KC with the Boys: Budding Piccassos!

Remember that vacation I was telling you about? ....

We got back to our boys on a Tuesday evening.  We spent some nice cuddle time with them on my brother's couch, getting caught up.  We told the boys what we did but mainly we were interested in all the fun they were having while staying with the family.  I got to hear about the county fair they went to - they bought a wrist band and got to ride several rides!

We went to bed that night with mention of something fun to do the next day but we still hadn't told them our plans. We were being all secretive and sneaky....and it was pretty fun torturing the boys. Ha!

We woke up bright and early Wednesday morning and headed back to KC - with the boys still wondering what, exactly, we were planning on doing. 

Look, boys!  We brought you to a parking garage!

The obligatory shot in front of a fountain :)

And then upstairs .....

Now play some games while you wait.... Rock, Paper, Scissors!

Wait a little bit more.....

We went to Kaleidoscope for a free art session!  You could not order tickets in advance so we wanted to be sure to get there with plenty of time to spare.  Biju and I didn't really plot out our days in KC when it was just the two of us but we had to make up an itinerary for the boys.  Everything had times attached to them so we had to be sure to get from Point A to Point B so we would have time for Point C.

Finally!  Inside for some fun!  Hallmark lets the kids make & take some fun art projects.

The most popular bit for our boys was the paint/color your own puzzle!

They decorated a square of cardboard and then cranked it through a puzzle press.

The puzzle press cut out shapes so the boys could come home later and put together their artwork!

The boys also had fun creating crowns.

Say Cheese, your Royal Highnesses!

And after all that artwork fun they decided to ride on the escalators.  I think they went up/down at least twice.

Join us again next time for our next installment of KC with the Boys: Here, fishy, fishy!

Recipe Wednesday: The Orange Grape Smoothie

Time for another yummy smoothie recipe!

I came up with this one while on the hunt for a smoothie that didn't need almond milk.  I had ran out and needed something for breakfast.  I had some grapes and orange juice in the fridge so I figured I could use those as my liquid base.  I looked around (of course, on Pinterest!) and combined a couple recipes to come up with this tasty drink!

The Orange Grape Smoothie

1/2 c. grapes (about 75 g.)  (I've used green, red and black grapes all at different times and all three of them taste yummy here.)
4 oz. orange juice
2 oz. coconut milk (If you don't have any on hand you can just use and additional 2oz. of OJ)
1/2 Tbs. chia seed (about 6g)
1/4 c. rolled oats (12g.) (gluten free if needed.)
1/2 c. frozen strawberries (70g)
1/2 frozen banana
1 frozen spinach cube
1/2 scoop protein powder (optional) (I've used Vanilla Spiced Chai as well as regular Vanilla, it is your choice for flavors.)

Place into a high speed blender, in order, and blend.  Or, as I usually suggest, use fresh/partially thawed ingredients if you don't have a high speed blender.

This is a great smoothie to start your day.  It has all sorts of good-for-you ingredients and it tastes delish!  Let me know what you think!