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First, this one from the Fun Slide.  Caelan looks like they are going so fast…

And next, this amazing boat.

The Galleon

It’s made of cardboard. The Cardboard Boat Regatta is one of the most popular events of Summerfest both for the amazing designs and the dramatic sinkings.

Centaurs at Attention

Yep, this weekend we will walk through the wardrobe and enter Narnia.  The exhibit looks amazing and we are really excited.

In addition to that we’ll be checking out Science City, the Extreme Screen, and, hopefully, other fun things at Union Station.  And we’ll also be taking in some theater in the park.

It’s going to be a busy- but fun!- weekend.  And I’ll tell you all about it next week on Have Kid Will Travel.

But, for now, you’ll want to visit my travel site to learn how you can win your own Kansas City Summer Adventure- which includes all the fun things I mentioned above PLUS a night at the Westin Crown Center!  The contest ends tomorrow so you’ll want to hurry over!

I bought a new camera a couple weeks ago.  A super-sweet Canon Power Shot SX10 IS.  It has a 20x zoom and tons of bells and whistles.  It takes amazing photos that even I, with my limited photographic skills, can’t mess up.

The only problem?  I don’t want an ugly black case.  Honestly, everything is black, utilitarian and yuck!  Not to mention expensive!  Besides, I have my amazing Fronce Tote from Janine King which is more than large enough to hold the camera and all its stuff.  I just need something to protect and organize it all.

So I searched online and found two patterns that will work for me.

First, this camera cozy.  I’ll add a bit of padding to it and make it a bit bigger, but I think it will be perfect for what I want.

Then I’ll make a matching padded “envelope” for the accessories using this tutorial.

I’ve already got the fabric…  I purchased it for a tote bag project and got extra because I really liked it.

And, since I’ll have the sewing machine out I may as well do some of the mending that’s laying around.

So I powered it up quickly this morning to check my weight, positive I had lost a pound or two.  After all, I’ve been using Lose It and staying within my calorie limits.  And though I haven’t been working out indoors we were quite active the past week: walking the dogs, biking around the city to all the Summerfest events, cleaning the house (ok, kind of).

And the scale showed absolutely NO CHANGE.

Ugh.  At least I didn’t gain.  That’s positive, I suppose.

She sent me a list of recommendations and Easy on the Eyes sounded good to me.  In the past couple weeks I have read it, re-read it, thumbed through it and read favorite parts again and re-re-read it.  Not only was it fun but it was interesting and even a bit thought provoking.

Tiana Tomlinson has it all…  She’s the hostess of a hot entertainment show, she’s beautiful and she’s smart.  She’s also 38 which, in Hollywood, the land of  eternal youth, is practically ancient.  Her network is hinting that she should have plastic surgery and eery time she turns around - whether it’s debating on Larry King Live, at a fundraiser or Thanksgiving at a friend’s house- she’s running into Michael O’Sullivan aka Dr. Hollywood, plastic surgeon to the stars.

Tiana has choices to make both in her career and personally and a trip to document a medical mission to Africa will bring her back to her childhood and forward to new possibilities.

I really enjoyed this book!  Partially because I’m 38…  But mostly because it is so well written.  I highly recommend it if you’re looking for an entertaining summer read.

Want to win a copy of Easy on the Eyes?

To enter tell me the best book you’ve read this summer.

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The fine print:
Make sure I can easily find an email to contact you; I will not search for one. Contest ends July 16 at 11:59pm. I will draw the winner (July 17. The winner will be contacted via email and will have 3 days to respond. If I do not hear back from the winner within that time another winner will be drawn.

Zeus is a Yorkie and quite used to being overlooked by my sister’s boys.  He’s not a “rough and tumble” dog but a lap dog.  He prefers to sit quietly in a chair beside a calm adult.  So my girls scare him to death.  Apparently two energetic little girls chasing him and yelling isn’t his idea of fun.

One thing he doesn’t mind the girls doing, though, is walking him.  And Caelan has taken on that job with glee.

"Me and Puppy"

Apparently Zeus is now her “best dog” and as she walks him we hear running commentary, “Me and puppy are going this way” and “fast running Zeus!”  It’s so incredibly cute.

Caelan is a rather greedy little girl bad share-er and doesn’t like to let her sister have a turn walking Zeus.  Luckily we have Toby, who is our dog.  He’s over 11 years old and quite gentle.  Which is lucky as he weighs double what Brenna does.

