4 Field Days

We just wrapped up four fun field days and the weather mostly cooperated for all of them.

Olive's was first.  She was chosen as a volunteer for one whole day for the younger kid's field day and then had hers the next day.  She loved to help the little kids.  On her big day - It rained and poured and then the sun came out.  She participated in flippy cup, wheel barrow races and tug of war.  Her class brought home the big trophy and bragging rights.  Thankfully, Kevin could be there for her all day.

Besties since 3rd grade.

Field Day #2.  The rain stayed away and Fletcher had his first field day at ECS.  He had a great time with his buddies.  Kevin got to be there and watch him play.

My class got to go have field day with the preschool and look who I found!  Leo!  He was so proud to show me his field day shirt.  We were in different groups going through different stations, but it was so fun to bump into him throughout the afternoon.

The popsicle station was a BIG hit.

So much fun, but so exhausting.  I'm glad to have these fun days behind us.

Trader Joes Favorites

Our closest Trader Joes is 90 minutes away in Louisville, KY.  We brought a big cooler along on our road trip with the intention of filling it up at Trader Joes.  Our plan worked perfectly.  I bought a fair amount of frozen things which kept the refrigerator things perfectly cold in the car cooler until we got home that night.  We got to try many new things and can't wait to go back.  The friendly staff laughed when we told them we were from Evansville.  Apparently they have met nearly everyone from Evansville shopping at the store.

I'll show you all the things we got and give our review.  We spent $100 and got tons of food.  I bought a $3.99 oversized canvas tote.  It held our whole cart full with just a few items to carry out.  It worked out perfectly for our cooler/road trip situation.  I will probably leave it in my car so I'm prepared for our next trip.  Kevin also wants you to know that the beer options at Trader Joes were awesome!  He found a lot of rare, local and unique beers to try.

We enjoyed all of the frozen dinners!  It took 3 packages to make enough for a family dinner.  They cost about $4/package.  We'd definitely get the penne again.  I served it with grilled chicken.  The kids said the rigatoni was a little too green and less fettucini than they were hoping for.

The Bulgogi Beef had far less beef than the picture showed, but it was good.  We added some sauce to add flavor and probably wouldn't repurchase it.  Kevin was hoping it would be really flavorful and it was pretty mild. The corn was yummy!

Yum!  I added eggs when we ate it as a side for dinner.

All of the produce was really good and fresh.

The salad kits were AMAZING.  We'd likely go back just for a salad stock up.  We got to sample the Sweet Chili Mango Salad in store.  It's a little spicer than I prefer, but the rest of the family loved it.  Fletcher would tell you that he doesn't like salad, but he LOVES this salad.

Both delicious.  I'm craving Casesar salad every day thanks to this kit.

Kevin grabbed this to shred for taco night.  Yum!

The tiny cookies were fun, but we probably wouldn't repurchase.  Olive thought they might be fun in a trail mix or on top of ice cream.  The boys LOVED the PBJ dippers.

Kevin loves this kind of BBQ sauce.  No one else does, but he's excited about it.

We have a running list of Trader Joes items to try and make sure to buy items for our next visit.

What is your favorite Trader Joes must haves?

Leave them in the comments and I will add them to my list.

Weekend in Louisville Favorites

Kevin planned a fun Mother's Day getaway for our family to Louisville, KY.  It's 90 minutes from home and we had never spent any time there.  We had a busy weekend - baby shower, Kevin's student's graduating, restaurant grand opening and a trip out of town!  I'm glad he puts the fun in our family.

We grabbed all the touristy brochures when we arrived at our hotel.  We quickly realized there was a lot ot do in Louisville!  We did plenty of fun things and have a long list of things to do on our next trips.

We had Mother's Day brunch at Wild Eggs.  The wait was an hour which felt about right for a holiday.  We ran an errand or two while we waited for a table.  The food was so good!  Everyone ordered something different and loved it.  The french toast was outstanding, omelets and pancakes were so good, we all loved our bacon and the staff kept the place running so smoothly.  It was perfect for families of all sizes.  We will go back!

