Hi! Welcome to my summer. It's a regular free-for-all...I can't believe it's almost the middle of July! Really, I can't. We've had something going on almost every day the last few weeks. It's crazy! I always thought summertime livin' was supposed to be easy.
I guess I'll begin by describing our 4th of July. It was literally a blast.
We (Ryan, the kids and I) went to his parents' annual backyard bonanza. Okay, so it was really just a potluck BBQ. This year, everyone had desserts on the brain. I didn't think to take a picture of the dessert table, though I have a crisp mental illustration of it etched into the recesses of my head, but there were easily twice the amount of sweets as savories. Ung. I think everyone wanted to die an hour into the evening from sugar shock. All I wanted was a nice green salad to help cancel out the treats. Just like the one I had intended to make, but ran out of time because I spent all my time on stupid cookies.
Here are my obligatory holiday cookies. A couple of eaters told me they were a hit. I think what they meant is they wanted to hit me for bringing them.
Jane wanted me to put her hair in pigtails, and somehow the only red hair thingies we had were these ribbons tied round an elastic band with tiny bells attached to the ends. I had temporarily forgotten that Ryan's mom was going to have face-painting stuff available, and who knew she would supply necklaces galore? I should have known. :) So Jane ended up looking more than a little like a clown. Which isn't all that bad, since she acts kind of like one. She had so much fun all night.
Shirley pushing Oliver and another guest's kid.
By this point in the evening, Oliver had consumed an undisclosed number of my cookies, which may help explain the look on his face.
Cora and Jane painted some little designs on Ollie's face. He was so excited about it.After the dinner we went down to Ann Morrison Park, for the first time in a few years, to get an up close and personal view of the fireworks show. In years past we had been going with some of Ryan's family to a little park on the bench behind Morris Hill Cemetery. This was done to avoid the crowds. It was an okay spot, but it limited our view, and the distance between us and the fireworks was just too expansive. So this year I told Ryan we needed to go down to where we could feel a part of the festivities. We got there about 9:30. As we entered the park, Don McLean's "American Pie" filled the air. I love that song.
I know a lot of people don't enjoy sifting through crowds of people, but I don't mind it at all. I like to watch everyone, and being among a large collection of folks somehow makes me feel connected with them. Like we're all in this together. Well, if nothing else, we're all there to enjoy the fireworks display. =)
Cora's pretty painted face awaiting the spectacle in the sky.
Jane and cousins Cassie and Natalie.
Ryan and Ollie.
And the show commenced! Here's the only pic I got. I obviously didn't have the camera on the appropriate setting, but I decided to just watch rather than waste time fiddling with the camera. We were sitting right next to the roped-off field where they were setting off the fireworks. I was surprised we got such a good spot, since we weren't early.It was fun to see how excited the kids were. At first, Oliver was scared, saying it was too loud, but Ryan covered his ears and he quickly warmed up to the pretty colors shooting into the air. He kept exclaiming, "so fun!" and "so cool!" (Oliver, not Ryan. ;)
Now to backtrack a bit. On Thursday, June 17th, we went to the zoo with my mom. She brought my nephew, Fletcher. We brought Ryan's niece, Malory, who is Cora's age. They're great pals.
I'm surprised the kids all look so relaxed with Oliver at the wheel!
Jane and my mom trying to see the tigers.
Jane, Cora and Malory
I tried to take some pictures of more animals, but didn't get many recognizable shots. Plus I was busy chasing after Oliver most of the time.
My favorites, the giraffes!Later that evening I brought the kids down to the Julia Davis Rose Garden so my mom could take pictures of them in their cute dresses they wore for Easter. Better late than never! (Side note: Oliver wore a shirt and pants, not a cute dress.)
