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Gourmet Grilled Cheese at Boudin! Your Favorite Comfort Food Just Grew Up! #BoudinGrilledCheesePlease

July 9, 2015 / Food, Let's Eat!, Restaurant Reviews

I am a HUGE lover of Boudin, especially their San Francisco Sourdough bread! When I was invited to the Boudin SF in Huntington Beach for a media tasting of their latest line of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, I jumped at the chance to experience one of my favorite comfort foods all grown up!

After checking the littles into the “Kids Area” of the event to have their own fun, Boudin’s Corporate Chef, Alan Skversky, was on hand to chat about his latest gourmet grilled cheese creations with the “Mom Bloggers“.

He first spoke about his inspiration behind creating these delicious new grilled cheese sandwiches. He knew that he could take the already famous San Francisco Boudin Sourdough Bread and make something fabulous with it, something that people would oooh! and aaah! about. That’s exactly what we all did when we first saw them and then again when we tasted them!

The Great Grilled Cheese is currently available on the Boudin menu. It’s made with Havarti Danish & Sharp Cheddar cheese melted on a parmesan-crusted sliced sourdough. You also have the option to add Applewood thick cut bacon to it. (for an additional fee) Is your mouth watering yet?

The Jalapeño Cheddar Grilled Cheese is new to Boudin. It’s served on their fabulous Jalapeño Cheddar Sourdough Bread with Cheddar cheese and sliced jalapeños inside of the sandwich. The flavor is amazing and if you’re worried about it being too hot, trust me when I say it’s not! I am a wimp when it comes to spicy foods and this sandwich was so yummy, I even had seconds. (and thirds).

The third sandwich we got to try was the Grilled Brie with Apples & Fig jam. This one was as delicious as it sounds, too! It was almost like a dessert, which is why I saved it for last! It’s made with Brie and Havarti cheeses melted inside a parmesan-crusted multigrain bread and stuffed with sliced apples and fig jam. My mouth is watering just typing this! I think this was my favorite of the 3!

Now it’s YOUR turn to get into your local Boudin & try one of these new and delicious gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches! I actually have a coupon, because Boudin REALLY wants you to try one of these gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. You’ll receive one FREE kids’ meal with the purchase of any grilled cheese sandwich. Why not make a date with your little one? Just click here to get your coupon now!

Do YOU have a favorite menu item at Boudin? If you go and try the grilled cheese sandwiches, be sure to come back and tell me which one you liked best, OK?

Go Enter the Southern California McDonald’s Minion Mania Photo Challenge & Win Prizes! #SoCalMcDMinionMania

July 6, 2015 / Entertainment, Food, Let's Eat!, Movies

With the upcoming release of the new Minions movie, it’s no doubt that there’s Minion Mania going on during July at McDonald’s! Kevin, Stuart, and Bob have stolen the hearts of McFans everywhere!

In honor of Minion Mania, McDonald’s Southern California is encouraging you to show them how much you love these infectious Minion troublemakers! Beginning Monday, July 6, McDonald’s Southern California is launching their Southern California McDonald’s Minion Mania Photo Challenge!

For 10 days, snap a photo of yourself that fits into each prompt. Share your photo on Twitter using @McDonalds_SoCal and include #SoCalMcDMinionMania. They’ll be picking one SoCal McDonald’s fan to win a summer prize pack valued at $500. The prize pack will include McDonald’s swag, movie passes, and tickets to events across Los Angeles. Here’s my photo for July 6: Something that makes you feel cheerful! What do you think?

C’mon everyone, let’s take over everyone’s Twitter timeline with our fun photos!

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. Some images provided to me by McDonald’s. All opinions are 100% my own.

Dunkin’ Donuts To Open 2nd OC Location in Santa Ana!

July 3, 2015 / Food, Let's Eat!