We found a park nearby - Brown Park that was just lovely.  The weather was perfect.  There were walking trails, goose food dispensers (bring quarters!) and a really fun playground.  It was such a nice, clean park in the middle of the city.

Olive made me a new bracelet stack in my school colors with my favorite things - smiley faces!  She was so sweet to sneakily make them at home, wrap her gift at home and then pack it in her suitcase for me to open on the trip.

We checked out the outlet malls.  Every store you could think of was there.  The mall is huge and we had a great time checking out the horse art, play spaces and shopping options.  We found fun things at Simply Southern, Vineyard Vines, GAP and more.  There were still Kentucky Derby themed things at every turn.  Leo loved spotting these painted horses.

We had Starbucks on the patio.  The kids insisted I tried a Strawberry Lemonade Refresher.  It was really good.  I rarely splurge on fancy coffee drinks so it was a treat to try a few new drinks this weekend.  The weather was just perfect.  We enjoyed murals around town and loved seeing all the sights - cool bridges, the Ohio River, murals, baseball stadiums and more.

We found a Trader Joes.  We don't have one in our city so we brought a cooler to stock up on favorites!  We spent $100 and came home with tons of yummy food for the week.  We can't wait to go back there again soon.  Stay tuned for a Trader Joes round up post!  Leo was worn out after a long day and insisted on riding in the cart.

We headed downtown for dinner at a Brazillian Steakhouse called Brazeiros.  It was fancy and kind of disappointing.  We loved trying a new kind of restaurant with the kids, but Mother's Day crazy price hikes, not very flavorful meat + a sparce buffet of food options for the kids left us feeling bummed.  We would not recommend going back on a holiday or with kids.  The kids were troopers trying all the meats and sides.  Kevin would tell you that the highlight of our very pricey meal was his Kentucky Bourbon flight.  Our family would recommend finding a different restaurant to try if you are downtown.

Leo ate carrots and ranch and loved the meat tongs.  He played with those and kept asking for french fries.  We should have come home with the tongs since he definitely did not eat enough to cover his bill.

The art downtown was neat to see.  The kids often call Leo "Fishy" so this was cute.

We had hoped to do more, but we ran out of time.  Lousiville quickly became a favorite spot for us!  We are excited to go back to see the zoo, do some more shopping, go see a baseball game, walk on the pedestrian bridge, watch the trains and try some new restaurants.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Teacher Gift Ideas

Tis the season of teacher gifts!  Our school had their own teacher appreciation week.  Then it was national teacher appreciation week and the end of the year is quickly approaching.

I have gotten some really thoughtful gifts that I thought would make great teacher gifts for others.  And you could easily make them work for any budget.

1. A local bakery was offering personalized cookies sets.  So cute and so yummy!

2. A new cup that you know they'll love.  Maybe their favorite color or one ot match their classroom theme - smiley faces!  My kids get so excited when I drink out of the cups that they have given me.

3. Nothing Bundt Cake put together cute teacher cakes to gift.  My student grabbed my favorite flavor and added a gift card to a favorite local restaurant.  The mini bundts are such a yummy treat all by themselves and you can easily add on a gift card if it works for your budget.

4. This is especially true in elementary school, match your gift to the classroom theme.  Our team has four different themes - cactus, farm, woodland creatures and smiley faces.  I know we'd all enjoy getting gifts that match our vibes.  We have other class themes like Snoopy, jungle, a favorite team or a coffee shop.

5. An umbrella and local chocolates.  This gift came with a note that said Thank you for showering my child with love and learning this year.  The umbrella has smiley faces on it and the variety box of chocolates from a local chocolate shop is such a treat!  How clever and cute!

Look at this darling teacher assortment!  I love trying all the different flavors.

6. A plant!  Look at this pretty pot and pretty plant.  I'm excited to find the perfect spot for it at my house.

Each of these gifts came with the nicest notes and I think I appreciate those the most.  It just is so rewarding to hear about how you have impacted children and to hear about their favorite things about being in your class.  So no matter what your end of the year budget looks like, EVERYONE can send a thank you note or thank you email to your child's favorite teacher(s).  It will make their day!