February 2014 – Pure Sugar

Last November, one of our favorite vacation spots had a Black Friday deal that we couldn’t pass up. We always have an amazing time at Woodloch and since we didn’t get to go back last year, I’ve been excited waiting since I booked our vacation last fall. Well, as usual the wonderful staff did not disappoint and spent last Tues.-Fri. having tons of great family time together!

We started going to Woodloch back when Jake was in pre-school! Back then we thought it would be fun to visit again someday. Well, six times later I think it’s safe to say that we always have an excellent time. There are so many things for the kids (and grown-ups) to do, even in the winter months. The food is fantastic. And every single person who work there is super nice and goes out of their way to make your stay memorable.

One of the highlights is always “Theme Night.” Each year the folks at Woodloch put on an original show and that evening’s dinner decor reflects the theme. Can you guess what it is this year?

They also have a character parade (always a hit with the kids!) walk through the dining room. After you’ve been a few times you realize that they somehow always manage to work this huge wooden horse in — this year a prominant 1980s political figure was riding it 😉 Laura was thrilled to meet Ariel and Strawberry Shortcake (her favorite!) and the boys got a kick out of Chewbacca.

I thought that the “Back to the 80s” painted backdrop was too cool — so many favorites!

The show afterwards was great, too. Everyone had a blast singing along to favorite songs. Laura’s eyes lit up when they started singing “I Love Rock & Roll” — it’s one of her favorites! I was totally loving the first set. Check out the Mac, the cell phone, the Simon game… they did such a great job.

Oh, something totally new and different this year was “Gingerbread Wars.” It was the perfect day for it too — last Thursday when the region got a ton of snow dumped on it! There were 21 (I think) teams and we were all presented with a sheet of uncut gingerbread, 6 chocolate donut holes, an apple, and some frosting. There were also tickets that we could use to “purchase” decorations like colored frosting, candy, cookies, etc. We had no idea what to expect! After the rules (you had to somehow use the donuts and apple — the secret ingredients — in your creation) were read we learned that we had 30 minutes to “bake up” a gingerbread structure that went along with the theme “America.”

Wow! Talk about a challenge! We wanted to do something a little different and what is more American than a cheeseburger with fries? So that’s exactly what we made!

We came in fourth place, which left me thrilled! (I’m not a great cake decorator, and certainly can’t cut a straight line out of gingerbread!) But I also won a t-shirt for this Tweet:

So fun! Let’s see… what else? There was snow tubing, plenty of time running around the Woodloch Forest (a huge indoor play structure), bumper cars, and enjoying the gorgeous scenery. Lake Teedyuskung is gorgeous all frozen over.

While I was in the Low Carb cooking class (which was awesome! I loved all the recipes and can’t wait to make them at home), Drew and the kids joined in on the scavenger hunt. Their team ended up winning first place! (Guess it pays to have a bunch of random things like pressed pennies in your purse!). We saw a magician, we played Jackpot Bingo, and just had a lot of good family fun, which really is what it’s about!

Sadly, we had to leave on Friday so we took a photo with the black bear in the lobby (like we always do!):

Just for the sake of nostalgia, check out this photo from 2009 — the boys were so little and Laura wasn’t even born yet!

Going home took a while because of the storm. We had to be careful on the mountain roads, but once we got to the highway driving was no problem. Of couse, then we came home to a driveway we couldn’t even pull into! Drew jumped out to get to work and the kids and I ran to the store for a few things. When we got back home, at least the car could get in the driveway (even if the front stairs were still piled high!)

We always have so much fun at Woodloch, and the kids are already starting with the “When we go back”s… LOL! And honestly, I can’t wait myself.

Everyone who knows me also know that I have an unhealthy a close relationship with my day planner. It all started back in the early 90s when I recieved a Filofax for a high school graduation gift. That planner helped get me through college and a few years thereafter. However, once I was a new mom I didn’t have a need for a planner anymore… until that one baby became three kids, two of whom were in school. I needed to get organized again. And I discovered Erin Condren’s beautiful planners.

In the past I have reviewed the planner, but this year I thought I would start sharing about how I actually use it by posting how I customize it, some little tricks, and my weekly layouts, too. As you know, there are quite a few blogs focussed on planners and organizing. Everyone has their own way of doing things, but sometimes you pick up an idea or two.

Today I’ll be sharing my January layouts because… well, I feel like I want to have the whole year included on my blog. But after this week I’ll just do weekly updates once the week is over. First, here is my monthly layout. It is definitely boring and as I’ve mentioned… January was just kind of crabby for me. A lot of people don’t seem to use their monthly spreads, but I do. When I am scheduling appointments, I find it easier to see the entire month at once instead of flipping pages.

And here’s week 1. Um, yeah. I started a Whole 30 that lasted for more like 14 days, LOL… But better than nothing, right? I started journalling a little bit each day. I haven’t been consistent with that, but I’m going to try to pick it up again for February. I keep all my planners in case I need to refer to an old event, but also because I enjoy seeing what we were doing. So why not add some journalling to the mix?

Week 2: A new planner feature this year is the notes section at the bottom. I was really excited about this at first, but I’m not utilizing it like I thought I would. Obviously I cover most of it up with washi tape for a bit of extra color. I’ve been using it for meal planning, but maybe I’ll trying using that section for “hot action items” in the future — three things that I absolutely must get done that day.

Week 3: See that arrow-shaped page flag pointing to the “pack meeting” sticker on Friday? I bought these at Dollar Tree and I love them so much! So often I have extra little notes about calendar items, and these are great for that purpose.

Week 4: Another kind of lame attempt at journalling, LOL. Also, slightly embarrassed by how much crap I ate this week.

Week 5: Last week, as we moved into Febrary I finally felt like I was getting my groove back. Trying to jazz up the week with more stickers. That’s right. I love stickers. I am totally a 12-year-old girl at heart and I am OK with that 🙂

We’ll just start there. I have customized some of the notepages in the back to suit my own needs: a log of checks I write, a place to keep track of swaps I send and recieve, that sort of thing. I’ll get there, soon.

The Erin Condren planners typically go on sale in Feb. or March to liquidate her current stock since the new planners come out in June. So if you’re on the fence, it’s a good time to try the planner without having to shell out all that money. Because let’s face it, even though they are very pretty and I love mine… it’s still expensive. However, it keeps me on track so I feel it’s worth it!

If you are a new Erin Condren customer and are interested in ordering, you can use my referral link to save $10 off your first purchase (you’ll get a code via e-mail after you register).

Month: February 2014

Another Awesome Woodloch Vacation

{My Erin Condren Planner 2014} Weeks 1-5

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