Exciting news everyone…on Tuesday, July 7, at 5:00 a.m., Santa Ana is going to be opening the doors to Orange County’s 2nd Dunkin’ Donuts location! Santa Ana residents (and everyone else who drives from near and far) can now enjoy Dunkin’ Donuts iconic fresh-brewed coffee, delicious baked goods, and other menu items, such as sandwiches.

This new Santa Ana location will be a “Green Achievement™ restaurant”. What this means is it will use energy- and water-saving features such as LED lights, high-performance windows and low-flow faucets.

Let’s talk about the Grand Opening celebration. Dunkin’ Donuts always has something special for the first person in both the walk-in and drive-thru lines at their Grand Openings. If you are the first person in either of these lines, you’ll win free coffee for one year!

Also, the first 100 guests to order will receive a Dunkin’ Donuts tote bag filled with special items! Guests at the Grand Opening will have the opportunity to walk the Dunkin’ Donuts’ pink carpet, taste free samples, and have a photo opportunity with their beloved mascot, Cuppy!

There will also be a ribbon cutting ceremony with local dignitaries in attendance to commence the ceremonial grand opening ribbon cutting and welcome Dunkin’ Donuts to Santa Ana. The opening ceremony will also include a check presentation to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. In alignment with Dunkin’ Donuts’ goal to support children’s health, the restaurant will donate $1,000 to help the organization meet the needs of children and families with first-class care and state-of-the-art facilities.

The Santa Ana Dunkin’ Donuts is located at 100 S. Harbor Boulevard.

Connect with Dunkin’ Donuts on Facebook and Twitter. Also, sign up for your own DD Perks Rewards Card!

Breakfast With Bob the Minion! {Make Your Own Minion Mug Too!}

June 30, 2015 / Crafts & DIY, Food, Let's Eat!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #The7thMinion #CollectiveBias

I would easily call our home a “Minion-loving” one. We can’t get enough of the Minions and are counting down the days until the release of the new Minions movie on July 10! Have you watched the trailer yet?

On a recent grocery shopping trip to Walmart, I was ecstatic when I saw a ton of specially marked boxes on the cereal aisle with exclusive Minion “toys” inside! As I walked up and down the aisle, I saw a few of my own childhood favorites featuring these toys inside the boxes

There are 7 minions to collect in all and they’re shown on the back of the cereal box. The 7th Minion is the prehistoric one and is offered exclusively at Walmart in these specially marked Family Size boxes of cereal.

Walmart has teamed up with General Mills to offer the exclusive Minion toys inside these cereals:

Honey Nut Cheerios
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Lucky Charms
Reese’s Puffs
Trix
Cocoa Puffs
Golden Grahams

As I walked down the aisle, cereal boxes seemed to be flying off the shelves and into my grocery cart! You may also notice that a couple of Minions ended up in the cart, too. I couldn’t resist. My daughter wasn’t even shopping with me, but I knew she’d love them. Walmart had so much “Minions” merchandise! I really wanted to buy all of it!

I couldn’t wait to get home and show my daughter. I decided to plan a little “Minions breakfast” for the following morning. I wanted it to be a fun start to our summer and a kickoff for our quest to find for the 7th minion. I think one of the luckiest parts about my daughter being an only child is that she doesn’t have to share the toy in the cereal box! Seriously, I grew up fighting my younger brother for the toy!

We decided to make a special Minion mug that night as a special edition to our Minion breakfast. Since she loves Bob the Minion and also loves making personalized ceramic mugs, she made a Bob the Minion mug. It’s probably one of the easiest DIYs a kid can do. Have you ever made one?

