Longwood Gardens

Fantastic!!!  even if you are not a huge gardener or lover of digging in the dirt...this is an amazing place to visit!  The older kids had art classes & tours while Len, Jazmine & I got to tool around the gardens together.  Can't wait to go back in the summer to see all the roses in bloom & hundreds of other flowers & trees!

National Civil War Museum, Harrisburg PA

We finally made the trip with the kids to the Ntl Civil War Museum in Harrisburg this week.  It was a fantastic place, filled top to bottom with amazing artifacts, captivating videos & scavenger hunts for each age level so they could really dig deep & absorb way more information then they would by just touring the museum.  Highly recommend it to anyone, its just a two hour type museum even with the scavenger hunts, and close enough that you could enjoy Gettysburg & this in the same weekend easily.

Snow Geese

Every Feb/March the snow geese come in droves to hang out at the lake near where we live.  It is an annual hike to go see them up close...this year we were treated to having my little sister & her family, as well as my sister in law & neice, dad & brothers hike out with us! 

A Few of My Favorite Things....

Our lovely December has left us...the delicious holidays are over and we are left to wallow through January. That being said, I have decided January should be celebrated just a tad bit more so its an easier "let down".

That being said...we have tried several new recipes that I thought I would give you a glimpse of for your enjoyment as well.

We started off with a tin full of homemade caramel popcorn...mmmmmmm...

Next we added in some delicious Moroccan Style Turkey Stew served with couscous....this turned out a lot better then any of us thought it would & is now on our 5 star meals list!

Being a time of trying new things that have not been cooked in any of my kitchens...we also decided to try a new dessert. For the first time, I put my hand to trying Upside Down Pineapple Cake. Can we say WOW! We ate ours hot right out of the oven & it was super yummy...go Betty Crocker!!

We also gave homemade pizza dough a shot tonight & I am thrilled to say, it turned out fantastic! I never would have guessed honey in a pizza dough, but it worked & was really yummy.

Next up on the docket are homemade Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzels! Oh double Yum! And scented playdough! Not to eat, but to enjoy entertaining those lovely little minds who eat all my food!

Hope you find fun & exciting ways to make your January less blue & a much more fun transition into the new year!