4th of July "Parade"

Someone in the neighborhood was brave enough to organize a kids 4th of July parade this year.  My kids are getting a little long in the tooth for this sort of thing but we participated anyway...

Did I mention it was at 9:00am.  Personally I feel expecting nice folks toget up that early on a holiday is asking too much.

"T" felt his favorite gaming shirt was plenty patriotic.

                                                       Ice-pops at 9:00 am...why not...

                Each kid decorated thier vehicle of choice.  "T's" choice was his old scooter.

                                                                "J" decorated her bike.

I completely forgot helmets....
early morning ice-pops and not helmets....
this is bordering on a Red-Neck parade.

 
We came, we saw, we conquered and we were home by 10:00 (dad was still sound asleep I might add)

Food Stuff

Summer and great food go hand-in-hand. 

Lots of cupcakes for the swim team bakesale

(I feel confident this is not an approved USPS use of this box)

                                                   Too many zucchini and cucumbers

                                                        Green beans from the garden

Pickles (from the above mentioned cucumbers)

                                                         Blueberries from the yard...yum

                                               Whoops....this one got a little too big

                       We have peaches too..big ones but not a lot this year.  Nature is fickle.

                                           Personal size watermelon from the garden.

             This little guy was so cute-much smaller than the others and hidden in the leaves.

                                                          But it was  still delicious.

Random Sumer Cuteness

Can Daddy REALLY see out of these?

                                                Such a fun way to spend a summer day

                                                             Lazy Days a the the Pool

                                      Sometimes I find the strangest photos on my phone

Public Servie Announcement...never "buy" a cat bed...they will sleep everywhere but.

                                                                   Fun times with friends

                                                Water slide/jumpy house at the pool

                                            Unexpected fun at the Homeschool Conference

                                    Yes...I DO spend too much time at Six Flags-but the kids love it

A Little Cheer

What do you do when a friend needs a littl cheering up....impromptu girls trip!

First you need some good friends...(or random women with time to spare will work too).

Preferably the type of friends who will sit on the beach with you when its 60 degrees...

 Throw in some greasy food....

Maybe a smidge of alcohol....

and a cold gray beach (better than no beach)...

Cheer's y'all

Drama Camp

"J" enjoyed another year of Drama Camp.  I can't actaully remember what she was (some sort of explorer I think) but she was cute, remembered all her lines, and had a great time.

"T" thinks "J" did a great job.

"J" and her friend celebrate a great performance.

Swim Team

Usually our time at the pool is spent like this...

 or this...

But this year "J" decided she wanted to try swim team.  Wow what a crazy hectic good time we had.

Honeslty I had never encouraged "swim team" because I knew what a time commitment it was.  Practice every day for two months...no thanks!  Plus because we are a small team parents must volunteer for several hours during each meet.

The also really like you to bring baked goods for the snack stand.  In case you have ever wondered how to "individually wrap" a cupcake...well here you go.

"J" absolutely loved swim team.  Plus she became a very strong swimmer in a very short amount of time.  "T" has no interest however...he doesn' want to swim according to anyones rules...races really bring him down.

"J" getting ready for the back stroke.  She improved her times so much over the summer.

Plus our's is a "learning" league.  Anyone can participate.  Including a few kids who mostly hung on the ropes looking as if they might drown at any moment.

This is the official photo....very Baywatch I think with all that blonde hair.