Jack and John had a Boy Scout Trailblazer camping adventure so we Long girls (and Isaac!) took off to the Kite Festival!  The weather called for rain and storms but thankfully, the morning was beautiful and BREEZY!  Blue skies were the perfect backdrop for high-flying, colorful KITES!!

 There were freebie t-shirts for the kids -- they even had Isaac's size!

There were kites to color and decorate... notice Lexie's frowny-faced determination.

It flew!!!

...after Sarah untangled herself from it.

Our favorite was the giant monster kite -- it was MASSIVE and quite colorful!!

And we found Waldo...

My brother and nephew caught up with us too.  Here Allen is flying his first kite.

 Sarah helping Lexie get her new kite in the air...

Parting shots...

Next time... Trailblazer Camping Adventure (wild animals included!!)

Lexie and I are working on something special!  She laid all of her little charm squares out just the way she wanted them...

...and she helped me to stitch them together.  More details to come!

I came down to breakfast this morning to find my little Isaac "reduced for quick sale"  -- any takers?

Finally, we are beginning to see pumpkin back on the shelves of our favorite grocery stores!  I almost did a cartwheel in the middle of Kroger when I saw the seasonal display of delicious fall goodies a week or so ago.  Bad weather during previous seasons has brought about a national pumpkin shortage (or so they say); thus, it is only recently that stores are stocking the yummy squash.  I won't begin to speculate why there are a gazillion available for carving; instead, I'll just continue to grab a handful of cans each grocery run in hopes of having enough stored away until this time next year.  Jack, a brand-spankin'-new Tiger Scout, had a badge assignment for tonight: help make a healthy snack to share with the rest of his pack.  Pumpkin-Chocolate Muffins!!  Perfect.  They are tasty, low in fat, and hide the "healthy" behind a handful of ooey-gooey chocolate chips

You only need a few ingredients -- any chocolate cake mix will do and a fistful of chips of your choice.  When I first stumbled upon this recipe, I couldn't imagine mixing pumpkin and chocolate -- blah!   However, low-fat and antioxidant rich had me intrigued -- it has since become a family favorite.  I thought this would be an excellent healthy snack for a Tiger's food pyramid requirement -- the little guys would have no idea their chocolate-chip treats are actually good for them!!

First, whisk together the egg and pumpkin...

Next, you add the cake mix.  Look at the sheer determination on Jack's face!!  It gets a little more difficult to stir at this point.

Finally, fold in the baking chips of your choosing and you are ready to spoon the mixture into muffin tins.  Did you happen to notice there were cute little baking cups in the previous pics?  I figured Jack would never hit those little jiggers with the scooper -- we'll save them for another time.  Usually, we make full-size muffins but little boy scouts would be way too busy to eat all of that!

Top with chocolate chips and you are done!  Lexie got in on the fun too.

Isaac even got to help by sleeping through the entire process... SHEW!

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes (20 min. or so for full-size muffins) and enjoy!!

Chocolate and healthy all wrapped up in one sweet little package!!  A girl's dream come true

Note:  Plain, no sugar added applesauce can be used instead of pumpkin.