What a Great Summer

So sorry that it's been a while. I've been busy with the Farmer's Market and with moving back to Texas. This has been a crazy busy summer but I wouldn't have changed much about it. I may have placed some kids in individual plastic bubbles from time to time but other than that it was pretty amazing.

I had a great time working with Lauren. She is so organized and has so many awesome ideas that it really inspired me. If you haven't checked out her way cool stuff you need to. http://lmlowel.etsy.com Plus you can check out our joint Facebook page under Funky & Feisty and loved again.

The Farmer's Market was a truly incredible experience. Sure there were days when I barely broke even but I almost always at LEAST broke even. Babysitters were probably my biggest expense. I met wonderful people and got to talk... A LOT!

There was Sarah AKA Hula Hoop girl who makes and decorates her own hula hoops. I now have one and have been trying to learn how to use it. It's tons of fun and I swear that one day I will get the hang of it. You can find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SarahLousCustomHoops Ya know ya wanna...

Sarah hared a space with her brother CJ who is an incredible photographer. You can check him out here http://cjzimmerman.carbonmade.com/ I hope you do check out his stuff. I really liked it and I'm picky. ;)

Then there were the Medici girls and all their delicious bread. I will miss that bread but if you are in the Bloomington/Normal area you can find them at the Farmer's Market. You can also visit the wonderfully tasty Medici restaurant and Bakery in Uptown Normal.


Not at the Farmer's Market but equally amazing is The Zoo Lady. She is an INCREDIBLE face painter. The kids begged for their faces to be painted whenever she was near. Of course I gave in.

I also had a chance to meet Emily Busha who makes the cutest ever PJs and library bags you've ever seen. She dyes her own shirts and then creates great designs for them using freezer paper. I swear the girl must never drink caffeine! The library bags are sturdy... We've tested ours out... retro cool and have two pockets inside; one for your library card and one for Change for your library fines. You can check out her blog which has a link to her etsy shop that I think is empty right now... Work on that Emily! ;) http://apronwings.typepad.com/apron_wings/


I also got to meet Monica Innis. She makes beautiful jewelry. She uses great colors and everything is unique. I don't think my descriptions can do her work justice but you can check out her etsy shop http://www.innisms.etsy.com and see for yourself!

I am going to miss all of this about IL but I will be back next summer and will hopefully have bigger and better things planned.
Please at least give these folks a nod. They all work really hard to create some really fun and amazing things. They wouldn't be on here if I didn't really respect them and what they do!

The beauty of the reciprocal membership

So this is more of a 'mom' post than usual but here goes. As some of you may know the hubby and I took the kids to IL for the summer so Dave could TD at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. We were there living in a 2 bedroom apartment for nearly 3 months. Two bedrooms... four people... a bit small. I neede things to keep us busy.
Before we even left Texas I had done some research and knew that the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington accepted the Dallas Zoo pass. I purchased a Dallas Zoo pass. Seemed a no brainer. We love zoos. The Miller Park Zoo is pretty small compared to what we're used to but it was awesome. As a bonus the Dallas Zoo Pass also got us into the Cleveland Zoo in Ohio. We went there to visit friends and family. It also got us into the Peoria Zoo in Peoria, IL about 45 minutes away from where we were. They had just opened a new Africa section which was amazing! I went twice.
In Normal, IL there is a way cool Children's Museum. Turns out our pass for the Dallas Science Center also worked there. Now I had a rainy day activity as well. Woo Hoo! I had NO idea.
Now, to make things even better... We were only 2 hours south of Chicago. LOVE Chicago. We took the kids for a couple of day trips and one over night. My passes also got us into the Children's Museum at the Navy Pier, the main part of the Shedd Aquarium (which saved us about $30) AND the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
Needless to say I was thrilled. All of these things were super duper cool and the kids had some great experiences. Although I spent a chunk up front we saved a lot in the long run and I saved a bit of sanity... what there is of it.
If you're planning on doing ANY travelling look into these memberships and where else they can be used. They're usually good for a whole year which means that even when you're at home you can get a lot of use out of it. I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

Sorry no pictures at this time. I'm busy trying to put all the pictures I took onto this computer. They will be coming soon!