Summer Here We Come

 

Glad Kevin is home to entertain my kids while I tan 

{that's code for feed a baby}

 

Really glad Scoobs enjoys such entertainment.

Pinterest at Work.

 

We've spent more hours home the last month than I can possibly remember.

Life with a newborn.

And so, I started looking at my Pinterest board of 'things I should do.'

It is mostly full of things I should do with my kids, or around the house.  This & that.

And it is where I discovered this little gem.

Homemade 'paint' for your concrete.

2TB cornstarch

2TB water

5 drops of food coloring

I mixed mine in some jars I had laying around & it kept these 3 busy for a good hour on a warm day.  They painted the patio, their slides, rocks, leaves, you name it.

My kids could hardly believe I was really telling them to paint on the ground.

When it dries it turns to a chalky paste & just brushes right off after an hour or so.  They got it on their clothes as well & it came right off.

Pretty sure I will do this one again.

Safe to Say...

Spring swimming is the absolute best...and keeping us all very happy indeed.

{except for my dorky facial...what's that?!? haha.}

Fall? Are you there?

Yesterday, upon Scoobs' insistence, we hung our Halloween. I figure if Target is showcasing all the goods, I have a license to do the same, right? The lights are glowing orange, green & purple while boxes of more 'stuff' crowd my den. Witches hats are being ruined as my kids play tug of war with them, chasing each other through the house with fluffs of orange fringe bouncing off of it.

And while I would like to say the leaves are changing colors & we wore jackets while we adorned our front door, it was quite the opposite. Yesterday, we had record heat. at one point it was 111 degrees. We waited until 7 pm to to the outside work & I was still sweating. It was pathetic and really put a damper on my Halloween spirit.

I thought we had finished with the brutal heat...brutal being anything over 105 {sad that 105 is the barometer of pathetic, huh?}. I have everyone's bathing suits on top of my washer, for their final wash of the season. I had unpacked my permanently packed swim bag & refolded & arranged all our beach towels in the linen closet. And even though Halloween is up, we will be swimming tomorrow.

Fall...please come. quickly. I am dreaming of park days & oodles of time on the lawn. And who knows...maybe we'll even get the Lady up & on a razor this winter.

A Recommendation or Two.

Summer time is snack time. It seems when I am traveling {okay & when I am not too} I am always looking for a good snack. I am more for salty than sweet, so when I find a good chip I am a happy camper. This summer, I've found, not just one, but two. And here they are:::
First the Kettle Cooked BBQ. You can't beat a good bbq chip & this one wins. While in newport I think we went through a bag a day with ease. I started banning the kiddies from eating them! haha.
and the Baked Ruffle. These are about 1 million times better than the original. Not greasy. Very crispy. Pair them with an onion or ranch dip {and a diet coke please} and I am in hog heaven, because naturally I eat them like a hog.

head out & make your purchases & thank me later.

To Be or Not to Be.

Today I tried to do a gainer off the diving board in my parents pool.

It has been hot and we have been doing our fair share as well as your fair share of swimming. And when we do that much swimming, tricks start coming into play.

So the gainer. My brother decided to do one yesterday. My little brother, who is bigger, more athletic & mentally tougher than me, which should have just squashed my desires to trick in the same categories as he. But not to be out done, I decided I should do one as well. I mean what does 11 years & 2 kids really change?

Um. A lot.

Or maybe I've just always been a wus.

Yes, that's it. I've always been a wus.

So 139 tries later, I still can't do it.

I can do lots of really cool halfway gainers that include loud screams & outbursts of 'oh crap!' though. I can also do a front flip, a cannon ball, a back flip & I could probably still cartwheel off too, but no gainer.

Do you even know what a gainer is? I might not even be spelling it right. But a gainer is when you face forward jumping off & then do a back flip...you know like you might do on a trampoline. Of which I have no problem doing...which just furthers the frustration.

To add insult to injury {except that I am not insulted or injured} my brother started doing his gainers off ledges surrounding the pool {hello! no spring there!} as well as doing them & landing on rafts & various other pool paraphernalia.

All while I sit here with zero satisfaction & sore shoulders.

Sore shoulders & all...I'm going to go practice on the trampoline so come Monday's pool bash I am ready.

Beaching It.

We spent last week living it up at the beach. Needless to say, we are spoiled rotten with Scot's parents living minutes from the water. And while the weather was still a little chilly, we loved being away from excessive heat warnings and the like.

Z was of course in hog heaven. He is at the perfect beach age. He is old enough to get in the water, play in the sand & I don't have to be watching right over him.

The lady on the other hand would charge head first into the water...just like she does in the pool. Scot & I were laughing at this picture, because while it looks like she is laughing in pure delight, she is actually ticked that I am holding her hand. go ahead...just call her little miss independence.

Z had to be buried a time or two...


and the lady discovered doritos.

at least they kept her busy for 3 minutes.

then she was back getting into trouble.

It is Summer. Officially Speaking.

Actually I don't think it is 'officially' summer, but it feels like it has been summer for about 2 months now...the pleasant kind of summer. Where you can swim, but still play outside.

Now we are entering hell. Yes, that's right, hell. It is that hot. And somehow, I had forgotten just how hot hell is. After 23 years of living through summer after summer you'd think I remember, but no, this year it hit me out of no where, right smack in the chest. The sweaty chest that is.

And here is the deal...bras are part of this hell as they make summer 20 degrees hotter, which trust me, it need not be one degree hotter. From here on out you will see me in my bathing suit, my gym clothes {assuming I have any energy to do something physical} or my loosey goosey pajamas...as those are the only things to combat such heat.

Wish me luck.

Summer.

my buddy & the lady playing while i cleaned the porch

This week summer has hit. And by hit, I mean really fully hit. Sure we've been teetering around 100 degrees for the last month, but by teetering I mean, 95 for the high & days in a row where we still stay in the 80s. That is not summer. That is beautiful.

This week? Oh 100 degrees has come and gone, & kept going. Do I have 100? 105? 110? Yes. Yes sir indeed.

And it is gross.

And for whatever reason I somehow forgot how truly hot summer is here.

I forgot the film of sweat that is constantly between you & your clothes. I forgot how great short hair is in the summer as your neck is totally free & cool. I forgot the feeling of avoiding all excursions after 1pm...because it is blazing by that point.

How could I forget? It comes every year & unless I am sitting in a pool I hate it.

And hence, I love having in-laws that live in San Diego.

So until we can escape picture us in the pool, in the hose or hunkered down by a fan, because it is hot!