These are the pictures I took. My mom's were naturally much better quality. =)
One Sunday in May at church, a gal I know (Kris Jensen) walked into the chapel wearing a dress that I instantly wanted for myself. Every time I see her, she's wearing something super cute. She's probably sick of me giving her so many compliments! Anyway, I saw her in the hall later and asked her where she got the dress. She said she'd gotten it at Costco a year earlier. Dang! Then she said I might be able to find the company online. Later that week I did, but of course they were all sold out of that dress.
A few weeks later, I was out making the rounds at thrift stores. I was almost ready to leave St. Vincent's when I spotted the unthinkable, hanging on a clothes rack: The dress! It was only $6.99! It was in perfect condition, except it was missing the belt thing. But that was an easy fix with some black ribbon.
I did the irresponsible thing and bought it without trying it on. Kris had said hers was a medium, but she thought if I found one I could wear a small, as hers was a bit roomier than she wanted. The one I got was a small, but when I tried it on it didn't fit around my ribcage area. Well, the problem was, the darts were too high for my gravity stricken boobs. The dress just mashed me in all the wrong places. My hopes were dashed. My new dress was deemed unwearable. What kind of jerk designed this dress? Who, except a small framed, unrealistically perky chested girl would this dress look good on?
It took me a few days to come up with the solution. I was still trying to figure out a way to make my new-found treasure work for me. I called Kris and told her my predicament. I asked if she'd like to trade dresses if mine fit her and vice-versa. We arranged a time when I could come by for the moment of truth. She put mine on and I put hers on. She came out and looked perfect! Hers didn't look so great on me. I thought for sure the next size up would solve the problem. It cut horizontally across the middle of my limp bosoms. She suggested I purchase a push-up bra to compensate for the high darts on the dress. She asked if I wanted to trade, and seeing how the one I bought looked like it was made for her, I decided to go for it. Even if I couldn't make the medium one work for me. It fit a little better than the small one and I was determined to make it look presentable.
I got a "chest-hider" (as Cora used to call them) that wasn't a push-up, but it lifted considerably more than my current one. Why am I talking about this here? I'm just recounting how I miraculously found a the very dress I wanted at a THRIFT STORE, and all I did to make the dream of wearing it come true. Anyway, with the new, supportive brassiere the dress looked more like the way it should. Success! =)
Kris told me to wear it on Sunday, so I did. It still doesn't look great on me, but I like it. I think either the cut of the dress is a bit funky or my body type just doesn't work in it. Maybe it's the short torso, or my broad back that make it fit a bit funny. Kris was right. The medium one is a bit blousy. Oh well. It's just a dress.
Close-ups to show detail. Cora took some pics at a distance, and the dots do not appear as they should.
Kris let me keep the belt from her dress. I doubled it up with the black ribbon for contrast. I think I'll do one belt or the other next time.
Ollie wanted some attention. I love the sweet look on his face.Now here are some various summer fun shots. It wouldn't seem like one of my posts if it didn't include some randomness.
Ollie swinging in Shirley's beautiful backyard.
This is his favorite shirt! He wants to wear it every day. The guitars are different textures and he regularly strums the "strings" with his hand. He is obsessed with guitars lately.
This flowering bush is interwoven to the wooden lattice on the patio in Shirley's yard. So pretty.
Same yard. This vine is so cool. I think it's so neat how it wraps around the fence as it grows.
We've gone swimming a few times at our neighborhood pool. It's a pretty small one. The other night, our family had it to ourselves so we could actually swim rather than just bob around.
