an afternoon at the bayfront

Sure, why not?

So, here we are, only a few weeks left of summer. And...I find myself softening into it a bit. By that, I mean chilling out, relaxing.....You see, right now, my kids are watching movies and playing video games. "Can we?" they asked...."Sure", I said, "why not." Their surprised faces starting to glow, with a wee bit of confusion. You know the drill, I usually say, "only an hour", or "not right now", or , "but you could play a board game instead", or "play outside", or "do a craft". All this resistance.

Well, I have decided to give in a bit. and you know what, they are happy and I am relaxed. How much damage can it do to just let them be free to do what they want for a morning or an afternoon? No raised voices, no cries of "I'm bored"...no power struggle. Just, pure blissful, summer, chill time.

We have plenty of outdoor play, trips to the library, fun games, quiet play, healthy, organic, responsible snacks...and now that I feel the school year and the structure creeping in, I vow to give them some time to just be, without me up their sweet little bums, and without them up mine.

So, the other night when they asked for dessert, I said "sure"...."can we have ice cream?"..."sure"..."with caramel sauce?"..."sure."...."and cherries?"..."sure."...(see they did incorporate fruit on their own!)
"really?" they asked, surprised and excited "sure", I said after a confirming glance from their other Mom."

So, as we sat at the table...it unfolded and their Mama suggested they create whatever they would like, "iron chef" style with the dessert ingredients...so here they are....enjoying a crazy summer dessert....."sure, why not?"

the supplies

let the creativity flow!

oh yea baby!

Happy Summer!

The most AMAZING sunset!

I am so glad I had my camera on me this evening! After a fun night out with family we were still hungry and ordered a pizza and thought we'd drive over the bridge to kill time while it was being made. This was what we were treated to while waiting! We then picked up our hot pizza, went home and let the kids stay up way past bedtime while screaming "pizza party"....we all sat on the couch eating pizza and watching the food network. It was such a fun, out of the box night and these pictures are some of my all time favorites!

FANCY DRINKS!

One of the highlights this summer has been making fancy drinks. Our little fish loves to get out lots of ingredients, the fancy glassware and use her creative genius to make beautiful and tasty drinks to quench our summer thirst.

This drink was called the "the cherry lime"..it has seltzer water, cherries, grapes, a little sugar and a lime wedge. Served on ice.

The next batch was called "the apple spritz" it has apple juice, seltzer water, a sugar or salt rim (your choice) and a lemon garnish.....it was SO good!

This gem was called "blueberry float"...a very simple cold glass of milk, garnished with a juicy blueberry. (good with a fresh muffin for breakfast or brunch)

Some brunchy beauties, (oj, grapefruit, sugar, orange seltzer and and assortment of fresh fruit)...actually, I think these had mint candies in them as well :)

Love these sweet cups of sunshine! Thanks lil' fish

Happy 4th!

This forth of July we had the pleasure of being able to host a party in a big, beautiful house. Thank you to Papa D and Grandmashell for letting us use your place!

We spent the morning getting ready for some friends to come over. We made LOTS of kabobs which are not featured because our hands were too busy to take pictures of them...but they were yummy. The little fish also made signs to welcome our guests.

We had fresh corn on the cob and featured Forth of July Specialty drink with bubbly water, blueberry juice and a strawberry garnish.

Lots of swimming with friends!

and an awesome water balloon fight!

Time for dinner...oh, there are those kabobs!

Then a featured film to settle down while it gets dark.


Then we know what time it is!
This year we opted for simple, sparklers and some other low key fire fun instead of the big firework display downtown. It was perfect and the kids had a blast!

What a great time!

In the flow

As I was getting ready to write this post I realized that the words to it were playing in the background so here they are...

When you move like a jellyfish
Rhythm don't mean nothing
You go with the flow
You don't stop
Move like a jellyfish
Rhythm is nothing
You go with the flow
You don't stop

So it is, just about being in the flow....and watching the magic slowly appear!

Craft-a-day

It's been a while since I've been on full time, day to day care of these sweet kids. We've been going strong since school let out, but yesterday the boredom set in. I knew it would come, right about this time, a few weeks in. However, I hadn't really formulated a plan. Well, creativity took over. Just when we were all about to lose our sanity, it came to me...get out the paint! So now, when it gets really hairy here in the afternoon when it is far too hot to be outside...we hit the crafting! Day one: painting little figurines.
They loved this activity and then, when they dried, had little friends to play with! Score

I just love the quiet focus that comes with these projects. Even if it only lasts for 20 minutes, it is well worth it!

Then on day two of save your a$* crafts, we made these homages to the sun for the summer solstice. They were a lot of fun and totally a last minute idea. When their other Mom got home from work they held up their masks, sure that she would have no idea who was hiding in the front yard to greet her. It was very cute indeed!