Dinner

Tonight for dinner we ate out of our garden. 

In addition to trying all of these yummy things we also ate beets and corn on the cob - which surprisingly was the best thing we ate.  It was so sweet.  I am so proud of farmer Colby and all of his hard work.

1st Grade

First day at a new school - again. 

First day of First grade already.

I can't believe how big he is, I can't believe how much growing up he's done and how different his life is today then it was a year ago.  I'm also so glad that he did all day kindergarten he was so much more prepared for first grade.

Colby and I took the morning off and the whole family walked him to school.  It was so fun.  I love that we live close enough to be able to walk to school.  Today was an early out day, so I got to pick him up from school too before I headed to work.

So far he loves it! 

One of his best little neighborhood friends is in his class and the library is so much bigger (this is important to him - in fact it was the first thing he noticed about his new school).

Notice those plaid shorts?  I asked him what he wanted to wear... he said his cool new plaid shorts with his awesome new plaid shirt... Nice try guy!  We're still working on it.

Bubble Boys

For date night we doubled with Rach and Andrew and went to our local County Fair.

They had this game/attraction called "Walk on Water"

Essentially they put you in bubbles (similar to gerbil balls) in a pool of water.

Because A- this was a new and exciting idea and B- we figured we could laugh really hard, we suggested Colby and Andrew give it a try.

Colby climbing in the ball and it getting filled with air.

Then they just throw you out to sea to fend for yourself.

Here's the boys trying to stand.

And failing!

So close Andrew...

The following picture cracks me up - it was a complete accident, but it totally looks like she's holding the bubble Andrew is in.

Good job honey!

Rach and I almost died we were laughing so hard. 

This is what happens when you stand to close to the pool while laughing hysterically at your husband - Karma!

What a fun and out of the ordinary date night. 

Lagoon - Fountain Edition

80% of the rides involving water were broken while we were there and we didn't take swimsuits for Lagoon-A-Beach, so what do you do when it's 100 degrees outside and you've been walking around an amusement park all day?  You let the kids play in the giant fountain and try not to care that it's totally ghetto - but that they are SO HAPPY!

At first they all kind of held back - not really sure if it was okay to get completely wet or how to handle the situation.

But then they got daring and the desire to be cool took over.

That's right!  Jump right in front of all those streams of water, get soaked to the point of having to ring out your clothes and having your shoes squish when you walk in them.

Truthfully this probably ties in first place as their favorite part of the day.

The adults just sat back and laughed.  It was so funny to watch them.

He is face first sticking his water in the spraying water - glad he didn't lose and eyeball of anything.

I love summer.  I'm sad for it to be done.  I can't believe that school starts next week and we'll have to wait way too many months to be able to do something like this again.

It's Where Fun Is

For our final summer hoorah we took the day off work and went to Lagoon.

I'm going to count this as the kids first time.

I took them once before two years ago - totally number of rides the kids combined went on during that visit?

1.

Yup - totally a strike out, so this was Lagoon 2.0, and it was much more sucessful.

Kyah and Jaxon tried every ride we asked them to.  They were just troopers!

Both my timid/scared munchkin and my totally motion sick munchkin passed with flying colors.

Colby's sister and her family came with us too, so we had a cousin to joing in on all the fun.

Aren't these three just the cutest!

Kyah and her cousin are total buddies. 

He is right in between Kyah and Jax in age - which is fun for everyone.

Dad and Jax riding the Paratrooper.

Standing in line for the bumper cars.

Riding the train.  Can anyone tell me how Lagoon has two lions and our Zoo doesn't even have a lion?

And these big cats are close enough to almost touch, I have to say I'm glad I'm on a moving vehicle when we pass them.

(See the dog in the picture above?  Dad won that for Kyah along with a few other animals - any idea how cool that made him in Kyah's eyes?)

Oh Baby

This is the watermelon that Farmer Colby grew.  I can't believe that came our of our garden.