For over a week, our van was in the shop so I had to take Ryan to and from work a few times so I wouldn't be stranded at home all day without transportation. This Mustang was in the Walgreens parking lot one of those times. I like it a lot.On Saturday, June 19th, I went to the Emmett Cherry Festival with Maria. The main reason she wanted to go was so she could be in the cherry pie eating contest. I didn't really envision myself participating, but when it came down to it, I decided what the heck. I had never been in one before. We waited around while all the other age groups competed. The 5-6 year-olds were funny to watch. They got to use forks. One of them asked if she had to eat the cherries. :)
Our age bracket happened to have the most contestants, so they had to split us into two groups. By this time they were running out of pie. Maria went in the first group so I could hold her baby and take pictures. Her group only had to eat one piece of pie. She did pretty well, but was having a hard time actually swallowing the wads of pie. So close, yet so far away... A tall, skinny guy with a long goatee won her round. Then it was my turn. I was one of only 2 or 3 ladies along with about 10 guys. It was then discovered that they had more pie than expected, so the officiators came around and added another slice to each contestant's plate. How ironic that I wound up having twice as much pie to deal with as Maria, and she was the one who made me do it! :)
Getting ready. I hadn't been planning on the whole "no-hands" rule, but that was how our age bracket had to compete.
Not a pretty sight.The 55 and up category only had two competitors, who were plump women. One brought a large nylon serving spoon to help accelerate her eating. It did her no favors. The other lady was seated on a stool and had the plate face-level as she carefully forked one bite after another into her mouth. This took a while. The crowd was getting restless, wondering with anticipation who the winner would be. After what seemed like an eon, the lady with the fork swallowed the last morsel. What a victorious moment! When she finished, after the expected personal celebration and obligatory audience applause, she did the unexpected. She took a napkin and wiped her armpits with it!
Maria was cheering me on and making me laugh.
Trying to decide which bite to choose next.It's harder than it looks. I knew going in that I wouldn't win. Some guy won my round.
High on pie.
Hey, free pie! I took the rest home and Ryan ate it before I got to it.
We had delicious Pronto Pups. I don't remember if I've ever actually eaten one before. But it was good.
They had a bunch of classic cars lined up on one street next to the carnival. This one was especially cool.
I loved this one. I found out the hard way that it was hot to the touch!Every so often when I'm loading my pics onto my 'puter I discover that the girls have taken more shots of the hamsters.
They're still alive after almost 7 months of us having them! The girls still play with them every day.
Here they are taking in the view of the girls' room from the dollhouse window. What a mess.I've had a lot of one on one time with Oliver since Shirley has been taking the girls at least once a week on some little outing.
At the park. (Duh.)
A really good nap.
A really pretty sunset.
A really yummy bowl of raspberries blanketed with powdered sugar.
This is to show how big the berries were . Yum!
Fruit pizzas I made for a church dinner in the park.
At last! I found big artichokes at WinCo for a reasonable price.
Cora and Jane love them like I do.
Another fruit pizza I made for an "Eclipse" party put on by one of Ryan's cousins. I still haven't seen the movie. I can wait a bit.
(This one's for you, Becky!)A scary tomato face! I was innocently slicing it and it made this face at me! If looks could kill...
My favorite banana twin pops. I wish I could get a bag of just the yellow ones. Don't ask me why the wrapper is still on.
I found these cute paper towels at the store a few weeks ago. I love it when I find things that match my kitchen!Last week, I went with the kids and Ryan's parents and 3 nieces to Silver Creek Plunge for an overnight trip. Shirley reserved a little cabin for us to stay in.
How quaint.
It didn't smell too fresh, but it wasn't too bad other than that.We were a short waltz away from the hot springs pool. It was so nice.
Malory, Cora and Jane
Ollie looking innocent for a minute. The rest of the time he was aimlessly flinging diving rings around the pool, narrowly missing other swimmers' heads. I had to take them away from him.
Jane, Haley and Addie
Best buddies. Oliver loves Ryan's dad. They have this special little bond together. It's fun.
Also by the pool:
A hummingbird! I love those little guys (or girls?). They remind me of my grandparents' old house in Arizona. Because I used to see them there in the backyard.
Butterflies! Those black specks are butterflies as well. There were dozens of them fluttering around.
I took a bunch of pictures out the window as we were driving home from the campground. to be clear, I was riding, Shirley was driving.
I love the mountain scenery with the bright blue sky and the river rushing below.
ru
And that's about it for now!