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own Minion mug:

1 white ceramic coffee mug, prewashed
1 set of permanent markers in a variety of colors
plain white paper (for practicing)
nail polish remover (for mistakes)
some Q-tips
1 roll of paper towels
1 cookie sheet
some Minions or pictures of Minions to look at for inspiration

Instructions for making your Minion mug

Start with a clean, dry mug.
Draw your design, using the permanent markers. If necessary, practice drawing your images first on white paper. Mistakes can be easily “erased” (prior to baking) using a baby wipe. Dry thoroughly with a paper towel prior to resuming the drawing with pens.
When you’re finished drawing and decorating, place your mug upside-down on a cookie sheet. (not pictured)
Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Allow your mug to cool all the way down before washing or using. Your cup should always be handwashed and not placed in the dishwasher.

How cute did her mug turn out? I can’t take credit for it. My daughter did it all on her own! It’s Bob! Can’t you tell?

We set up the breakfast table, including the new mug, and Bob and joined my daughter for some Trix. You have to be careful when inviting a Minion to breakfast! Sometimes they misunderstand the invite! Oh Bob!

Before pouring milk into her cereal, my daughter was ready to open each box and hunt for the 7th Minion. She got 4 cute ones, including Bob (her favorite) but didn’t get the 7th Minion! It was a good start though.

We’re determined to collect all 7, especially that 7th Minion, so it looks like we’ll be making a couple more trips back to Walmart for more cereal. My daughter also added “Find the 7th Minion” to her summer bucket list!

Do you have a favorite Minion? If so, which one is it? We love all of the Minions!

Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour Restaurant’s 6th Annual Splendiferously Superific Summer Spectacular Ice Cream Eating Challenge, benefitting CHOC Children’s® and Make-A-Wish®

June 26, 2015 / Family Fun, Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, Food, Let's Eat!, Lifestyle, Orange County

Farrell’s recently hosted a super duper fun event at their Brea location, featuring KTLA’s Henry DiCarlo, to kick off their 6th annual Splendiferously Superific Summer Spectacular Ice Cream Eating Challenge, benefitting CHOC Children’s® and Make-A-Wish®! Did I mention that they started filming at 4:45 a.m.? Yep! You can never get too early of a start, right?

Some of the fun guests in attendance that I got to meet included Choco Bear from CHOC Children’s, Tooba from Goon Holler on Vine, the knights from Medevial Times, the pirates from Pirates Adventure Dinner, and last year’s champion and professional eater, Naadar “Freak8r” Reda!

Farrell’s was so generous to provide an abundance of coffee, served in mustache cups (of course) and a breakfast feast fit for a king! Farrell’s doesn’t do anything small!

With the qualifying period for Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour Restaurant’s 6th annual Splendiferously Superific Summer Spectacular Ice Cream Eating Challenge under way, let’s talk a little bit more about the details. Since this event gives 100% of its proceeds to CHOC Children’s® and Make-A-Wish®, anyone can enter to win. You don’t even have to be competitive eater to enter. Farrell’s is rallying to get as many people to enter as possible, including those who simply want to donate. From June 19 through July 12, it’s everyone”s chance to come into any California Farrell’s location to shine like the ooey gooey whipped cream and sprinkle covered star they are and qualify! (or simply make a donation)

Here are the 3 easy ways to enter to win:

Donate – Give a minimum of $20 to Farrell’s event (don’t forget 100% of proceeds go to CHOC Children’s and Make-A-Wish) and receive a limited edition event T-shirt, $5 off your next vist to Farrell’s and a 3-scoop qualifying sundae to enjoy at your Leisure. Everyone that donates goes into a drawing to win a year of free Farrell’s ice cream. Each Farrell’s location will draw a winner! Qualify – Trying to qualify is fun and delicious! There are 6 different categories. In addition to receiving a limited edition event T-shirt and a $5 off coupon for your next vist to Farrell’s, you’ll receive a qualifying sundae to eat as fast as you can while being timed. The fastest in each category will be invited back to compete in the July 19, Championship event at Farrell’s in Brea, CA. Even if you don’t qualify, everyone that tries will still be entered into the drawing to win a year of free Farrell’s ice cream. Each Farrell’s location will draw a winner! Championship – Be a champion! The fastest qualifiers in each category get invited back to Farrell’s Championship event in Brea on July 19. Farrell’s shuts down the street, puts up a stage and all qualifiers battle spoon-to-spoon to see who are the fastest ice cream eaters. Every first place winner receives a year of free Farrell’s ice cream, a trophy and, the winner of the Solo Zoo Challenge, $750 in cold hard cash!

