We then went to Barnes & Noble to turn in the girls Summer Reading Passports.

They each earned a free book. McKenzie picked out "39 Clues" from the list of options they provided. Our second copy LOL. Bailey picked "Puppy Place: Goldie". McKenzie had a $25 gift card to spend from her birthday. So, she also got "Fang". $17.99 for that book -ouch! Coming from the used bookstore/library shoppin’ mom. Especially when I get home and see it on Amazon for $10.79!! Blah to B&N! LOL. She’s been waiting for that book for awhile though, so to her — it was worth every penny!

Then we headed over to Toys R Us for Bailey to spend a $50 gift card she got for her birthday back in February. Took us long enough to get her there to use it - we are slackers! Bailey picked out a bike that was on sale for $49.99.

We bought it in Portland, so no sales tax, and she was so happy to put her Dora The Explorer 12″ bike to rest!! She went from 12″ to 18″. Hah! She’s a petite little thing, but had outgrown her old bike a good year ago. I was happy with her choice, because her other thought was a Club Penguin membership. Glad she bought something she can play with outside! I didn’t even have to put a bug in her ear about it either. Woot!

We stopped and visted Katelyn for a bit and then headed up to Longview (we traveled the SW Washington map today -ha!) We had a quick snack of Nachos while we were checking into some things there:

And, we FINALLY headed home so Bailey could spend some daylight hours with her new toy. She was asking to ride it at every stop in between.

Around the World For Free is a fully interactive online reality show. Jeff Schroeder attempts to travel around the world in 100 days … without a penny in his pocket. Where he’ll go and how he’ll get there have yet to be determined, but at least he won’t be alone. Fans can follow along on CBS.com every step of the way, offering tips, travel photos and even a helping hand. Sign up now for Around the World For Free updates.

Here’s the recipe:

Easy Homemade Play Doh

1 c. Flour
1 c. Warm Water
2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
1 tsp. Vegetable Oil
1/8 c. Salt
Kool Aid Packet (for color)

Mix it all up, adding the kool aid last. Once it’s all mixed up together, throw it on the stovetop over medium heat. Keep stirring until it forms a glob in the bottom of the pan and is well blended. It becomes hard to stir at that point, takes about 3-5 minutes I’d say. It might look kind of clumpy at times, making you think you messed it up, but stick with it! It will be fine

Kenzie and I thought that the after product looked like a big piece of bubble gum

The girls decided to play “Chopped”
2 rounds of it. Easy for me.
I was the judge and could pick each of them as winners, making a tie.

Round 1:
Secret Ingredients:
Strawberries, Salmon, and Sour gummy bears.

Bailey’s first dish
(a salmon souffle with strawberry sauce and gummy bears)

McKenzie’s first dish:
(Salmon cakes in various shapes and a strawberry/sour gummies sauteed sauce)

Round 2: Desserts
Secret Ingredients: Watermelon, Bread, Cotton Candy (their choices)

Bailey’s Dish:
A cupcake with cotton candy and watermelon sauce.

McKenzie’s Dish
A fruit salad with bread pasta, and cotton candy cookies that say I <3 U Awh.

Bored? Get a quick entertainment fix by smashin’ some screaming beans. It gave Bailey and I chuckle Happy Friday ya’ll!

If you do, I promise you will like pickle popsicles! I was browsing the web a few days ago and found the idea on a forum I was reading. Apparently, they have been mass marketed like a Mr. Freeze type of pop, but I have not seen them around here locally. No matter… I had what I needed to try my own at home.

Here’s some pictures I took yesterday of the kids. Can ya tell, they love the lake? I took quite a few of Bailey on her air mattress with the beachball. There was something about that scene that just made me smile. This was after her friend went home and she was just playing by herself. Somethin’ sweet about it!

We hit #15 on the Summer Bucket List — I didn’t get into the lake, but close enough!

We went for a little drive last night down towards the river in Ridgefield. We were looking for this “beach” people had been telling us about. We found it, got out of the van to check it out and were instantly attacked by mosquitos. Attacked is an understatement. Not many things would send David running away, but we both RAN back to the van as fast as we could. Clearly, the skeeters thought we were dinner. I did snap this quick pic as I was running back. I thought it was pretty, with the sun setting in the background. Reminded me a bit of the opening of One Tree Hill. I could picture Chad Michael Murray bouncing his basketball acrossed it and Gavin DeGraw playing I Don’t Want To Be in the background LOL.

Love our pretty little town — and the hidden beauty we don’t see all the time.