Walks With Ida : Tybee Island Beach

During some free time during our trip to Savannah last week, I took a little walk on the beach with Ida. I was hoping to get Cora to come with us so I could take some sister pictures, but she was too busy playing with her cousin. Good thing Ida is always up for adventure!

Ida was timid putting her hands in the sand because she was fully dressed. She warmed up and was running all around the beach... until she completely bit it in wet sand. She laid there for probably two minutes then slowly started digging her hands in the sand. At that point she was already wet and sandy, so she had no problem going into the waves to try and wash off her hands.

We had the perfect little walk on the beach. I got to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Ida during this trip and I love that I have these pictures to remind me of our little date.

A Quick Trip to Savannah

Last week, we took a short trip to Savannah for a memorial for my Grammy. My parents got a house on Tybee Island about a block from the beach. It was a much needed getaway and an awesome time with family. 

We drove overnight and arrived first thing in the morning on Thursday. We quickly unpacked and headed to the beach. The last time I was at Tybee Island was Cora's first trip to the beach so I was feeling a little nostalgic thinking about baby Cora along with all the many trips we took here while visiting my grandparents. This was Ida's first trip to the beach. Since she loved sand so much on our Wisconsin trip, I knew she would enjoy it at the beach. Ida wasn't really into the waves creeping up on her, but enjoyed the ocean when we brought her deeper in the water. It was no surprise to me when Ida wanted to spend most of her time playing in the sand. 

We spent a couple hours at the beach then headed back to the house where we had lunch, relaxed, and took naps until dinner time. That evening we headed out to AJ's Dockside for dinner with whatever family was in town so far. We called it an early night and set the girls up with a short movie. I love how they cuddle up to each other and get along 80% of the time.

Friday, we spent the day celebrating my Grandma's life. We had a mass at her church. We used to come down to visit my grandparents for spring break, and this was the church we spent many years celebrating Easter. Mass was followed by a reception and a trip to the cemetery for the inurnment. We had a couple hours to rest before spending the evening in downtown Savannah.

Friday evening, the entire extended family went on a riverboat cruise on the Georgia Queen. It was a really cool experience and a perfect tribute to my Grandmother, who went on quite a few paddleboat cruises with my Grandpa. We had a private room, so it was less stressful than I thought river-boating with kids would be. Cora immediately ran off with her second cousins and I barely saw her the whole night. There are 3 other girls cousins around her age and they are all the cutest! It was a great evening filled with good food, music, and even better company... Grammy would have loved it!

Saturday, everyone met up at the beach and we all played and swam and chatted. My girlies were exhausted from the night before so they were a bit whiny. Cora headed out to lunch with my parents and the rest of the crew slowly trickled off to their various plans. Eventually it was just a couple of us hanging out at the beach. I was just saying how nice it was and I turned around to notice the sky behind us was filled with black clouds. We quickly gathered our things and speed-walked back to the house before the storm.

We had another family gathering that evening before we all hit the road. Ben and I headed out around 9 and drove through the night. It was a quick three days, but we packed as much stuff as possible in during that time. I loved catching up with family I haven't seen in years... and the beach was a good bonus!

DIY Garden Mushrooms

Cora loves to look at the fairy garden display at Michaels and a couple little mushroom ornaments caught my eye. The ones in the store were a little pricey for me and not quite what I was looking for, but I thought mushroom garden ornaments would make a perfect DIY. We've also been spotting mushrooms popping up all over our yard and we love checking them out.

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SUPPLIES:
+ Sculpey (I love buying this in larger quantities for our crafting projects)
+ Cookie sheet and oven
+ Craft paint and paint brushes

1 Start by making your own little clay mushrooms. We started by making a ball and squishing it out into the top part of the mushrooms. Next, we mushed a little cylinder in there any smoothed out the sides. I liked to add little lines to the bottom of mine. This is the stage that you need to make sure they stand up on their own. 

2 Bake. Follow the instructions for this. It usually says about 15 minutes depending on thickness. These took about 30 minutes to bake and another 30ish to cool

3 Once the mushrooms are cooled... Paint with craft paint. I liked painting the stem and underside first, letting it dry, then painting the top. The top is obviously the most fun part to paint, so we liked to leave them for the end.

4 Optional: If you're going to put these outside, I would recommend some kind of clear coat to protect the paint from the elements.

In hindsight, I wish I had put a little hole for a stake in the stem. These would stand up so much better if they were inserted into the dirt using a small stake. This should be added during step 1 if you're interested in experimenting with that.

Check out some of my other kid-friendly Sculpey clay tutorials like our DIY Valentines Heart and the Santa Handprint Ornament. They make excellent grandparent gifts and kids love DIYing them.