If you’re in it to win it, here are the categories and details:

Men’s Individual Pig’s Trough Challenge (Ages – 16+)
-Qualifying Cost- $20 per person
-Qualifying Sundae – 3-scoop sundae
-Championship Sundae – Farrell’s Famous Pig’s Trough, 6-scoop sundae
-Grand Prize – One Year of FREE Farrell’s Ice Cream

Women’s Individual Pig’s Trough Challenge (Ages -16+)
-Qualifying Cost – $20 per person
-Qualifying Sundae – 3-scoop sundae
-Championship Sundae – Farrell’s Famous Pig’s Trough, 6-scoop sundae
-Grand Prize – One Year of FREE Farrell’s Ice Cream

Kid’s Individual Jr. Pig’s Trough Challenge (Ages – 9 – 15)
-Qualifying Cost – $20 per person
-Qualifying Sundae – Jr. 3-scoop sundae
-Championship Sundae – Jr. Pig’s Trough, modified smaller 6-scoop sundae.
-Grand Prize – One Year of FREE Farrell’s Ice Cream

The Big and Small Pig’s Trough Challenge (2-persons, ages 16+ and 9 and under)
-Qualifying Cost – $20 per adult / child team
-Qualifying Sundae – 3-scoop sundae
-Championship Sundae – Farrell’s Famous Pig’s Trough, 6-scoop sundae
-Grand Prize – One Year of FREE Farrell’s Ice Cream

The 4-person Zoo Challenge (4-person team, ages 16+)
-Qualifying Cost – $20 per person ($80 total for the 4-person team)
-Qualifying Sundae – 3-scoop sundae
-Championship Sundae – Farrell’s Famous 30-scoop Zoo to eat as a team
-Grand Prize – One Year of FREE Farrell’s Ice Cream

Solo Zoo Challenge (Ages – 16+)
-Qualifying Cost – $40 per person
-Qualifying Sundae – A modified Farrell’s Famous Pig’s Trough, 6-scoop sundae
-Championship Sundae – Farrell’s Famous 30-scoop Zoo to eat individually against Professional Eater and past champion Naader “Freak8E” Reda.

Grand Prize – The 1st place winner at the Championship event will receive a year of free Farrell’s ice cream, a trophy and $750 BIG ONES!!!!

Championship Details – The main event at the Championship will be the Solo Zoo Challenge. This will be a true head-to-head event with the one (1) fastest qualifier racing Naader “Freak8r” Reda to see can finish a Farrell’s Famous Zoo Sundae first. The winner will walk away with a trophy, a year of free Farrell’s ice cream, AND $750!!!!

Those who would like to donate to the event but not compete in qualifying, will receive the 3-scoop sundae, the limited edition Ice Cream Eating Challenge t-shirt, and the $5 off coupon but will not be timed. Visit FarrellsUSA.com for complete details.

100% of the proceeds from this event benefits CHOC Children’s® (Children’s Hospital of Orange County) and Make-A-Wish®. The 6th Annual Splendiferously Superific Summer Spectacular Ice Cream Eating Challenge is sponsored by Service Champions Heating & Air Conditioning, Carnival Services, Studio Three Sixty Advertising, Man Eating Chicken, and Brea Downtown.

37th Annual Greek Festival Brings a Taste of Greece to Orange County – June 26-28, 2015 (Free Admission Inside, Too!)

