checkin' in on the summer bucket list!

yesterday morning, not as early as we had anticipated, c and I loaded up the Honda, readied up the kidlets, and took off for a pre-birthday daytrip to one of my most favorite places in the world- niagara falls! she likes the falls and all, but I LOVE niagara falls! I could seriously just gaze for hours... she doesn't get this, and, apparently neither does the boy child. as we were waiting in line for the maid of the mist, he whispered to c, "i know that mama loves this, but maybe we could skip the boat ride next time... it's a little overrated!" WHO DOES THIS CHILD THINK HE IS?!?! the maid of the mist is a ticket to get up close and personal to the base of the majestic niagara falls!!!

and we're off!

lu couldn't take her eyes off the falls!

it was HOT in those ponchos!

I am about to impart some very important wisdom here... so, pay attention. this wisdom has to do with the selfie stick. I've had the selfie stick for about a year now... I didn't really use the selfie stick, but it has recently become a sort of obsession for me. the problem is that I didn't practice using the selfie stick... people? the correct time to try and use a selfie stick is NOT on the maid of the mist, while at the base of  the falls. practice beforehand. you are welcome.

after the falls, we went to c's favorite buffalo bakery- dicamillo's. she always gets a mini cassata cake. my favorite story is the time when we bought the cake, and she couldn't wait to eat it... so, as she was walking to the car, eating her cake, she ran right into a pole. it. was. epic. yesterday there was no running into poles, but there was outlet shopping! or not.

c and her beloved cassata cake!

by the time we got to the outlets, everyone was tired, cranky, and had hurty legs/feet. we ended up scoring Columbia winter boots for the littles, and then called it quits... after all, we still had a trader joe's stop to make!

trader joe's never disappoints! we loaded up on coconut flour and champagne pear vinaigrette and cheeses and peach salsa and lots of other delicious goodies. except bourbon vanilla. we somehow forgot the bourbon vanilla. and... they didn't have wine!!! I was perplexed to say the least!

this morning, c let me sleep in. she made the kidlets pannycakes for breakfast, and then took them and stellie to frontier to look for pokemon. when they got home, we had a quick lunch, and then blueberry picking! this season's berries are magnificent! the kids really enjoyed picking this year, and they did a phenomenal job! we paid for our berries, bought a basket of "ugly" vegetables and a bottle of blueberry honey, and came home...

stellie wanted to get to her kids, but she wasn't going in the creek to get to them!

it was a lovely weekend!

* go geocaching* swimming
* go to waldameer * arcades
* hiking
* niagara falls
* go on a picnic
* have a pool party
* go on a vacation and stay in a hotel
* have a sleepover
* go to waterworld
* camp in the backyard
* eat a sara's sundae
* go canoeing and/or kayaking
* go to wild turkey
* go bowling
* kinzua sky walk
* go to jake's rocks
* panama rocks
* watch orange is the new black
* go berry picking- strawberry and blueberry
* have a summer party- either a luau or christmas in july

* chopped jr. competition