We filled up this little cuties crate with some of our favorite Crayola products and dubbed it our summer art box. It’s been sitting on our dining table since the beginning of summer, and it’s been getting lots of use during our days at home (when we don’t want to go out and face the heat). It completely captivated the attention of Soul and Glow, while their big sisters were gone. They spent many mornings and afternoons together painting and coloring while they listened to music. I’d join in from time to time too (we made a large poster together), but they were perfectly content creating together while I puttered about the house. The big sisters are back now, so everyone is catching up on the playing, but there has been some making happening too.

Soul and Glow have made so much art work that their walls are full of their masterpieces. One of the things we did while their big sisters were gone was redecorate their rooms, so they are proud to have their new art work on display. True and Brave came home saying, “We want to fill up our walls too!” I predict the last few weeks of summer will be filled with more painting, playing, and eat ice cream. Anyone thinking your future might look similar to mine?

Supplies were provided as part of the Michaels Makers Program.  Michaels carries a wide range of Crayola for you and your next kids’ next project in stores and on Michaels.com – and the best part, all Crayola product is on sale from 8/2-8/8!

After our day trip to Marfa, and an overnight stay in Van Horn, Texas, we headed to Salt Flat, Texas. The dry salt pan used to be a salt lake that dried up, and the result is the vast flat white land. The ground has this subtle sparkle from the salt, and after walking across the whole lake and back to our car, we could taste a bit of salt on our lips. There was only one other car that stopped alongside the road with us, but they didn’t stay too long. There is a marker that tells you a little bit about the history of the area, but other than that, most people probably overlook this area when driving by.

It was a warm day, but the slight breeze made it feel bearable. The white is blinding though, so our sunglasses stayed on. It was interesting crossing the expanse of it because there wasn’t much plant life or creepy crawling creatures, at least none that we noticed. There were bees flying, but that was about it. I took home a white branch as a souvenir.

White Sands National Monument was absolutely stunning. There is this large field of white sand dunes made of gypsum crystals. It totally trips you out because it looks cold (at least that’s what your mind tells you because it’s so reminiscent of snow), but it was so warm out. You don’t even attempt to wear shoes here because the sand is powder soft. We didn’t know what to expect, and was thinking it would be just like the salt flat, but this definitely exceeded our expectations. The whole area is so vast and we were just in awe at the beauty of it all; the glory of God is clearly evident in nature.

At the visitors center, you can learn more about the area and purchase a saucer sled ($15, but they’ll buy it back for $5). We drove around the dune field until we found the hill we wanted to go sledding on. I was a little nervous because we chose a steep one, so I made Ben go first. HA! I had butterflies in my stomach because I didn’t know what to expect, but oh man was that exhilarating. It was pure fun! I was happily shrieking as I made my way down. The uphill trek was a workout, but that trip down made it worth it. Ben and I felt like kids playing.

We will definitely be making another stop here with the girls one day. They would have a blast sledding up and down the hills. We were sending them videos of us sledding and they thought it was so funny how crazy we were screaming. From the salt pan, it was about a 2 hour drive to the white sands; these are definite road trip stops if you find yourself road tripping through west Texas and through the southwest part of New Mexico.

Baked S’mores

Ingredients:
McVitie’s Digestives
Nocciolata (similar to nutella, but much more delicious)
Milk chocolate bar
Giant marshmallows
Parchment paper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Line a baking pan with parchment paper, and lay out cookies (with top side facing down) on top. Spread on the Nocciolata, add milk chocolate pieces on top, then place a marshmallow on top. Bake until the marshmallows are puffed and a little bit burnt (I like my marshmallows burnt, but if that’s not your style, just watch until they’re golden) for about 2-4 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with another cookie (top side facing up), and press down slightly. Now, devour!

We just had a Blaze Pizza pop up near our house, and they use digestive biscuits for their s’mores, and I loved it! During my study abroad in London, I have fond memories of my best friend chowing down on her digestive biscuits. When we were at the grocery store, she’d stock pile on digestive biscuits and I would stock up on Penguins (the best!!!). I think I much prefer these biscuits with s’mores than graham crackers!

I’m not sure if you can find these biscuits at the regular grocery store, but I know they do sell them at World Market. Thankfully, we have a little Indian market right around the corner from our house, and they carry a lot of UK brands, so I just picked up a package from there. A friend recently brought over brownies topped with s’mores, so I’m going to try these biscuits out with that recipe too.

Mexican and Mushroom Pizza. We all love pizza and it’s such an easy thing to make for dinner. I think I’ve been making it once or twice a week since summer started. We like thin and crispy crust, so I’ve been working on getting that just right. A friend told me to let my pizza pan get hot in the oven before putting my dough on, and sure enough, that’s really been helping getting the crust nice and crispy. Ben also purchased this steel baking pan, and I think that was also the key in getting this crispy cracker like crust that we love. If deep dish, thick crust pizza is your thing, you won’t like my pizza.

Week of 7/27 – 7/31
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Vietnamese Chicken Pho
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Tacos
Friday: Tilapia Ceviche

It’s back to cooking for six, so there will be more to make and clean. There will also be a lot more chaos at the table, but that’s exactly how we like it! What have you been cooking lately?

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Thankful for a restful month with the two girls. It is definitely much easier to take care of two than four, but I’m ready for the crazy to ensue.

I’m thankful for friends who extend grace and gospel to me when my heart desperately needs it (which is everyday).

I want an occasion to make a pretty cake like this.

We got this hanging light installed in our room. It was actually in the big girls’ room, but I thought it would look better in ours (and less chance of them poking a hole in it), so we got them a new light for their room.

This origami playhouse is insane. I want to make this!

Would someone please make this ferrero rocher mousse cake for me?

I have a Madewell gift card that I have been hoarding and I’m thinking about getting these flares.

We have 3 weeks of vacation left, and I’m not quite ready to get back into the swing of school things. I’m ready for more adventures before we get our nose back in the books. I hope the next 3 weeks pass ever so slowly!

If you follow me on instagram (@cakiesblog), you know I’m in San Francisco with Michaels for their Makers Summit. Later though, I’ll be making my way from San Francisco to San Antonio to get my big girls and take them home with me! Yippee!

The big girls are coming home soon, but before they do, we wanted to take the babies on a quick getaway. So Sunday afternoon we made our way south to Carlsbad for a whole lot of relaxing, swimming, and ice cream. When we checked Sunday morning, the San Diego area was one of the few areas that didn’t have rain in their forecast, so we made reservations to go there. Well, on our way there we hit a really bad storm, and upon arrival, it sure was raining cats and dogs. We didn’t let that stop us though, and we still went swimming in the rain. After we were exhausted (and a wee bit cold) from swimming in the rain, we relaxed together in our cozy bed with a whole pint of ice cream.

The next day, we did much of the same… relax, swim, and ice cream. Don’t worry, we had carrots and tomatoes too, so the weekend wasn’t only low-nutrition foods. Our little babes kept excitedly yelling, “Two kid weekend!” It was actually only a quick overnight trip, but hey, I love their enthusiasm! We can’t wait for the big girls to be home (2 more days!), but until then, Ben and I (mainly Ben since I’m out of town) still have a couple more special outings planned for these two.

p.s. the rad pineapple sunglasses are from here.