June 23, 2015 / Family Fun, Food, Let's Eat!, Lifestyle, Orange County

Orange County’s 37th annual “A Taste of Greece” festival will be held on June 26-28 at St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church. The three-day festival, which will feature traditional Greek cuisine, wine tasting, live music, authentic Greek dancing with lessons and boutique booths reminiscent of the Plaka, a well-known picturesque historical neighborhood of Athens, and is expected to draw more than 12,000 guests.

Festival hours are as follows:

Friday, June 26-5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday, June 27-noon to 10 p.m.
Sunday, June 28-noon to 9 p.m.

Festival admission is just $3 per person with free admission on Saturday, June 27 from noon – 4 p.m. for seniors older than 65 years. Children under the age of 10 are admitted free (with parents or an adult) throughout the three-day festival. Free festival parking will also be available, with complimentary shuttle buses transporting guests from public parking sites in Irvine.

Greek cuisine and hospitality will be the focal points as the festival will feature authentic recipes for traditional Greek dishes, delicious pastries and a variety of beverages, highlighted with a wine “Taverna,” offering Greek wine and beer. The traditional Greek menu will include Chicken, Lamb Chops, Greek French Fries, Gyros, Pastichio (Greek lasagna), Loucanico (Greek sausage), Spanakopita (spinach and feta pie), Dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves), Saganaki (Greek brandy-flamed cheese), Loukoumathes (Greek doughnut holes), Greek Salad, Calamari and more. There will also be a Greek coffeehouse set up by Portola Coffee Lab to serve Greek and American coffee drinks in a traditional Plaka setting. The Philoptochos, the church’s philanthropic group, will bake around the clock during the weeks leading up to the festival to prepare traditional Baklava and other exquisite pastries.

A family-friendly affair, the festival will offer free Greek dance lessons throughout the weekend, and also feature boutique shops, a variety of games and a full-scale carnival. Event attendees can also enter an opportunity drawing for the chance to win one of three premiere prizes, with a Grand Prize of $1,000 and 2nd Prize of a 50” Flat Screen TV, 3rd Prize of a Dell Inspiron Laptop Computer, and 4th Prize of a GoPro Hero Camera.

To grab free admission, click here!

St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church is located at 4949 Alton Pkwy, Irvine, CA 92604 (between Culver Dr & Jeffrey Rd)

Please visit http://www.IrvineGreekFest.com for more information about the “A Taste of Greece” festival.

Have YOU Tried “Create Your Taste” at McDonald’s Yet?

June 12, 2015 / Food, Let's Eat!, Restaurant Reviews

When I heard that not one but TWO of the McDonald’s locations near my home in South Orange County were offering “Create Your Taste”, I hurried over to try it! If you aren’t familiar with Create Your Taste, it may be because it’s one of the company’s newest options and is currently only offered at select locations. Consider yourself lucky if any of those locations are near you!

The Create Your Taste option lets foodies create the flavors and meal they want using an innovative, touch screen kiosk to order. With 29 ingredient options, it’s about using flavors to create a meal as unique as you.

For obvious reasons, my daughter insisted on ordering for BOTH of us! It looks so fun! I guess I’ll get to try it next time we go! Check her out on the kiosk!

The Create Your Taste option allows a guest to first choose between a 1/4 lb 100% pure beef patty or 100% chicken breast filet for their sandwich. From there they choose a bun, decide if they’d like to add Applewood Smoke Bacon to their sandwich, then cheese, and finally toppings and sauces! There’s also the option to “make it a meal” and add french fries or even new sweet potato fries, and a drink!

There are so many different combinations to create, that it was kind of difficult to choose just one. I know we’ll be going back soon to try different ones. Look how delicious our burgers turned out!

We were dying to try McDonald’s sweet potato fries as soon as we saw the sign hanging. They were so yummy!

There is also a Create Your Taste Option for desserts! Again, my daughter insisted on ordering for the both of us. She worked hard to create the perfect sundaes for each of us!

