20 Chore Tuesday! (UPDATED!)

I've been following Emily & her adorable family over at Joyful Abode for almost two years now. And have been seeing her post her #20choretuesday challenges on Instagram time & time again. Well, its about time I challenged myself! I'm no stranger to lists, as you know, but 20 "chores" in one day with two little tots stuck to me seemed a little out of my reach. 

Not today! Today I am going to challenge myself to the max! Today will either end with a victory drink...or lots & lots of tears... it could go either way folks.

And its perfect timing seeing as how a "just got home from camping" bomb went off in the house. Speaking of our Camping Adventure, I promise to get a post up soon about that. It certainly was an adventure :)

Ok, enough stalling, lets get down to business here. I've made "the list", I've written a post about "the list", I am linking up "the list" with Emily to really put the pressure on to actually attempt/finish "the list", & finally I am sharing "the list" with YOU. 

Here is "the list":

I am going to try & update throughout the day, or at least at the end of the day so don't forget to check back!

Also, if you don't see any activity on this blog for a while...maybe call the authorities...just in case "the list" won the battle...

UPDATE: The day is coming to a close, & I am happy to announce... that I earned a special drink tonight!Yep I finished it all. Oh yea, in yo' face house of chaos!

 Things were coming along nicely, checking things off the list left & right.

 Then Alistair decided he did not, in fact, want to continue to nap. So we tried out a "back carry" in the Ergo for the first time. He chilled back there, enjoying the view, while I kept at it.

 Little by little the list got shorter & shorter. And even though I had an allergy flair up really bad last night, & am still completely congested, I am proud that I was able to keep up with the challenge. Now I can sit on my butt until next Tuesday...lol! You should join the challenge too! Link up with Joyful Abode or hashtag #20choretuesday on InstaGram so we can help cheer you on :)

Bottom Line: I feel proud & the house feels cleaner, its a win/win :)

Chomp-Chomp {Road-Trip Snack Necklace}

A little bit back in time I happened upon this pin originally from Blondie and Brownies  and knew exactly when to do this.

Today!

Because today is the day we hop into our (already) loaded car & head out for our camping adventure!

So while shopping this week I picked up a few items that would work and were dairy-free/appropriate. Then for fun (hey, it's supposed to be an adventure, right?) got a surprise treat to toss in the mix :)

Mom's Best Honey Nut Toasty O's, Trader Joe's Fruity O's,
mini pretzels & Lifesavers GUMMIS. I used some sock yarn
I had in the craft room for our string & a plastic crochet needle.

I thought the best time to do this would be in the morning during Little 'A's 1st nap. I thought wrong. That plan only works if the baby actually takes a nap. In my case he went down great, I set up our 'station' in the front room & right when we were in the middle of things he woke up. Oh well, it worked out in the end.

We had a lot of fun making these! It was great for so many things- following directions, hand eye coordination, dexterity & of course, snacking fun :)

 I knew we would snack while we worked, but in hindsight I probably would make this an 'after nap' activity since we did have a candy in the mix. And as far as the candy is concerned, I did not set those out in a bowl, I left the bag right next to me & handed him them as he went along. I kept it to 3-4 gummis a necklace. 

 He wasn't quite sure what to do at first. He kept trying to pull them off, lol. But once I showed him that you EAT it off, he was pretty jazzed about it :)

We made several, one for him to wear in the car during our drive, & a few to share with our friends' daughter while on our camping adventure. This activity went so smoothly that we went ahead & made 2 dozen Chocolate Chip Devils Food Cupcakes (dairy-free) & some meat pie filling for Hobo pies tomorrow :) All before 10:30 am! And I know what you're thinking....

Yes- I take cupcakes camping. You make them beforehand & just wait to frost them until you are there so transport is easy!

and YES- I will most definitely be frosting them with Chocolate Marshmallow frosting, we are CAMPING after all ;)

Hope you all have a fun, adventurous weekend....I know we will!

Right Now.

We are going on another family "trip".

Only this time, there will be no hotel, there will be no house to stay at, hell... there may not even be beds...

Because, well folks, we are going
CAMPING!

It is something we have been talking about & wanting to do all summer. Our first camping trip as a family. And thankfully enough our close friends are as crazy as we are to go camping with little tykes in tow. And our other friends are even crazier to go camping with friends that have kids when they very much do not. Ha! This ought to be interesting :)

So we rounded up the necessary items from family willing to lend it out, and everything else we just stole while they weren't looking. I made my master list, stocked up on food & last but not least, ordered a run through. What kind of "planner" would I be if I didn't make the Hubs do a trial run with a borrowed tent? A borrowed tent, mind you, that we will be setting up most likely at night...the opposite of day...as in daylight.

Even though we don't hit the road until Friday, I wanted to get this whole "Let's be reeeal sure we know what we are doing with this thing before we end up sleeping in the car because we did not in fact know what we were doing." thing out of the way. So after dinner & a quick run to the market to cross the rest of the food items off the list (hotdogs & s'mores here I we come!) we got to setting up the tent. 

'J' did such a good job not getting in the way too much helping & as it turns out, the Hubs did know what he was doing after all! It wasn't long before we quickly piled into our future home for the weekend.

