Summertime Splash

So, it's Hot out.

REALLY HOT!

That said, it's been a good summer for spending time in the water!

The girls have been taking full advantage of our little pool, and we are lucky

to have a few folks in our lives that have access to water we can play/relax on!

I finally picked up my camera and dusted it off after hardly using it lately

and managed to capture my little ones in all their sun kissed, splish-splash glory!

Getting brave and holding her breath under water!

That grin... I tell ya! 

We got out on the boat last Saturday, and it was about as perfect as you can get!  The girls

had a blast playing and our water skittish Ellie, FINALLY (with the "help" from me) got her

sea legs and realized that her life jacket works in the river just as well as in the pool at home!

After a pretty proper freak-out when i dragged her in (yes, i'm That mom)... she figured it out

and was cruising around like a pro.  She also happened to be the last one out of the water! Ha!

And for those that know me... I'm usually one who prefers being ON the water rather than IN it...

but even I went for a nice swim and it felt AMAZING!

Why Hello handsome!

Brave girl!!!

Little family swim!

Someone was TIRED!!!

In addition to the water lovin we've been doing, we've had some other stuff going on.

Boone got sick.  Really sick.  The sick I wasn't sure he'd pull out of... 

but some meds and IV fluids finally pulled him around and he's back to his hyper, barky, self.

Along with him... I got sick.  Crappy sick.  Took me almost a week to get myself back on even keel.

Dumb.

Because everyone hangs outside in sweats when it's 90degrees out.  Ack. Stupid fever.

I started school shopping with the girls.  Both of them.   Wait... what?  

And yes, its July... but I figured as I'm usually a procrastinator, I might as well go for it

on a tuesday afternoon when Target was stocked and empty of people.  School supplies... check

Ryan and I went to neat little shin-dig.  Kinda fun ;)

good excuse to put myself together

Rio is still a punk... but she's funny.  And very patient

I went out for breakfast Mimosa's with some work ladies!! 

Keys Cafe.  Nuff said!

And this past Sunday, Ryan and I went and donated blood at a blood drive for a special little girl!  

Little Miss Kaiya turned 4 and every year they do a blood drive in her honor! This is the first year I've not been working or out of town, so I hauled Ryan with and we rolled up our sleeves!  (And... I like to brag that I beat his time by over a minute!  5:20 baby! WooHoo!)

He was showing me his Band-aid ;)

We then went home to spend the rest of our afternoon doing this...

Coffee, relaxation, and Crossfit galore!!! By the way, it was a really good Games! 

Such impressive athletes!! 

And I suppose I can end this post with one last "Splash picture".... 

Last night, we had an impromptu neighborhood kid pool party... perfect night for it! Lots of fun!

Summer stuff

Summer is flying by, as it usually does!

We have been keeping busy and doing our best to enjoy it as much as possible 

amidst a lot of stress and loss.  The girls are at amazing ages right now to spend

time with and do fun things with!  I'm constantly amused with the conversations

I can now hold with them, the stuff we can do together, and how grown up they seem!

I've been very poor at using my big girl camera and most of my summer documentation

thus far has taken place on my phone... but it's ok, it's enough to remember the moments

by and allows me to participate more, which is more important anyway!

Because it's a lazy Saturday morning, and I haven't fully digested and processed my first

cup of coffee, I'll ask you to excuse the lack of flow in this post.  I'm going to toss my pics

up and just roll with it. Bear with me!

~Over the 4th of July holiday... Well, I spent my days sleeping and my nights at work.~

 ~But I work with some pretty awesome compadres... and we got to watch some fireworks, so it wasn't terrible!~

~Ryan and the squirts had some company over and did 4th of July stuff... like S'mores, and playing in the sun and water, and sparklers!
Thanks Ry and Kim for snapping a few pics!~

~Ellie doesn't do so well with shots... no, she doesn't flinch or flail or cry... 

she just completely drains of color and will dry heave and shake for 20min after.  And

being the mean mama I am, I take pictures of her in her pasty, pale lipped awfulness.  Poor baby!~

~But she recovers after some sugar so we can go out on Grandma Brenda and Grandpa Alan's boat!~

~Ryan and I have continued to move forward in our fitness journey! Its fun to see the girls modeling after us and actively participating as well...
at least we're doing One thing right~

get under the bar

~Our neighbors are kind enough to indulge our girlies in their Chicken-love!  Yes, Lila looks a little like she's pooping, sorry... ~

Looks less like she's pooping

~Some days at work are just Shit.  No other way to put it.  I love my job, I do... but c'mon, 

nothing makes this less gross...~

i'm not going to explain this.. if you don't know what it is, you don't want to

~Thankfully, I have a man at home that knows when it's been one of "those" days... and

greets you at the door with beefy deliciousness, sushi, and a loving "please go take a shower, you stink"~

~Even with crap times at work, I still go through it with some pretty great ladies.  And I got to 

go out with a few of them for a night out, that I thoroughly enjoyed! Thanks Tina for having a 

birthday and giving us a reason to go out! ~

Dancing fools! #sweatyhairdontcare

~And last weekend, I actually did pick up my camera while we had a relaxing day at home.  Just 

to capture a little of what our family looks like together.  We baked cookies, and played Legos, 

and just enjoyed each other.  I love them so much!!!!~

Hopefully I can be a little better about posting a bit more often, but no promises!!