As you can see, McDonald’s has really nailed it with their Create Your Taste concept! If you haven’t had the opportunity to try it yet, it’s something I think you should look into doing soon. For a list of locations offering this option, click here.

Disclosure: I was invited by McDonald’s to a media tasting event in order to write my review. No othe compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.

Fresh Brothers Pizza Knows How to Throw a (Birthday) Party!

June 10, 2015 / Let's Eat!, Parties

One of my favorite places to eat is Fresh Brothers Pizza! In addition to their delicious pizza, I always have to order some Fresh Knots and couple of Meatball Sliders while I’m there! Luckily, my family loves Fresh Brothers as much as I do so we never have a problem finishing all of it. Oh, I’m hungry now just typing about it and looking at the pictures!

Fresh Brothers offers healthy options made with fresh ingredients! When it comes to our kids and their nutrition, it’s important that we provide them with as many opportunities to eat healthy foods as possible. Did you know that Fresh Brothers has a Fresh Kids Special Sauce, which is a mix of finely ground veggies blended into their pizza sauce? They use it on the kids pizzas and kids can’t even taste the difference! The Fresh Kids Special Sauce is just one of the ways they cater to kids. They also offer several gluten-free options, including gluten-free pizza!

When I was looking for somewhere to take my daughter and her friends to celebrate her birthday, I knew exactly where I wanted to go! Fresh Brothers! Our children are invited to a ton of birthday parties throughout their elementary school years and we’re all aware of the quality of typical “party pizza” being served at these parties. I can feel good taking the girls to Fresh Brothers for a party because the entire concept behind the restaurant is providing guests with the freshest ingredients. (Hence the name “Fresh Brothers”)

It was so easy to schedule a Fresh Brothers “Make Your Own Pizza Party”! We live close to the Newport Beach location and I had a choice of having our party outside on the front patio or inside. We opted for inside and when we arrived, there was an area “reserved” just for our party, with drinks for each guest (that I had pre-ordered) and some Fresh Brothers balloons.

We were greeted by our party hostess “Kylie”. She was really great with the girls and so patient. The girls were excited to start the party by getting to decorate their own pizza boxes first. Fresh Brothers provided the markers, crayons, and stickers to decorate them with. This was the perfect activity for these creative pre-tweens.

Next, each of the girls got to make her own pizza. They brought out dough and every imagineable ingredient the girls might ask for, to top their pizzas with. After they finished making their individual pizzas, the pizzas were taken back to the kitchen to be cooked in the pizza oven.

While the girls waited for their pizzas to cook, they had fun playing with pizza dough! A huge pizza dough was brought out for all of them to break up and share. They loved creating different shapes and making things like mustaches with the pizza dough.

The table got quiet when their pizzas were delivered fresh from the oven. Although they had the option to take home any leftover pizza in their decorated pizza boxes, there weren’t any leftovers. That’s just how great the pizza tasted! I ordered a Greek Town Special Salad for myself! I love their salads.

The week before our party, I stopped by Fresh Brothers and picked up an empty pizza box to use for the adorable matching cake I had made. (The cake was something we saw on a Nerdy Nummies video.) I also grabbed some of their adorable stickers to use on the favor bags. I just love their smiley face logo, don’t you?

At the end of our party, each girl received their very own Fresh Brothers t-shirt! So cute! And the back says “I made my own at Fresh Brothers“! Such a fun keepsake!

A Fresh Brothers Pizza Party is perfect for guests of all ages. It was a lot of fun for my daughter and her friends and I got to enjoy the party too while our party hostess took extra special care of us!

To read more about party options at Fresh Brothers, click here. Fresh Brothers currently has locations in Los Angeles and Orange County. To find a location, click here. Connect with Fresh Brothers Pizza on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

A very special thank you to Fresh Brothers for hosting my daughter and her friends for a “Make Your Own Pizza” birthday party. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.

Let’s Get This Summer Started With SNICKERS® Ice Cream Bars & Summer Bucket List Journals!

