Purslane, cactus, mermaid craft and another big meal

Thank you all for the information about our mystery plant, purslane.  

We haven't eaten any of yet but I did move it's pot where it shouldn't be able to spread to anyplace we don't want it.  

My son made this cactus arrangement for his uncle's birthday.  

I saw this mermaid craft idea on Instagram.  My daughter already had the Popsicle sticks that have a head and arms.  I set out play dough and a box of assorted sequins, tiny shells and buttons.  

The grands had the best time making these as did the adults who helped.  

This is a craft that is mostly enjoyed in the making, not for keeping, as so many of doo-dads did not stay attached as the dough dried.  That pile of doo-dads on the right is just what fell off.  

Some have tails and some have princess dresses and some are supposed to be boy mermaids.  

Some have hair and are embellished on both sides.  The children who made them were ages 3-7 and all thought it was a lot of fun.  

For my brother's recent birthday, we had a big family meal here.  

This meal was one of the easiest group meals I remember serving.   

The main entree was make your own taco salad.  

I set out tortilla chips, chopped romaine lettuce and tomatoes, a dish of beef taco meat and a bowl of homemade salsa.  All the tomatoes were from our backyard.  

We had a pot of spicy beans and taco salad toppings. 

Meals here always include fruit - this was a cantaloupe from our backyard and strawberries from Aldi (and an adult hand snitching fruit early) 

My daughter brought the desserts- a lemon pound cake and key lime yogurt pie. Both were delicious.  

These grandsons were the last to leave and they love desserts.  They ate lots of supper and then wanted a little more cake and green pie before they went home.  

If you look, you'll see they are using disposable bowls.  Big meals here are always served on disposable plates and bowls.  I find Aldi and the military commissary have the best prices,  I was shocked how much they cost at Walmart now.

The disposable plates and bowls just make clean up so much quicker and easier! 

Summer will be around another month or so but the area schools start next week.  

We've had a fun summer break with lots of cousin fun.  This was a picnic last week after 5 of the cousins played at one of our town's splash pads.  

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer- however much longer it lasts ❤️