TOWNSQUARE MEDIA

You may not have heard of Lark Valley Zip Lines, but if you’re someone who loves to ride on the zip lines, you’ll want to make sure you don’t pass up this quick and exciting zipping experience through the woods of Southern Indiana.  Jenny, Emily, Elliot and I had lots of fun taking the 10 line tour with our guides, Kyle and Eric, on some of the “longest ziplines in the Midwest.”

This week while you and everyone else are celebrating our nation's independence, remember the pets!  Keep them safe and from getting too stressed out.  The noises of fireworks will especially rattle the calmest of pets.  I reserved a "safe" place for our dogs long ago in the house basement.  I have an 8' X 16' kennel built especially for the dogs where they know they are safe.

Which nasty plants?  Poison Ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are all in their summer glory, waiting to ambush you and make you miserable!  The best defense is to be able to identify them and stay away from them.  Since they are all three-leafed plants, a good general rule is, if you see leaves of three, leave them be!

If the heat wave has been wilting your good mood, you may want to try a special piece of nature to boost your spirit.  Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve isn't just another pretty place, it's full of life that can give you a pick-me-up and it can cool the blood inside you that seems to be as hot as the city pavement.

The news is in...taking too much of vitamins can hurt you.  If you aren't a very healthy eater, you may need vitamins, although even unhealthy foods these days are supplemented with vitamins.  However, a new risk has emerged;

Yessss!  It's an excuse to devour chocolate!  Who's with me?  Tomorrow, Thursday, June 26, you have every right to eat as much chocolate pudding as you want!  So cook up a few batches or stop by the store and stock up on already made chocolate pudding and go wild!

It's not chili, it's not a taco, it's a little of both and it's a soup!  Try this recipe from Jenny's kitchen.  I think you'll like it!  (Thanks to two of my favorite people in the whole world for this recipe, Brenda Kress and Carol Fetter at Nancy Hanks Elementary.)

If you want a tasty, thick and creamy potato soup, then try this recipe!  Jenny has made it several times and I've loved it every single time.  Here's the recipe:

Jenny, Emily, Elliot and I decided to enjoy the beautiful summer-like weather lately by taking a walk along the Evansville riverfront.  We happened to be in Evansville, so driving downtown took no great effort or time, and we were glad we did.

As we head outdoors and get more sunshine, remember that those sun rays can be dangerous to our skin.  Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and every time we spend too much time in the sun, we up our risk of getting it.  Identifying melanoma can be difficult to do and a good rule of thumb to go by is