All American Summer Fun

When I was growing up I often heard the statement "As American As Baseball and Apple Pie." So it was exciting when we found out we had won four tickets to a Mud Hens' game this past week through the Northern Ohio Scholarship Fund. Bobby isn't that fond of sports, so Emily, her bestie Rachel, my sister, and I headed out for some all American summer fun!

The NOSF not only offered us tickets, but we were invited to share in a buffet which featured the most interesting cake for dessert that I have ever eaten. It turned out to be a sheet cake that was a yeast doughnut that had been frosted. The girls posed with the team mascots Muddy and Mudonna. And Rachel even ended up with a pop fly game ball.

The rest of our week included other all American past times like swimming, attending Farmers' Market where our friend Katie was a jr. chef for the day, and baking. I attempted my first ever loaf of Italian bread which I sliced, topped with home made garlic spread, and melted slices of mozzarella. The beautiful thing about America is that even Italian bread can be an American experience since our country is such a melting pot of people and cultures.

And of course, I read. I read Lottie's New Beach Towel which is a fun story of how Lottie the chicken makes great and multiple use of a beach towel her aunt sent her. The illustrations are done in little blocks with most pages having two blocks that help tell the story beautifully. This book was published some time back, but it is definitely worth checking to see if your local library has a copy. Or you can find a used copy online.

I also read Surfer Chick which is a totally awesome and gnarly surfer rhyming book about a chick who learns to surf from her amazing surfer dad. Definitely a fun read. I'm not sure how I ended up with two chicken books where the characters were at the beach, but there you have it.

Well, that about wraps it up for this week. Join me next week for another exciting episode, same crazy time, same crazy channel. Also be sure to drop by Literacy Musings Mondays for more great blogs as well as my personal website Fun With Aileen where you will find more on reading, writing, and my very own chapter and picture books. And finally, you can find me on twitter @AileenWStewart if you want an extremely brief glimpse into my days.