Colonial Days (Orem, Utah)

On Saturday, my family and I went to a festival called Colonial Days to celebrate the Fourth of July.  It was super fun!  There were a lot of booths filled to the brim with stuff from when America first came to be.  Before America became its own country, we were a British Colony (well, technically 13 colonies). In one of the booths, you could try on the armor they had to wear back then.  It totally reminded me of the type of armor medieval knights would wear.  It was SUPER heavy and HOT!  The man there told a story of a soldier who actually melted in his armor.  Glad that wasn't me!!!

Next we learned a bit about the Mayflower and the perilous journey the Pilgrims made across the Atlantic Ocean to the promised land: America.  That boat was only 80 feet long and I think 20 feet across.  There were about 180 people on it.  So imagine living on the first floor of your house with 179 of your not-so-closest friends for 3 months, plus all their belongings, animals, food, etc.  AND they had to stay on the boat for another 3 months after landing at Plymouth because they landed in December.  Not quite a beautiful, balmy season...  I think they should have chosen a different time to sail.  They must have REALLY been in a VERY BIG HURRY to get out of England!

Next we went to the Haberdashery, a booth where you could try on colonial-style clothing that people wore back then.  Audrey had a blast trying the dresses on.  (So did I...)  They were pretty hot, and I didn't even have on the corset, petticoat, hoop skirt, or any of that extra stuff.  WHEW!!  I am so glad I live in this century!

After that we tried fresh bread and cookies from the bakery.  I had a sourdough roll (which was my favorite), hardtack (a special kind of bread the soldiers ate.  They call it hardtack because by the time the bread arrived at their camp, it was super hard, but since ours was fresh it was quite soft.), and a Frogger Joe, a type of molasses cookie that tasted a lot like a gingerbread cookie.  YUM!  The vendors used actual colonial recipes for all of their baked goods.  I want to learn how to make some!!!

Then, I joined a fake debate on whether or not we should dump the tea into the harbor.  It was really funny and fun.  We were assigned characters and lines so that the debate was quite heated, filled with cries of, "Hazzah!" and some other cry.  I have no idea what either meant, but it sure was fun to yell them!  In the end, I got to march with the other "patriots" and shoot imaginary people with my wooden gun and dump imaginary tea into an imaginary harbor.

I also got to go to a colonial school.  This might sound weird, but it was kind of fun, even though I was the oldest kid there by about 5 years...  I guess it was a one-room schoolhouse!  I got to re-learn my alphabet, how to count to 10, how to correctly write the letter "B" on my slate and solve some arithmetic problems.  I also learned that King George looks a lot like George Washington.  Must be the powdered wig, red coat, same pose... and same name!!!  Except the Washington part, but hey, who really cares about minor details...  

Unfortunately, I was quite a naughty student and wound up in the front of the classroom, sitting on a stool, and wearing a dunce hat.  Just kidding!  I was actually a model student but really wanted to sit in the dunce seat!

Question of the day:

Have you been to any fun festivals, carnivals, etc this year?  Are there any others that you'd like to do?

Me:

Yep, this one.  I'd really like to go to the Festival of Colors.

How to Fix Nasty Barbie Hair

How many of you have wanted to get rid of nasty My Little Pony or Barbie hair but didn't know how?

ME!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to the lovely site called Pinterest, I figured out the secret to make Barbie's hair pretty again.

YAY!!!

How to make your Barbie's hair pretty again:

Step one:  Fill a bowl with super hot water (hot chocolate hot).

Step two:  Place your Barbie's (or pony's) hair inside that bowl and let it soak for thirty seconds.

Step three:  Brush your Barbie's hair (starting from the bottom; it'll make brushing so much easier) with a small tooth comb (or a "Barbie brush") until all tangle monsters (or whatever you call them) are out.

As a last resort:  If you're stuck on a knot that just won't come out, then cut your Barbie's hair.  Yes, you heard me...  Or read me, cut the stupid Barbie hair.  It's not going to kill you if you give Barbie a trim...  Or a new look.

Step four:  Style your Barbie's renewed hair.  You'll be amazed at how much better it feels and looks.

Question of the day:

When was the first time you cut hair?

Me:

I was about four.  I was styling my cousin's long, thick, curly locks with a tiny round brush.  It kinda got stuck, so, being one to solve problems on my own, I cut it out.  Then I decided to cut a few other "chunks" out as well to make it symmetrical.  Long story short (eh-em, no pun intended), my Aunt Karen had to take her to a salon to "fix" my stylish creation.  Needless to say, it ended up getting cut about 1 inch long all around her head.  I don't think Aunt Karen liked me very much for a while after that...

Audrey's Birthday Party

OH MY GOSH!!!  AUDREY IS FOUR TODAY!!!

Like I said in my last post, I am in charge of Ballon animals and face paint.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures.  BUT, I was able to have some pictures taken of me in my clown costume.

Well...  Actually, I only have a picture of me (in my clown clothes and face paint) wearing Audrey's wig.

Here is a picture of the rainbow wig I was wearing.

Audrey got a lot of new barbies, clothes, and My Little Ponies.  One of her gifts (one of her absolute favorites) was all Brave stuff.  She got Merida's wig, dress, and even a Merida barbie doll with her horse Angus included.

 

The fun part is that she really does look like Merida a little bit.  If only she'd keep the wig on.

I felt like making this picture :D

My present for her is to take her to see Brave and then we're going to ride the carousel at Provo Beach Resort, It's going to be fun.

