well crap!

dangit. somehow summer is already over. how did that even happen? i mean, wasn't it just june? and now its mid-august, and i have to report to work on monday morning. sheesh.

we have really had a fun summer. i honestly can't remember more fun. the heat has been brutal, and put a damper on some of the things we wanted to do, just because its really hard to want to do anything outside when its 108 degrees every dang day. stupid heat wave.

but we did manage to swim...kc pool, my moms, our neighbors. we did arts and crafts at susan, lily, and julia's cousin camp. we went to the movies (a bunch!) and roller skating. we took our first family vacation to colorado. we started repainting the inside of the house.

and mostly, the kids played. and played and played. e and logie had a lot of fun playing super-imaginative games together this summer. they played house, and college, and camping. they played "vet-express" (which involves putting all the stuffed animals in the big thomas the train tent) and pet store. they played board games and hide and seek. it was just a relaxed fun time to be together.

and it passed all too quickly. but before i get all mopey, there will always be another summer! only 9 mos to go!!!

and in all fairness, though i do adore summer, i love fall too! so much to look forward to...almost all our family has a birthday between september and november! the state fair. halloween. cooler temps. playoff baseball. football season, hockey season. a wedding (not mine! lol!). and thanksgiving.

but this summer i did discover (haha thanks emily) the biggest coolest time wasting site ever. pinterest. love it. can't live without it now. i tell you this because 1) i will probably reference it in future blog posts and 2) every now and then i may change up my format just a bit, to include cool things i have done in my classroom, or great books i read, or some of our favorite recipes, because all of these can be shared on pinterest. lol. i am that dorky. but it is fun, and has given me some wonderful recipes, some great ideas for my classroom, my home, clothes....the list is too long. and lots of people post their ideas from there blog, so every once in a while don't be shocked to see that. and i promise you that if i am posting a recipe on here, i have made it, and it is very very yummy!!!!

let me know what you think!

colorado!

so, long story short, i took the kids on vacation to colorado for a week. thank goodness for uncle bryan! the kids and i flew to colorado for a vacation. i know. i knew as soon as i booked it that i was insane. but it wasn't as bad as i imagined it would be....but i have a very vivid imagination!

needless to say, the kids were thrilled to take an airplane! and really, if i had a big suv or minivan, i would have driven. but i don't. and i couldn't imagine the drive....so we flew. and the way there was WONDERDFUL! the flight was terribly bumpy, but the kids were amazing. ellie slept the entire way.

we did so much in our time there....i felt like we hardly slowed down to catch our breath! but it was a great time. MANY of the pictures are stuck in my camera, and i will try to upload them at some point this week. but above, ellie and logie are riding on polar bears at the denver zoo's merry go round. the kids loved the zoo. especially the polar bears, seals and jackals. the dallas zoo is great, but we don't have anything like that. oh, and the hippo was a big hit too.

logie and erin are outside the denver aquarium in this picture. most of the pics from the aquarium are also stuck in my camera. but the aquarium (while crazy pricey!) was one of ellie's favorite things! so it was a good time!

bryan and the kids at casa bonita. casa bonita is something everyone should experience. its just something else. its pancho-esqe food....most everything is all you can eat....and the quality appeared to be about the same. (for me, thats a drawback, but i do know some people that love them some panchos!!!) but then, there restaurant is clearly the attraction. there just aren't words. there are puppet shows, and a pirate cave, and an arcade, and a mercado...with sweets and everything. and there were a bunch of light ups for sale. and tables everywhere. and little melodramas with captured princesses and pirates. oh, and don't forget cliff-diving. what's mexican food without a cliff-diving show while you eat it??
and of course, i took erin to the american girl store in denver. she had to go. and she loved it.

and i am leaving tons out. we saw cars 2. we saw the pirates exhibit at the museum. aquarium. zoo. dinosaur ridge (which was REALLY REALLY cool) met some of bryans friends. visited rocky mtn. national park (which was wonderful) and also got to spend an evening with my bff from college, mary, and her boys. which was a great night....

so all in all, a surprisingly good vacation. a little drama here and there, and a few time outs, but overall, not as bad as i pictured. but, i am in no hurry to do it again either! haha!

the first week of summer

summer is finally here! summer is here!

and we started it off with a bang!

ellie grace decided to give up her crib.

and took over erin's bottom bunk instead.

i guess that's one thing off the to-do list for the summer!

tuesday we went with a friend to pump it up. the kids had a ton of fun jumping and playing and sliding. ellie (who is way too little for this) is far too brave. this picture was seconds before she let go and busted her lip! didn't slow her down at all.

later that day we went to an outdoor concert at the dallas arboretum. to see a johnny cash tribute band. the kids LOVE johnny cash. they were also sure they were actually seeing johnny...and no amount of me convincing them he was dead would do it. oh well.

here are my wild ones playing with their fans and streamers their grandma got them. they had a great time dancing and singing along!

wednesday we went to a movie. not terribly exciting. and erin had a baseball game. in fact she had baseball three nights this week. ugh.

thursday we ventured out to burger's lake in ft. worth. it was a great time. we took a bit ol' picnic and swam and played for about four hours.

logan was not too sure about sand on his wet feet.

if you look closely, erin and logan are the kids in the water, wearing the life vests!


friday we puttered around the house and rested up. we are about to leave to go swimming for a few hours. the first week of summer has been very busy and very fun! there's still lots more fun to come!

but i wanted to leave you with this picture.

maybe i should feed her more often?