Back from a great getaway

My girls and I headed out Wednesday morning to meet my Mother in Law at her house , she wanted to take us on a little trip and spend a few days with us , I was all for it , I could definitely use a few days away from house work, cooking meals and picking up dog poop , we gathered our passports and headed for the border , we arrived in Buffalo around 2 o'clock and checked into the Holiday Inn On Niagara Falls Blvd, thank goodness for GPS .

We headed straight over to the Galleria , the mother of all malls , I knew it had a lot of the "good" stores the girls love , sadly they have recently learned of a few label brands , like Ambercrombe and Hollister , darn it!
OK I have a complaint about both stores what is with all of the perfume , you're killing me, I get terrible headaches around perfume , hate the stuff it needs to go.

We had a good time checking out the stores and I introduced Joan aka Grandma, to POTTERY BARN, of course she loved it , and to Pandora Jewelry , I love their bracelets I am starting one soon I hope.

Joan spoiled us completely , she is really too kind . After the mall and dinner we headed over to Target picked up some snacks and cheap beauty products , for all you Americans did you know you typically pay about half of what we do for beauty products , and small appliances like hair dryers and irons I could go on and on but its depressing I'm sure it isn't that way all over though.


My girls were not thrilled at all to see these new toys called Monster High , my husband has had a show in creation and even a toy of his own , called Monstrosity High , coincidence ????? they sure think not , I could have shopped and shopped at Target , they had they cutest charging station that looked like a PB one for $17.00 , I was able to pick up a Shabby Chic shower curtain with ruffles and the cutest rings for the girls bathroom. After Target we headed to TJMaxx / Home Goods store the following day after fueling up at Ihop Mmmm, we found some good deals on clothes but nothing decor related which surprised me thankfully our store here is better anyway, I got the cutest purse , that MIL bought for me .

While at the Holiday Inn we noticed a large presence of Army soldiers , don't see that everyday , we don't live near an Army base so we don't see soldiers around here well ever and to see American soldiers makes me think of the war obviously , duh! which makes me feel thankful , proud and sad all at once for all our brave army personnel and yours still in the fight, I was surprised how glitzy and commercial the Army truck was parked outside , there was a conference I think it said "Future Hero's of America".

After the whirlwind shopping trip we headed back to Canada had a lovely back a forth with a totally bitchy Border agent or officer , holy snarky , there was no need to be so rude , welcome home huh!

We were surprised to find out we were staying at Great wolf Lodge , the girls have been dying to go there , and this was a real thrill , it is so nice there , right up there with Disney quality feel and attention to detail , we will be bringing Daddy back with the girls another time , he was a tad jealous being left home to tend after my gardens and take care of the pups , I think he even missed how we fill up the house.

They had such fun in the indoor water park , no need for sunscreen , so many big fun fabulous water slides , I had a blast on them too , and for me to get into a swim suit is some what of a miracle.

They didn't stop enjoying the water fun, we were there from 5 pm till 9pm the first night and then 10 am till 5 pm the next day , I had to force the girls to take food breaks , they skipped breakfast , I'd say they loved it .

We finally ate dinner about 9:30 pm , and we weren't alone in eating so late.

I think a few little treats are just fine , you deserved it . Granny Panny is a new little pet name Sophie came up with at dinner , see we ate something that may not have been safe for Sophie to eat and she gets very upset when we do that which isn't often, which is fine , and she was instructing us to wash our hands thoroughly .

The tourist shot of course , it was nice to spend so much time with Grandma good old fashioned bonding.

Fun in the arcade.

and of course how could we miss the giant Adirondack chair picture .

And then off to Grandma's and we couldn't believe they wanted to be in the water again , water babies or what ....they are real goofs.

Big Kiss

There you have it , we are back from our three day vacation , we had great times and great laughs and made some wonderful memories together ,

Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa too of course .

Wainscot Solutions

all photos in this post from Wainscot Solutions

If you have read my blog for any of the three years I have been blogging you will be well aware that I am a HUGE fan of trim , my first experience with trim was my staircase , little did I know that was the hardest thing to tackle , the angles can make it a challenge , but I did it and transformed it into a staircase with soul. I did recessed wainscoting for the stairs , dining room ,hall way and entry .

After that I installed applied wainscot , and beadboard in my bathroom and powder room too .

In fact I added v-groove panelling to my family room ceiling .

I most recently added board and baton in my bedroom , the hardest thing for me and trim is choosing a style , I did not choose one style and apply it throughout , I like too many styles , and I like variety too, variety is the spice of life .

I was recently made aware of this fabulous company called Wainscot Solutions , they make a wide variety of pre-assembled panels of trim and wainscot , all different types and styles now I have never tried pre-made panels , have you ?

Wouldn't that be a great story ??? maybe !!! I'm game.

So let me know have you tried the products from Wainscot Solutions ?, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Quickcrete path

We are finally nearing the end of the quickcrete path building , for me 6 bags of concretes worth of work is enough for one day , so far we have put three days worth in, which is about 6 hours worth of work really , not any full days, although the quickcrete forms are simple enough to do but it is hard work ,especially on a hot day and all our days this summer have been HOT!
We picked up this large concrete step at Home depot for less than $60.00 , I have seen this same thing for well over $150.00 and if it were real stone hundreds , the nice thing besides the price is that this step is hollow which means it is manageable for my husband and I to lift , not easy but doable.

It is slowly but surely coming along , we need to make more forms to create the extra row for the path.

I added the sand to the gaps today , it completely changed the look which I love ,once it is all together the garden expanded and new plants lining the path it will look great , I will try that treatment of buttermilk and moss painted on to promote moss growth .

I am taking a little break for now , outside landscaping is not for the weak and damn it I'm too tired to do any more ,but I do need to get that bed painting completed tonight , I don't want that dragging on and on.