The garden is doing fabulous!  We are more food then we can eat and neighbors and co-workers are the current benefactors.  I love it!  The cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes are really coming on.  We've picked at least 50 cucumbers already and at least a couple dozen peppers.

The scary thing is I have pumpkins turning orange - what am I supposed to do with them for another two months?

Good Morning!

Don't you love walking into your kitchen and seeing things like this?

Perfectly fine when we went to bed the night before - you'd think we would have heard it crash in the middle of the night - Nope!  I guess we were sleeping better than we thought.

I don't think I'd be so bugged about it if it or the house were slightly older, but we talking maybe 5 - MAYBE.

Oh well I guess - luckily between my husband and my super helpful FIL all will be right with the world soon enough and my kitchen will be ready to feed people scones on Sunday.

(Don't mind the obvious mess under my kitchen sink)

Possibly Inappropriate

We're friends - right?

(Even typing this makes me cringe, when people start a conversation like that it's generally not good, but bear with me.)

So, if we're friends can I ask you a question?

This is something I would generally ask my sisters or some girlfriends - but I have a strong feeling my results would be skued.  And by all means feel free to giggle, but I'd still like your opinion.

So, here's the topic - Hickeys.

What do you think?  Are they still labelled as "Tramp Stamps"?  Is it okay if you are under a certain age?  Is it just okay if you're married?  Is it okay to have them as long as they are not seen?  Are they offensive?  What do you think when you see somewhere sporting one?

I'm not asking because I'm hoping it's totally okay to walk around covered in bright purple hickeys, just merely a thought... It's something commonly joked about in my family and if you ever show up adorned with one there will definitely be some ribbing coming your way - but besides my often sideways family, I'm just curious what everyone else thinks.

Thank you for being my friend and giving your opinion without being offended.

Mwhhaa!

I just want you all to know how much I love you people and that you absolutely make my day!

I have been having a moment... one where I feel overwhelmed and that I'm not doing all the things I need to.  I feel stressed and I'm totally preoccupied with things that I shouldn't be and I seriously need to focus up but I'm lacking motivation....

See?  Blah, Blah Blah!

But, you?  You make me feel fantastic!  In switching to the new blog I've been going through past posts on the old blog and reading them and the comments that you sweet people make and I just have to tell you that I wish I could just hug you all!

I'm not sure how to express my love and gratitude other than to say -

Thank you! 

Today I really appreciate you friends.

(Do you feel the love?  If the answers no - I'll send cookies)

In a box or with a fox

My daughter is a giant ham - and I love it. 

We had a baby shower for my sister Melissa - she's having her first and last boy and he came as a surprise so she had gotten rid of all of her baby stuff, so we had a shower.

We bought her a stroller - which comes in a big box.

Kyah and her counsin Madi took turns playing in the box.

She's such a cute little stink!

I love that cheesy grin!

Beaver Part II

The cabin had everything we could want or need - which is fortunate because there's not much to find in Beaver otherwise.

I mean how often do you get to roast marshmallows next to a life size teepee?

The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was huge!

If it hadn't been for the rain I was seriously debating sleeping in it one night.

Me and the sick Kyah who came down with some weird something right as we got there and cried all night for the two nights we were there until we took pitty on everyone else and packed up to head home.

Poor baby!  She has since recovered, but Colby - he's got it now too.

This firepit was awesome!  I want one in my backyard.

Here's all the grandkids - minus 2.

Chloe, who is only 8 months old and baby Logan who couldn't make it.

(Don't ask about Jaxon's silly "thug" pose.  I don't know why he does such funny things sometimes.)

The cute girls!

Here's my FIL copying Jaxon's great posing techniques.

I love that the kids fit right in age wise and that they'll have counsins their age to grow up with.

I wish I could take this girl home.  She is so stinking cute!  I don't think she cried once while we were down there.  And her Mom is Mrs. Craft!  She is amazing.