June 5, 2015 / Crafts & DIY, Food, Let's Eat!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ShareFunshine #CollectiveBias

I am so ecstatic for the arrival of summer! A few of my most favorite things about summer include wearing flip flops every day, watching summer sunsets, and most of all, slowing down the pace of life to be able to focus on creating new family memories. We just have so much more time to do things that don’t have a place in our lives during the regular school year.

Our first stop on the way home after the first day of school was at the park. My daughter LOVES to go to the little park by our house. Since it was a pretty warm day, I surprised her by bringing some SNICKERS® Ice Cream Bars in the cooler for us to enjoy while we were there.

We spent about an hour there and enjoyed our ice cream on the swings. The frozen version of this delicious candy bar is yummy and a definite summer “must-have”! Sitting there with my daughter, putting our feet in the sand, made me realize how important it is to enjoy this time together and try to hang onto these childhood years of hers for as long as possible.

My daughter and I have this annual tradition of creating a “Summer Bucket List” together. It’s like our summer goal-setting session. Our time at the park got me thinking that this year, since she’s getting older, we should do something a little bit different for our “Summer Bucket List”. Instead of just making a list, I thought it would be more age-appropriate to have her keep a “Summer Bucket List” Journal instead. I also wanted to make the occasion more of a party and include some of her friends. What better reason to celebrate the beginning of summer, right?

I ran to Walmart and bought everything we needed for our little get-together, including more of the Snickers Ice Cream Bars (I told you we loved them!), M&M’s® (Plain and Peanut), Skittles®, and Starburst® Minis Unwrapped. I found them on the novelty ice cream and candy aisles, in the grocery section.

The M&M’s® were also on an endcap. Right now you can also enter Walmart’s Share a Little Funshine Sweepstakes daily by clicking here. All of these party items are so easy to just set out on a tray so the girls can snack while they make their “Summer Bucket List” journals.

Since my daughter and her friends are going into 5th grade next year, I figured this would be a great way to document their summer in a more detailed way, with some writing and illustrations or even photos on each page. It’s always good to jot down a list of things you’re hoping to do in the summer, even trying to pick some that you haven’t done before. I took 9 of our bucket list items and made them into little printable flags that can be glued into the pages of the journal. (You’ll be able to download these a little further down, as well as a set of plain flags that can be written on.)

(1) Journal or composition book for each person (I found really cute ones with designs on the covers)
printable “Summer Bucket List” flags (I print on cardstock)
washi tape in a variety of colors and patterns
glue sticks and a hot glue gun (for use by an adult)
regular tape
colorful buttons and adhesive rhinestones
permanent markers in different colors
scissors

This year I found journals with different prints on them. You can also cover a traditional composition book with scrapbook paper. (not shown)
Cut out both printed and plain flags.
Write a “Summer Bucket List” item on each plain flag.
Using a glue stick, put on flag on each page of the journal. (You can either do this all up front or as you complete each item throughout summer)
Write about each wonderful event in the journal to preserve the memory. You can also illustrate or insert a photo of the activity, on each page.
For the cover of the journal, you can either leave it plain or decorate it. I set out washi tape, buttons, adhesive rhinestones, etc. for the girls to decorate their covers but it’s up to you.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve made the “Summer Bucket List” flags in both printed and plain versions that you can download to make your own journals. I highly recommend printing them on cardstock. It just holds up better.

This is where you can download the printedflags and the plainflags to use with your own journals!

Look how cute her cover turned out! I helped glue on the buttons with my hot glue gun. I also love her first journal entry of the summer. We just printed out a picture to go with it and glued it on the page. I cannot wait to read my daughter’s journal at the end of summer. I just know it’s going to be filled with a lot of fun memories. For now, I’m ready to get this summer started though!

Do YOU have any special beginning-of-summer traditions with your child(ren)? What are YOUR big plans for the summer?

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