbage sitting in my fridge, almost like I was anticipating a good reason to have them on hand...

I think my Littles were almost as excited as I was to get things started; they are, after all, expert cabbage pounders.

In no time at all we had the veggies packed, the weights down, and the lid resting in it's watery rim.

Now I have cabbage and salt bubbling away on my counter top again, thanks to the mysteries of the microbial world, and I can't wait for it to be ready... because then I'll get to fill it up with something else!

Weekending :: Cake!

It's aaaaaaaaaaaaaaalmost my birthday, and this weekend I'm feelin' it. So much love! Thoughtful gifts, weekend visitors, special treatment and an amazing cake- carrot cake from scratch to be exact. Thanks, mom!

Happy weekending!

Hive Check

I have been dreading this go-around's hive check. First of all, it's hot, and suiting up and moving in super slow-mo doesn't help one bit. Second of all, that middle hive up there is my most recently captured feral hive and I have been procrastinating checking on them because I don't want to come to terms with another failed attempt at capturing the queen.

However at this month's beekeepers' meeting I was terrified by stories of people very recently loosing hives to wax moths, hive beetles, and starvation, so I resolved to get over myself and go have a looksee.

Also, I waited until near sundown so I could be in shadow... which seemed like a good idea at the time... more on that later.

The hive to the far right (southernmost) seems to be doing better since the last time I looked in on them. This is one of the hives I got in May, and for some reason they have struggled more than the other one I got at the same time from the same place. I've been feeding them sugar syrup and I'm glad to say they've made new wax and are apparently storing some of the syrup. I was able to find signs of their queen, though I never found the queen herself.

All in all, first hive checked, all is well. Moving on to the feral hive...

I've been feeding the feral hive, too, but they apparently have stopped taking the sugar water I've been offering. A good cup or more was still in the feeder, thickening from evaporation and the edges crystallized. Unfortunately this attracted ants, and there was a decent number of those hated beasties in there with the girls. The bees themselves actually looked pretty good... there was a lot of new wax around the cutout combs, most of the rubber bands I'd used to hold their combs onto the frames were chewed through and rejected, and guess what.... I found new eggs in their comb (and I didn't even have my glasses, go me!)

YES!

We got the queen!

There is an egg in the picture below. See if you can spot it.

See it? No? Here it is:

There were several, which means a queen has been in this hive in the last three days. Since I captured this hive going on three weeks ago, I can safely assume we got her (it is an assumption, I still haven't laid eyes on her).

Soooooo exciting!

On to hive number three...

Remember how I said I waited to get into these hives until the evening, thinking I was so smart because I'd have shade and shadow?

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell, by the time I got to the third (and by far strongest) hive, it was dusk. Let's just say they didn't take too kindly to being disturbed while they were trying to unwind from their busy day.

These girls are stacked three boxes high (brood box on bottom, two honey supers on top) and I never made it past the very top super. They came at me full force, determined to make it clear it was not a good time for a house call.

I closed them back up pretty quickly, but ten minutes after walking away I was still being swarmed and bumped by those mad girls.

It was almost dark by the time I had convinced them all to go back home. I'm feeling pretty good about the strength of that hive. I'll do a proper check on them in the daylight, like I should have done, another time (sigh).

So! In summary, I'm feeling pretty good about my girls!

Bees are awesome!

Play Dough

I found a new-to-us play dough recipe on Pinterest the other day and got around to making it this week. However as soon as I mixed up the ingredients and started working the paste into a dough the smell immediately reminded me that my mom had already made this dough for her kids years ago. Funny how that works.

Anyway, it's been sooooo hot, and everyone has been a little stir-crazy and edgy being trapped in the air conditioning all day long... we needed an outlet for a little creative energy. Pure white, super soft play dough to the rescue!

Henry said, "I'm gonna make snowflakes because thinking about snow will make me feel cold." Sounds good to me... I'm sure we'll use those for something eventually! Why he painted them black and red I'll never know, but snowflakes, stars, suns, letters, and a few odd blobs and freestyle shapes later we had ourselves quite a menagerie!

We also had over an hour of peace and occupation, so high five.

Thank you play dough!

Weekending

Our weekend saw...

...a hazy Friday evening with mimosas and a late dinner, babies in bed even later, and a fox sighting out in the driveway.
...yard work on Saturday morning that stretched waaaay too late into the heat of the day, some tractor problems, and the weeding of all the front flower beds.
...one egg from the chickens, total. One. I guess they are not impressed by these high summer heat indices.
...cartoons mid-day to escape the heat, and Mediterranean take-out for dinner.
...a movie night for Mama and Daddy (The Martian- two thumbs up!) and good conversation way past bedtime.
...Sunday morning waffles headed up by our little man, who declared he plans on getting so good at making them he'll be able to open up a waffle shop when he grows up (I believe he could).

Our weekend saw...

...the substantial completion of the master bathroom! (show & tell to come soon)
...a scrappy dinner from the freezer and pantry marking over 2 weeks without a grocery store trip.
...a spontaneous outing to get frozen treats after said scrappy dinner.
...a rogue cricket somewhere in the laundry room which eeeeked and chirped all. night. long.

We had one of those lovely weekends that happen when all the things you need to do are flexible, there's no pressure to be anywhere, and everyone was in a good mood (for most of the time). We were able to linger over our coffees, be goofy with the kiddos, and still get some things done. It was a good, slow weekend... which is just what we needed as a prelude into this promising-to-be-crazy August.

Hope everyone had a good one!