DIY " EAT. SLEEP. SWIM. REPEAT." T-shirt

 I made this top as a fun sleeping shirt for my daughter. I used the impact font on the silhouette software, which it comes pre-loaded with. No need to purchase a new font if you like this one.

The other thing I didn't purchase was new heat transfer vinyl for this one. I had saved scraps and cut out each word individually.

This T-shirt pretty much sums up how some days feel to her. LOL.

DIY "I FLY! What's Your Super Power?" Sweatshirt

 My daughter used to have a t-shirt with the same saying that has now been relegated to her cabin clothes. When she got that one I had purchased it as I didn't have the silhouette machine previously to make one.

But now I found a need to make it again for her. At school they are having a superhero day and at her age in elementary in elementary school, being the oldest grade, actually dressing up like a superhero is a little silly. This will be her take on the day.

Plus, she does swim butterfly stroke rather well and looks so strong when she swims Fly.

For the font I used a font called tinsel from the silhouette design store. I find that I would much rather spend money buying new fonts from there then trying to find clipart that I have to edit around the font. Font can be really tricky to work with and be very time-consuming if you don't have a pre-loaded font. Pictures are a different story and I will find clipart that I can download for free or purchase to use and sometimes buy them from the silhouette design store.

DIY Silhouette "Swim Mom" Shirts

The two biggest reasons that I do my own personalization and designs on my Silhouette machine to iron on clothing is 1) cost savings and 2) the ability to personalize everything.

The thing I like to personalize the most is what type of fabric I am going to wear. In the past I have bought items that a company made for the team and find that the cotton is too heavy and uncomfortable or the arms just aren't long enough in a long sleeve top. When I buy the Garment I want to wear I can try it on First and make sure I like how it fits in feels and then personalize it the way I want to and I'm excited to show my support through my outfit.

DIY SWIMMING Flannel Pajama Pants

In the upcoming weeks, I will be sharing a lot more of the DIY silhouette heat transfer vinyl Creations I have done. It seems like there is always some new, fun personalised item the kids need or want.
And if you can do that personalization yourself, you can save a lot of money.
These "swimming" flannel pajama pants are just one example. Similar pants were for sale at the last two championship swim meets I took my daughter to and they we're selling them for $27. It doesn't seem like a bad price when you compare it to how much everything else you have to pay for when when it comes to swim team but I I kn I knew I could pick up a pair of pajama pants like these at Walmart for around $10 and for a a couple of dollars in heat transfer vinyl I was able to make her a pair for less than half the cost.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Noah's Ark Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells

This is our 2nd year of going to Noah's Ark in Wisconsin Dells and meeting up with some family there. Noah's Ark is dubbed "America's Largest Waterpark" although, after looking at a post about best waterparks in the world I have to wonder if it is bigger than the ones in Florida. It may have been the largest at one point and is probably still the largest in the Midwest, but not sure if it is still the largest in America anymore. Regardless, it is so much fun and there is only one ride (the Scorpion) that my son can't go on because they have a minimum weight. This year he wanted to be "really brave" and go on everything and did go on a couple that he was too scared to go on this year. He was really proud of himself.

I don't have any pictures from inside the park because we choose not to carry anything around with us, which prevents anything from getting lost, forgotten or stolen. And this year we all had aqua socks so we didn't have to go to the shoe corrals after every ride. I highly recommend having water shoes to make things easier and more efficient. I heard someone ask about wearing their Keen sandals on the rides and they said it depended upon the ride and some they may be asked to take off.

Another thing I recommend is paying the extra $3 for premium parking (only if you can get there before they open so you can get a close spot). That $3 makes it easier to go out to eat snacks and meals at your vehicle which will save you a lot of money from having to buy it inside the park. Plus the entrance for the premium parking is right by the bathroom and is in a central location allowing you to choose which of the 4 major areas of the park you are going to as the other entrance (regular parking) bring your in to one of the major areas and you have to do more walking when you want to come/go to your vehicle.

It has been a fun trip to meet family there for a weekend vacation and gives my kids the opportunity to create some memories with family in the summer. To save some money, I had signed up for the newsletter from Noah's Ark and bought BOGO tickets (good any day of the season) in the spring. Read about last year's trip to Noah's Ark here.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Caribbean Club Resort

This year on our summer trip to meet some family in Wisconsin Dells we stayed at the Caribbean Club resort in Wisconsin Dells. We were heading to the Dells to go to Noah's Ark Waterpark as our feature event.

This Resort seems to have individually owned condos that the resort will rent out and take care of for the owners or in our case we found one that was privately owned and managed through VRBO.com. what you see in the interior pictures for mine is what our property owner has done and updated. I had read some reviews on TripAdvisor that some of the condos there are more dated. I highly suggest checking out vacation rental by owner and see what they have on there. This one was unit number 108.

The resort itself features a sand beach on Lake Delton which my kids enjoyed because as much as they get to swim they don't always get to play in the sand as much since they swim in pools a lot. On the property there is an indoor pool and hot tub and sauna in doors. There is also a outdoor pool with a waterfall and slide and children's Splash area with swings.

The resort does have docks that are available first come first serve so if you are renting a Motorcraft or bringing your own you could have a place to put it.

Since these are condos they have full kitchens, which is why we rented a condo because we wanted to be able to make many of our meals there which is a lot easier with traveling with kids.

Last year we had rented a cabin at a different Resort but that wasn't available so this year I went in search of another place and found this. A huge draw to this place is that it isn't overrun with people like some of the other hotels and Resorts have that are.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Faribault Water Park

I told getting season pass oftentimes other places like outdoor water parks have season passes as well. We do not have a season pass to this water park but I do like to be able to take the kids to a few different water parks to play throughout the summer.. this one in Faribault, MN is one that offers season passes. We went to this particular Waterpark for two reasons. The first reason is that our city pool didn't open up until the next day and it was 90 degrees out and we wanted to be wet. The second reason was that when I signed my kids up for the Faribault Public Library reading program they were each given a pass to go to this water park for free period so comma I only had to pay for my admission and snacks while we were there. They had a ton of fun and as it turned out there was several other families from swim team who were there to enjoy the day. It seems like all our little fishies want to be in the water as much as possible.

I wanted to make a couple of comments on the picture that you see above there for those that know us personally they may wonder what is going on in one of the pictures. My daughter has been wanting to hug her brother more often maybe because she wants hugs or maybe because she knows he doesn't want hugs and when I asked them to stand together closely so I could get a picture she took that opportunity to hug him and he was throwing his arms up in disbelief. Also you should look at my son's funky new goggles that he has to use at the water parks this summer. They are pretty creepy when they catch the sun right. These are the ones he will use for the summer at water parks and the outdoor pool, they have different goggles that they use for swim team.

Where Did We Go Wednesday? Medford City Pool

It is that time of year again. School is out and the community pool is open. I am sure that many of you have community pools in your area or it might be a water park near you that is outdoors. Whatever it is I encourage you to check out season pass options. For this pool I have to take the kids 12 times throughout the entire summer to have it paid for and that is without their dad coming with us. If he is able to come with us then we get our money's worth even sooner. Each year the kids seem to get busier lives and we don't get there as often but last year we would have paid 150%of a season pass rate if we paid individually each time. I do really like the fact that I don't have to have cash on me every time we go. I know that all of the area pools and waterparks have Season Pass rates and many people get them. In the long run it will save you money and gives the kids something to do all summer and gives them the opportunity to be active and keep them off of their tablets 4 at least a little while. My kids are little fish and love to swim and are on swim team but that doesn't stop us from getting a pool membership and going here often. Going to the pool is there time to play in the water and not just swim laps.