Brenna and Toby

Doug stays close by to help if Toby happens to pull but, mostly, Brenna has it covered.

Like I said my sister won’t dog sit for me; apparently a 90 pound dog is more work than a 9 pound dog.  Or he takes up more room.   But we’ve enjoyed having Zeus this week.  The girls have been taking care of him, feeding and watering him, helping me put him out to potty.

They will miss him when he’s gone.  So much so that we are considering a small dog “of their own” as a Christmas gift…

Well, neither did I - until last week.  According to our local paper my town was chosen as a “Playful City” because of the number of parks we have.  Which, honestly, is a lot.  According to the city there is a park within walking distance of every home in our town.  And most are connected by bike trails.  According to the website “Playful City USA is a national recognition program honoring cities and towns across the nation committed to taking action for play.”

Canoeing at All City Play Day

Yesterday the town hosted and All City Play Day at two of the parks that are adjoining (which, funnily enough, are within 4 blocks of our huge sports complex, the best in the state, and back up to both an elementary and middle school- can you say playground equipment?)  There were dozens of activities- most of them free.  We went canoeing, made bracelets, race big wheels, tossed bean bags, watched a dog show, skateboarding, sand volleyball, soccer and football and joined the fire department in a water fight.  We didn’t get to the birdhouse building, scavenger hunt, wall climbing (the girls weren’t big enough), yoga or tennis.  And we didn’t play on any of the playground equipment!  (gasp!)

Oh, and we had a picnic before all the fun began.  It was a fun evening and another reason why I love my small Iowa town.

Making a bracelet at All City Play Day

A beautiful bracelet

Water fight!

One of the best parts of the night was running into the girls’ ex-gymnastics coach Miss Amy!  We’ve missed her a lot since she left coaching to stay home with her kids this summer before beginning a new position in the fall.  We ran in to her at the canoeing and I thought the girls were going to push her in the lake in their excitement to hug her!

Oh, yes, today was off to a great start.

Usually I make a hot breakfast for the family.  Eggs and toast or breakfast burritos.  At the very least I add fruit to some cereal.  Today, however, it was all I could do to toss a couple Bagelfuls in the microwave and pour milk for the girls.  Doug got a leftover pancake from last night’s brinner (breakfast for dinner) with blueberries.  Oh, and the coffee that actually made it into the coffee pot.

Luckily the girls like Bagelfuls.  I’ve been buying them since they first came out in the stores because they are easy for mornings like today and they make a great snack in the afternoon.  Today was a surprise, however, because I bought the new ones last week- and they have fruit inside!

That’s cherry & cream cheese wrapped in a bagel.  Apparently you can also get Strawberry & Cream Cheese and Apple Cinnamon & Cream Cheese…  but they were sold out.  My girls loved the cherry.  Caelan was quite funny as she, quite literally, sucked the filling out of the bagel.

So, Bagelfuls, we really liked you before but I think we love you now.  And, according to Caelan, her bunny does, too.

OK, so I’ve got an exercise program in place that I enjoy (the EA Sports Active) but while I have noticed an increase in my energy levels, endurance and muscle tone I haven’t had any noticeable weight loss.  Which is frustrating.  But I also know the reason for that.

I like food.  I love food.  Tastes, textures, smells.  I love to cook and love the time I spend with my daughters in the kitchen.  And none of that is going to change.

I downloaded the Lose It app for iPhone/Touch last week in the hopes it would help me track what I’m putting in my mouth.  I’ve used online food diaries before, as well as pen & paper.  Neither worked well for me as I didn’t carry the notebook everywhere or I would forget to log in to the website.  I’m hoping I can utilize this app fully since I am rarely far from my iPod Touch .

With Lose It I can set goals, record food & exercise, and see how many calories I have remaining for my day.  I like that this app, unlike some other food/exercise diaries figures your exercise calories into your day.

Example:  My daily calorie budget is 1566 calories per day.  If I exercise and burn 156 calories those calories are added to the 1566 making my intake allowance 1722.

In the log I can see what I’ve eaten today and the goals lets me see my progress and the goal I’ve set.  I can add foods and the list of foods already in the app is huge.  I could even track my fat, cholesterol, sodium, carb & protein intake.

It’s a really nice app; very easy to use…  And it’s free.

So…  Here’s where I’m beginning:

• My goal: 140 pounds
• My plan: 1 pound per week
• Goal accomplished by mid-January 2010
• I currently weigh 167

I’ll keep you posted on how this works for me & my progress.

What’s your favorite weight loss tool?