Lovin’ Summer {{Vacation Style}}

We had to chance to visit the Children’s Botanical Gardens in Cheyenne, Wyoming last time we got our families together and it is truly amazing!!  If you are ever near Cheyenne, you have to take your kiddos here…they will absolutely love it!  And what’s even better is the price of admission…FREE!!!

**Also note that this post contains A LOT of pictures…I was feeling a little snap happy when we visited! =)**

The botanical garden is filled with plants, small rivers, and kid sized waterfalls.  Perfect for little ones on a hot summer day!  {Don’t you just love our girls’ coordinating outfits?!  I’m pretty sure if we lived closer they would be dressed the same A LOT! =) }

Even Alisa’s littlest one got to join the fun…and the binky came along too!

I’m pretty sure they could have entertained themselves for hours in the water…but there was so much else to do so we had to move on!

The kiddies helped pull themselves across the floating bridge while Alisa tried to keep them all balanced!  Good news, no one got wet! =)

Our next stop…the secret garden!

In and around the secret garden were beautiful plants and flowers.  And, I’m not even going to attempt to name any of them because I would undoubtedly be wrong!!  {Any gardening gurus out there that can help?}

Next to the table the kiddos sat at was this adorable checkers board.  What a great idea!

All of the kiddies had to stop and touch the Lamb’s Ear…so soft!  {And on a side note, I’m VERY proud of myself for knowing the name of a plant!}

They even had some of my favorite flowers growing at the botanical gardens….I absolutely LOVE Bleeding Hearts!!!  My Grandma used to grow them in her garden when I was little and I’ve continued to love them ever since.

Among a rock pathway full of quotes, I found this one.  As a teacher and mother, this quote really left a lasting impression on me!

Our kiddos were definitely worn out after our busy day at the botanical gardens.  Especially Alisa’s little guy!

I hope you’re all enjoying your summer and have found some time enjoying the beautiful outdoors.

 Happy Sunday!

Subway Art Flower Pot

My inspiration for this project came from all of your amazing subway art projects out there in blog world!  I wanted to add some character to this flower pot and thought subway art was the perfect way to go!  This project was for a Mother’s Day gift but would be perfect for any occasion.  I’m planning on making one for myself in the near future!

To add a personal touch, I added my children’s handprints to the side of the flower pot using acrylic paint.  {{What Grandma can resist their grandchild’s handprint!?!? =) }}  To make the handprints you’ll need:

• flower pot
• acrylic paint
• some sort of paintbush

Paint your little one’s hand and quickly and carefully place it where you want on the bottom of the flower pot.  {{My 3 year old was MUCH better at cooperating with this project than my 2 year old…but it all turned out great!}}  Instead of painting both the left and the right hand, I just painted one hand and turned it so that it looked like a right and left hand on the flower pot.

While my handprints were drying, I cut out my vinyl words using my Sure Cuts A Lot 2 program.  It is SO simple to use…love it!  All I did was choose different fonts for the words and lay them out on my mat the way I wanted them. When I was finished, I hit cut and my Cricut did all the work! 

Once your words are cut, you’ll need to weed out the parts you don’t want…like the middle of the closed letters.  I usually use my fingernails for this part put Cricut makes some great tools to help with the stubborn pieces.

After weeding, apply transfer tape to the top of the words.  I use the paper tape and love it.  It is easy to work with and you can still see through it.  Rub the transfer tape with quite a bit of pressure so that your words stick to the transfer tape.

Apply your transfer tape to the upper lip of your flower pot.  Rub the letters firmly and then carefully pull the transfer tape away to reveal your lettering. 

Now plant your flower and you’re finished!  I had some wonderful helpers to do the planting! =)

I LOVE how it turned out!  Since this project was a Mother’s Day gift, I just wanted to say that I hope you all had an amazing day and got to spend some quality time with your families!