Better 7-11 Cherry Slurpees

I know that I’ve originally blogged about 7-11 Cherry Slurpees, they were delicious, but a little watery. I like my Slurpees nice and slushy! Then I was looking to make some today with my kids and realized that I’m a moron. I had added a full extra cup of club soda! No wonder it was watery!
Original recipe credit belongs to The Budget Savy Diva.

Ingredients:
•2 cups chilled club soda
•2 1/2 cups crushed ice
•1/2 tsp grenadine
•1 packet cherry kool-aid mix
•1/2 cup sugar

Mix 1 cup of your club soda with the kool-aid, sugar and grenadine in a blender until it’s well combined. Add in your ice and blend till smooth. The directions say to just add the other cup of club soda and stir, but I blended it, taking no chances on watery Slurpees!

The kids kept telling me the blender was too loud, but I’m sure they’ll find it more exciting as they get older. Mommy sure gets excited about pulling the blender out!

Though the blender may have been loud, they still loved the drinks! They didn’t get to taste the sugary goodness the last time I made them, but they made up for it today, drinking most of the batch themselves.
Enjoy your summer everyone! Have a Slurpee!

Summer Fun

This has been quite the busy summer. Not bad considering that I’ve been working all summer, albeit on nights. Third shift makes it so much easier to do stuff with the kids or as a family. It was a sad reason to go to Jersey, but while there for a funeral, we took a little time out to get this great family photo taken. Anyone who has seen my blog about our Victorian Photo shoot knows that I love pictures like this!

Of course you can’t go to the beach without playing in the ocean. Of course we didn’t bother with suits, just hopped in, clothes and all!

We’ve enjoyed a couple of evenings / afternoons with our friends, watching movies or just hanging out. I also enjoy these visits because I can take pictures of Madison and Arthur together, stockpiling them for there future engagement……

One of the great things about living in the greater Cleveland area is the Metroparks. Hundreds of acres of wilderness, just waiting to be explored. The kids and I spent a day exploring different parks, even finding a hollowed out “castle”, right in the woods!

We enjoyed the Brunswick Summer Celebration also. It is so expensive to go to fairs or festivals anymore, but thankfully, it only comes once a year. We splurged on the wristbands for the kids this year and we definitely got our money’s worth.

Of course with all the schools and parks right here in town, we also spent some quality time playing on different playgrounds. This is good on two levels; the kids can run off their energy and mommy can sit and read her book!

The kids spent some time with daddy, trying to learn how to do magic tricks. Tony got the Chris Angel Magic Kit for Christmas a few years ago, and it just never gets old. Chiara kept saying he was “lying to her” when the trick was explained.

We’ve had these glow-in-the-dark bubbles for over a year now and we finally got them out. Chiara had been begging to play with them and sadly they only glow for one night. The jar of bubble solution glowed a really pretty purple, but sadly the bubbles were barely visible in the dark. I will say that they looked really cool with the camera flash though!

I also had the chance to enjoy a girl’s night in with some friends of mine. Wine, sweets and chick flicks. What more do you need in life? Nothing like staying up late with alcohol and watching stuff like Magic Mike!

We haven’t gone to the zoo much this year. It’s a big change from two years ago when we were at the zoo every week. Tony has taken the kids once and I’ve taken them once, but it’s fun every time. If only the Cleveland weather would be at least a little consistent!

We attended a first birthday party for a co-worker’s daughter. Surrounded by people who’s first language is Albanian, it was quite an experience, especially the food! The kids of course had a blast, enjoying water guns and just running amok. We also had a chance to visit a new part of the metroparks. Tony really loved that one, longing desperately for his mud-mower!

Most recently this summer, we enjoyed a day at a local Splash Pad. Another great thing about Cleveland, there is always something to do, you just have to know where to look. We joined Jenna and her kids for a long afternoon of water fun. There was also a nearby playground, so the kids had a blast!

For not making any specific plans this summer, we’ve managed to stay quite busy. I know the kids have been enjoying it! And to think, we’re only half-way through…….

Minions Movie

Summer fun continues with the release of the Minions movie. Well, at least it was an enjoyable morning with my kids. The movie wasn’t as great as I had hoped. I loved Despicable Me and I loved the sequel, so I had high expectations for Minions. The previews led me to believe it would be hilarious, and Sandra Bullock voicing Scarlett Overkill was just icing.

The previews tell us that this is the story of how the Minions evolved and continued seeking out the biggest baddie to serve. Scarlett becomes their new leader, until she turns on them. Well, if you have seen the preview, you’ve seen the movie. I hate when the movie trailer gives away the whole movie. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few surprises, but no shocking twists, in fact we know the whole plot already.

I do love the Minions, the merchandise, the clothing and so on, after all, they are adorable! The movie is definitely worth seeing, but I don’t think it’s worth going to the theater to see. Wait for the DVD and rent it!

For those who haven’t seen the previews, a basic storyline:

The minions evolved from single cell organisms, always following the biggest baddie they could find. Sadly, they’re unable to keep a boss. Dinosaurs fall into lava pits, vampires turn to ash in sunlight, cavemen get eaten by bear. Eventually, our three favorite minions, Bob, Stuart and Kevin, go out into the world looking for a new leader. They find Scarlett and it seems perfect. She sends them on a mission to steal the crown from the queen. When that goes awry, she turns on them.

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SPOILERS
Of course our heroes save the day, but they turn quickly back to a life of crime when they meet a young Gru.

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Did you notice how short the spoiler section was? Spoilers on a movie should be longer!

I do have to end on this note:

Ba-na-na!!

Seek and Find Jar

I’ve seen these seek and find jars for sale in a bunch of different places. I’ve always found them a little silly, but the idea has obviously been hanging out in my brain, since I decided to make one!

The idea started for me when I found an eight pack of these guys. I love the minions! Walmart has several mini-sets available for the release of the movie next weekend. Combining these with my plastic Voss water bottle, I had the makings of my own DIY seek and find!

I started by filling four sandwich bags with rice. I ended up putting twenty drops of food coloring in each bag, then had the kids help me shake them up.

The colored rice makes the searching a little more interesting. Looking for colored toys in white rice is a little too easy!

Chiara was a little mad at me for dropping the toys into the bottom of the bottle.

She was even more mad when I layered rice over the top!

I thought about using glue to seal the lid on, but decided that duct tape would be easier to remove if I decided to add more toys later. I just didn’t want to make the seal permanent!

It takes a lot of shaking to get your toys worked up into the rice. I’m talking arm workout shaking! Prepare your muscles, but it’s really fun to watch the colors mix together.

So far Arthur has played with it a little bit, finding six of the eight before getting bored with it. I think I’ll have to take it to my friend Jenna’s house, her little Ollie will probably really enjoy it!