THE GREAT WOLF LODGE

 You heard it! We went to the Great Wolf Lodge yesterday and the day before! It was a surprise for all of us kids in honor of Levi's birthday and my Grandparents 44th anniversary. I was told that we were going to visit my grandparents and then swim in their neighbor's backyard pool. -ya. So I brought a swim suit, and good thing too, because 5 minutes before we would arrive at the GWL we stopped to eat at Taco Bell, and my grandparents walked in and said, "Would you guys like to go to the Great Wolf Lodge?!" It took me 5 minuets to realize that they were not joking! Wow- what a BIG surprise that was! We had an absolute blast! (I'll post more photos later on. :)

 ha ha ha -that's me!

 Resort-

 Where we ate dinner-

And those are the lights coming from inside the "Howlin' Tornado." (The biggest, baddest, scariest ride there) It was 6 stories high! Wowsers!
Well, more to come a little later. :)
Happy days to all!
~JessicaCynthia~

Bowling

 We all went out to happy hour at 'Beaches" for Caitlin's 17th birthday. (Early)

 -She had a lot of fun!

 Then we all went bowling. That's my feet in the photo above there. Yep! I look just like Ronald McDonald. They are actually Mr. Woltersdorf's shoes. *blush*

 -wow.

 Josiah was not too happy about throwing a gutter ball. ;p

 Ice skating anyone?

A little to the left....

 Oh ya...that is some manly man there!

-Wow. You're sure taking bowling seriously Caitlin!

After Bowling, we all headed to 'cold stone.' (Ice cream) - yummm...

The day ended with joy, happiness, and creamy ice cream.

New Card

Now I have not yet completed this one. But I simply could NOT resist showing y'all what it looked like! I absolutely love the 'weathered' look. I am going to do the same type of style with other cards, but different colors, and different animal outlines. The outlines I will be doing are, Eagle, Elk, Horse, and maybe a duck. I drew these out on card-stalk, and took a good two minutes cutting it out! (P.s. I looked at some basic outline on the computer and copied it. :) I'm not that good of an artist. )
Do you like them? :)

Espresso Muffins

 (Above) The cast of Ingredients are here to make something, amazing. Welcome them with a hearty applause...
(Below) Mix dry stuff. Simple...but we're not done there! :o)

 Next, start with a sparkly clean bowl, and be prepared to get a little messy!

 Pour that good ol' milk in...

 Then add in the. . . coffee. *Yum!*

 And the butter.

 wow- though you might think this is a gross photo, I think it is cool. It is the egg falling into the batter. It was pretty hard to get this photo because I am only one person cooking, and I want to take a picture of the egg falling, and I want to get it just right. Ha, ha. So there I am cracking and dropping only the egg, in my left hand, while timing and taking the photo of it falling in my right. Pretty talented if you ask me!

 Same drill here.
(This is the vanilla. :)

 Add all of that juicy stuff together, then mix it in the dry ingredients.
P.S. I like how the mixers are chopping the batter. :) Pretty cool.

 Ha ha ha, funny story here. The recipe called for small chocolate chips, and I only had normal ones. So what do you do, but crush them. Right. Well, I was standing there banging on the chips, and when I went to pick up the bag, the wooden cutting board split in threes! Crazy! I did not know I was banging that hard! ;p

Mix that stuff up with the much earned chocolate chips, and put them in pans. 

By the way, if you are wondering who gets that big fat daddy one in the middle, it's not me. Nope, sad but true. It is my PAPA! I always will give him the biggest one. Comes naturally. . . 

 Here are a few photos I took when the muffins came out-

 LOVE this photo. It is a heart. <3 -how sweet.

 And *drum roll now* The muffins are DONE! *hip hip* Don't ask me what I think about them. . . . nope, I won't say! . . . well, I guess I could! I think they're fantastic! Absolutely spectacular! Well, looking. I don't think I've had a whole one yet. :P Can't wait though!

And the cook! Yes, I know, it isn't the best. But, it'll have to do! P.S. notice my wonderful brother there in the background. Yep, he's a lively one. :p

 Thanks for reading! And have a happily splendid, and joyous day!

Your friend,

JessicaCynthia

THE RECIPE

Yes, I decided to be nice and give Y'all the recipe. Thank me later. :)

ESPRESSO MUFFINS

Only for the best of people

Muffins~

2C flour _3/4 C Sugar _ 2-1/2 tsp baking powder _ 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt _ 1C milk _ 2 TBS instant coffee granules _ 1/2 butter melted _ 1 egg 

_ 1 tsp Vanilla extract _ 3/4 C miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a small bowl, stir milk and coffee granules until granules are dissolved. Add butter, egg and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in Chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups two thirds full. Bake at 375` for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!