Bell Bell...Simply the best

Yesterday the kids had off school for MLK day, so we took a road trip with some new friends! About 40 miles SE of us is a Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory. For those of you northerners who don't know what it is...its reason in itself to come visit me...TRUST ME!! 

They didn't let you take any pictures inside the factory. In fact, we didn't get to go "inside the factory." It was more of a window tour. But the kids enjoyed getting to see and they learned a couple things too!

Last night at dinner when the kids were going over what they learned, here is what they said:

1. Workers can eat as much ice cream as they like on their shift.

2. They have 345 workers and work from 7-3.

3. It takes 20,000 cows to produce the cream for that factory alone for 1 day!!!

4. They can fill more gallons a minute into 3 gallon tubs than 1 gallon tubs.

5. They rotate flavors every 3 months.

6. Every worker know how to do every job and the rotate every 15 minutes.

7. They turn the tubs upside down after packaging to ensure the lid stays on.

I would say they learned a thing or two! 

Included in the tour price was a free scoop of any ice cream flavor you like. Fresh from the factory!   YUM!!!

 Afterwards, these new friends got a whole day of playing together! 

 Such a FUN crew!!

Melina, Luke, Meeka, Jake, Logan, Andi & Carson

Saying Farewell, Not Goodbye!

We said goodbye to good friends today; saying goodbye is always so hard . They are moving to Texas at the beginning of the week, so not really a hop and skip away. But goodbye does not mean forever because good friends never leave your heart. Thank you Shana, Emma and Benjamin for the joy you have brought to our lives. I am so happy that we are friends! You will be thoroughly missed but always loved. Have a safe and fun move and best of luck in your new hometown!

So Cute!

Ants on a log!

Everyone in on the action!

Our kiddos have so much fun together!

Add caption

He was being a ham

Such great friends!

Pure Kid Bliss!

No words necessary….

Field Trip Friday!

Today was Field Trip Friday! We packed up the car with bathing suits, extra clothes, lunch, snacks and happy kids and headed to Cincinnati to visit Sharon Woods, which is part of the Hamilton County Parks District, and Jungle Jim's, an International Foodie Mart! We met some great friends there and had an absolute FANTASTIC day!!!

 Sharon Woods

We spent 4 hour splaying in the sun at Sharon Woods. For all those Daytonites who have never visited a park in Cincinnati, they really are a GREAT day trip! It only took us 35 minutes to get to Sharon Woods.

A picture of the boathouse where you can rent boats and bikes.

Playing in the stream

Watching the boats

Cooling off! It was 94 today!

The water feels good on the head!

They were playing Walk the Plank!

Jungle Jim's

They have anything and everything plus more that you could ever want! 

It is a foodie dream store!!    

A view of the outside of "The Jungle"

Walking into the store…just too cute!!!

Outside The Jungle

Carson LOVED the fire truck!
There is so much to see in The Jungle…ya never know what you'll find!

I am sure we looked like quite the crew!

Here is the haul…by country. 

Italian
Forgot to picture the fresh mozzarella in this picture.

Thai

Our produce haul…we are trying to try as many fruits as we can. I think we are getting close because we can not find much we have not tried anymore.

We got Jack fruit (Logan and I saw this on a Chopped episode), and Asian Pear (although we have tried these before), Thai Guava, a sugar cane stick and some banana leaves.

This was a total impulse buy that I gave into for the kids!

Logan LOVES sushi, so we are going to give some of their's a try for dinner tonight.
And here is the Mozzarella.

Rainy Day Busy Bag

Busy Bag Exchanges never seem to get old….I mean who doesn't need more hands on, creative & fun  things to entrain your kids in different situations? 

Today's theme…Rainy Day.

This means we will be doing all of these activities at home, so they can be a bit more time consuming, hands on and messy!

A Pizza Game, Paper Bag Puppets, Cloud Dough, Velcro Activity, Magnet Activity,
Decorate Picture Frames & make your own Gak.

Make your own Gak…or Slime

This pizza game (complete in a real pizza box) is just like the game cootie. 
Roll a 1 to get your crust, 2 for sauce, etc.

Melina and Nikole (our babysitter) tried it out this afternoon. They had a great time playing the game and when they were finished with their pizza's they "baked" them in the oven and played pizza shop!