Lately...

Getting her swim game on.

Breast stroke

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Hannah invited Sheena to a tea party!   Hats required.  Hannah chose a dorky clown hat.

Sheena is Hannah's friend she met through her Miracles in Motion dance class last summer.  They danced together here.  Sheena is a very thoughtful and encouraging friend to Hannah.  She is the perfect sister substitute!

 

Just like Hannah's sister Kate, we don't get the chance to see Sheena as much as we'd like, so the tea party was a treat for everyone.

Hannah planned and helped prepare the tasty menu:

Tea


Fizzy Raspberry Lemonade Sparklers


Pinwheel wraps


Strawberries and cream


Pinklalicious Cupcakes

Here's the recipe for the Raspberry Lemonade!
 (Sheena and I both thought "those are tasty", and potentially even more tasty with a splash of rum or vodka.)


1 1/2 cups superfine sugar (process granulated sugar in food processor)

2 cups fresh lemon juice

2-3 cups sparkling water of club soda

1 cup strawberry or raspberry puree

(Raspberry puree:  1 lb frozen raspberries, thawed.  Puree in food processor until smooth.  Press puree through a fine-mesh sieve.  Discards seeds.   Add 2 Tbsp sugar or more.)

Combine lemon juice and sugar.   Chill until ready to serve.   Add sparking water and puree.  Serve immediately.
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Now, my cheating method was to use that Fresh Lemonade from the grocery instead of squeezing all those lemons.  It was already sweetened, so I skipped the sugar.  I used club soda, and made the puree as directed.  Hannah  also threw in a few whole raspberries to make it look fancier.  I wish we had fancy straws and those little cocktail umbrellas!

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Last week Shea and Roxanne came to visit on their way back from a major homeschool field trip to the Marine Science Consortium on Wallops Island, VA.  

Lucky for us, it was Shea's birthday!   I used to make Shea's birthday cakes when we lived in North Carolina, but I haven't had the pleasure of making Shea sweeter in five years!   I did take the easy way out this time.  I just baked a cupcake.  A super-sized one!

Happy 10th Birthday Shea!!

Later on the girls shared a riding lesson...I didn't get a good picture of them together, but here's the Birdie on big 'ol Jake.

Guess what?   Tomorrow we leave....for two weeks....guess where?