And then we got to thinking... why stop here with our trial run? Why not let the fun last...all night. 

Impromptu Boys Backyard Campout here we come! Wa-Hoo!

And as an added bonus, this would also cross 'Inflate air mattress & check for possible leak(s)' off the list too! High Five me!

Aaand I was crossing off one that I was just adding to the list as I was crossing it off, 'Practice run with 'J' sleeping outside in a tent'! Man, I am on fire! Woo!

So the Hubby blew-up the mattress, loaded it up with bedding & when the time was right, they headed out into the night.

I hung out for a few minutes, enjoying the awesomeness that was happening right in my very own backyard.

Then I said my "Night Night"s & headed inside, leaving the Menfolk behind to sleep beneath the stars.

And as an added bonus, Hubs took the baby monitor out just in case...and I just happen to have a receiver right next to my pillow :) So as I settled into bed to write this post, I was delighted to hear the quiet conversations between a father & a son...on their first official Camp Out. 

Music to my ears.

Cookin' in the Kitch {No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup S'MORES}

You know those times when you're sitting there eating your Brown-Bag lunch or dinner or lovely little picnic that you packed & as the meal comes to an end your stomach says all innocent like "Oh man, I wish I had a s'more right now...that would be soooo good. Just the perfect end to this half-ass , err, I mean, wonderful meal you made me. *Sigh. louder SIGH* But you didn't pack one....that's really disappointing..."

What's that? You don't recall ever having a conversation with your stomach in which it made you feel like a failure? Oh...well, neither have I. I was referring to a friend. Yea, this girl I know... Her name's...Pat, YEA, Pat, that's right. I probably should have mentioned that before. Sorry.

Anywho, moving on....

So what is one to do if one finds oneself in such a situation?

Pack up a s'more for dessert you fool!
Ok, Fool was harsh, I'm sorry, I take it back. I just get real revved up over s'mores. I don't know what it is lately, but I can't seem to quit them. And then I go & realize what I should have realized a long time ago. You can take them with you!
No camp-fire?
No worries!
No microwave?
Not an issue here folks!
Why?
Because you can do them No-Bake {insert harps playing & angels cheering}

And THEN I go & take it a little further...& make it how I REALLY like it...
Peanut Butter Cup Style. That's right, you heard read me. What? Have you never substituted a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup in place of a chocolate square?!? How can this be?! For that, folks, is how you really eat a s'more.

Ok, enough chitchat, I'm pretty sure I had you hooked 93 words ago. So lets get down to biz-nass, shall we?

The key to making this 'peanut butter cup' 

is this AMAZING Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter

spread that I found! Added bonus tip: try it on

Ice Cream...& don't forget the Marshmallow Cream...

I think you can handle that, right?

Load that graham up, don't hold back!

Try not to bite your fingers as you 

scarf this Bad Mamma Jamma down!!

Please don't hate me for changing your life FOR-EV-EERRRRRRR.

Road Trip!

  When trying to figure out what to get 'J' for his birthday, we were kinda stumped. We really hated to just get another toy that would get tossed aside before you know it. And knowing that he would be getting a lot of new toys & play things from our family, we sealed the deal on "no toys". Then that brings us to clothes. He was pretty set in that department, aside from needing some little man undies soon (pretty sure this is gonna be a potty learning house in about a month! yikes!) Truth be told we would be fine not getting him anything at this young age, but as he gets older that wouldn't work as well.
Then one day back in April (yes, these are the things running through my head MONTHS before the event.) I saw a livingsocial deal for a Drive-thru Safari!! For $6/adult (and kids under 2 FREE) we would get to DRIVE THROUGH a safari of wild animals, feed them, observe them up close & enjoy a small walk-thru zoo! JACK-POT!!
Upon further investigation I discovered that this safari was only 20 minutes from a Great Wolf Lodge! Decision made: for his birthday we would take him on an Adventure :) My sister & niece decided to meet us there to join in the fun. So Friday morning we hopped in our already packed car & hit the road.

Little 'A' did really great in the car. It was about 2 hours to the Safari & he slept for half, then was content up until about the last 30 mins.

Dun Dun Dunnn...

We all jumped in one car & prepared ourselves for a Wild Adventure!

When they said "up-close" they meant "in your car"!!

 This Bison was determined to get a snack, even if that meant coming in the car & getting it himself! We were all a little nervous, excited & laughing at the same time.

 Yakkaty Yak, Don't talk back...

Since you can drive through as much as you like, we decided to hop in the car for one more trip before heading to the waterpark.

 Safari Girl & Boy, on the hunt for "aminals"

 What you can't see, is that little 'A' & I are about 2-3" below this Giraffe tongue!! What a way to end our Safari Adventure :) 

 Before we hit the hay we were treated 

to a Bed Time Story in the lobby

 'A' was lucky enough to pick up a new Alligator to 

add to his cuddle collection

As you can see, we were a bit worn out from non-stop Fun & Adventure!

We had so much fun! It was our first trip as a Family of FOUR & it was a success. We will definitely do this again, & I see Birthday Adventures becoming a new family tradition in this house :) Instead of a soon-to-be forgotten toy, how about a never-forget family trip? Yes, please~