Question of the day:

Have you seen Brave yet?  If so, what did you think?  If not, do you want to?

Me:

YES!!!  I SAW BRAVE ON THE MIDNIGHT SHOWING!!!  It was so good...  But I did cry, It was quite heart warming.

Audrey's Birthday Cupcakes

OH MY GOSH!!!  TOMORROW IS AUDREY'S BIRTHDAY AND BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Anyways, I'm super excited for tomorrow because I get to be the face painter and ballon animal person!!!  My dad wanted to hire professionals, but he later came to realize that I can do just as well as them (ballon animal wise).

Check it out!  It's Yoshi :)

I also got to make and decorate Audrey's cake...  Well, cupcakes...  Same thing basically just cupcakes are smaller.

I made sprinkle cupcakes, they have sprinkles both in the batter and on top of the cupcake.  They're super cute and easy to make, especially if you use the boxed cake batter...  What?  I was being lazy.

It was super fun to decorate the cupcakes AND this time I didn't use royal frosting which was a big relief.

Question of the day:
Do you like to face paint or make ballon animals?  Or do you just like to watch?

Me:
BOTH!!!

Healthy Eating 101

Thanks to my mother, I am going to try to eat even healthier...
Yeah...  Is that possible?

Mom here:  Yes Alli, it is.

*Back to me*

Darn.

Mom here:  cut out the daily treats... What treats you say?  Ummm... ice cream, leftover peanut butter cookies and muddy buddies...  Heeeheeeheeeee!!!!

So, how exactly does one go about eating healthier?

5 Tips for Becoming a Healthier Eater:

1. PORTION CONTROL!  How much is a portion?  Each person is different.  Most portions can be simply based off your hand.
Protein=your palm
Carb=your fist
Veggies=a nice, big handful
Fats=your thumbnail

2.  EAT SMART!  Make healthier versions of your favorite foods to maximize nutrition.
For breakfast, I love these fantastic healthy waffles:

For lunch, I love cottage cheese with chopped tomatoes or peaches or pineapple.  Or a super yummy salad.

For snacks, a yummy smoothie sure hits the spot.

For dinner, easy green chicken enchiladas is a winner.

3.  EAT OFTEN!  Eat small meals/snacks throughout the day.  Aim for 5-6 mini meals each day, keeping each one to 200-400 calories, depending on your weight, metabolism and activity level.

4.  CUT THE JUNK!  Cut out extra calories, i.e. sugary, fatty treats...  Bummer!!!

5.  PLAN A CHEAT!  Yes, you heard that right.  Allow a cheat day/meal/treat once a week.  That way you don't feel as completely deprived.  It gives you something to look forward to.


Question of the Day:
Who is with me?  Anyone want to join me on a quest to clean up the internal/intestinal/gastronomical insanity?

Audrey's Birthday Cake

THIS IS INSANICAL (I couldn't find a good enough word in the thesaurus so I made up my own)!!!  My sister Audrey is turning four in seven days!!!  Anyways, we celebrated her birthday on Sunday and guess who got to decorate the cake?!

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so proud of myself, I feel dramatic happy tears coming to my eyes.  I thought I did quite well speaking that Mom and Dad weren't home and I wanted to surprise Mom by having the cake decorated before she came home.  Ok, so maybe it wasn't completely done when Mom and Dad arrived but it was pretty close to being finished.  The cake was a Polly Pocket beach scene and the icing was royal (my little brother can't have any dairy and I wanted him to be able to eat some too), so it was kind of a pain to squirt the flowers on, but other than that it was super fun to make.

All of the props are all plastic; they are NOT fondant.  I'm not good with sculpting (something I hope to work on).

Question of the day:

Have you ever decorated a cake?  If so, what has been your favorite cake you've decorated?

Me:

DUH!!!  The Polly Pocket cake.

Exclusive Babbling From Me

Do you wanna know the worst way to wake up in the morning?  You jump out of bed ready to start a new day and have fun but then suddenly it feels like a thousand pound weight was dropped on your head and you claps on the ground in pain.  Then you find out that your throat kills and no matter what you do or how much water you drink it just gets worse.

That is about how my day started (and how it still is).  Let me tell you, IT SUCKS!!!  Not only does my throat kill but I feel like I'm gonna collapse eery time I attempt to stand up (and have quite a bit).  Plus, when I try to get my glass of water I feel like all the weight has gone to my head just from leaning a bit to the right from my place on the couch...  NOT PLEASANT!!!

As for what I've done today lets see:...

Watch part of a movie about the Founding Fathers for history...  CHECK

Sleep for more than three hours and wake up feeling even worse...  CHECK

Take a really hot "aroma therapy" bath for a bit more than an hour and fall asleep in it...  CHECK

Feel a bit better but still feel like I'm gonna collapse, and my throat still hurt...  CHECK

Waste away time watching a few episodes of My Little Ponies because I was that bored (at least they give you good friendship advice)...  CHECK

Study for an English Exam...  CHECK

Write a most needed blog update...  CHECK

Read a book and probably fall asleep again...  NOT YET

Things I've learned:

Ramen isn't good to eat when sick...  Apple sauce is

An "aroma therapy" bath helps a lot with feeling better

Don't listen to upbeat music when you feel like your head is going to explode...  It won't help with the headaches.

...  GREAT!!!  NOW I SOUND LIKE A DOCTOR!!!

Question of the day:

What was your day like?

Me:

Read the above...  OH!!!  I think I might have strep throat because a lot of my symptoms are for strep throat.