Vacation Photos: Florida Trip

 

We spent some time in Florida last week.

Here are some photos:

Reading in line - waiting for Discovery Cove to open.

This was the first time we had been here - and it was really cool. We added on the dolphin experience, and it was a magical time. We snorkeled with TONS of fish and stingrays. It was a very unique day.  

Getting kissed by a dolphin

Welcome Home

Mickey's Halloween Party

A View of the Castle

Some hitchhiking ghosts 

Window detail

Maleficent 

The Evil Queen

Holding the glass slipper

More views of the castle

The castle in orange

The host and hostess of the party 

Elephants on the safari ride

Rhinos

We had to wait for the giraffe to cross

Just a little snack for the giraffe 

Tiger!

This tiger was little more restless

On the carousel 

Discovered a little mouse door

In front of Snow White's cottage 

France at night 

Just hanging with Walt

The food and wine festival was happening

Recreating an old photo

We had a great time - more on all the at a later date.

Blog Milestone

 A few weeks ago, the blog hit 10 million views. 

I celebrated with a morning of pastries from Julien's Farm Store and a short hike to see some waterfalls.

The cute exterior

Close up of plants

Sunflower from the garden near the outdoor seating

More flowers

The pastries 

Afterwards, we went to Ember's Forest

We took a walk along the stream

Thanks for reading the blog and going along this journey with me.

If we were having tea

 

I'm trying to be a little more personal on the blog, so for the second time in a month, let's chat honestly.

I'm still deep in Summer Reading. The summer is half over and it's been really busy. But it's also been full of meaningful moments and getting to see some favorite families now that they have more time. It's nice to catch up with everyone. Who do you need to catch up with?

It's the family reunion week and because of work obligations and being down a full-time person, I'm not attending this year. I will miss the ocean and catching up with all the people and the ice cream. Guess it's time to take a trip to Mel's! What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

It's almost Christmas in July and that makes me want to get started on crafting ideas for the holidays and making Christmas cards. I might have listened to a few Christmas songs recently. I make my Christmas cards, and I send out a lot to family and friends and author friends, so I get started early because they can take a long time. I just bought some new stickers/washi tape and I'm eager to play with them. When do you start holiday crafting?

I've also started reading Christmas romance books - from Netgalley and I'm pretty excited about all the ones coming out this year, especially the number of YA books. I'm not trying to rush over fall (which is my favorite season), but Christmas in July does hit me. Plus, there are so many great looking ones, I never get a chance to read them all. Do you read Christmas romances books all year round or save them for the holiday season?

The produce scare has been changing up my eating habits. I did pick blueberries from a local orchard last weekend. And I used the last of them to bake blueberry buckle (a favorite treat my grandmother used to bake for me). I'm not sure regular berries are safe and I love having berries in my cereal in the mornings. It's also rough because this is the best time of the year for fresh produce. I love strawberries and blueberries in cereal, raspberries in baked goods, and melons. What kind of fruit is your favorite?

I would ask, what's new with you. What do you want to share?

* This idea was taken many years ago from Jamie over at The Perpetual Page Turner

Painting Evolution

 In order to have a finished painting - usually the process for me involves several previous paintings. 

For instance a house:

A window or outside the house:

Outside building (still needs improvement)

Some of these are copies of pictures, some are copies with my twist, and some are just paintings from my head. But almost always there are several before pictures and some okay pictures and some good ones.

I learn from the mistakes I make or mistakes I see in the final product. 

It also means I have a boatload of paintings just hanging around my house. And I’m not sure what to do with most of them. 

Thoughts?