Insta Friday - on Monday

i am behind

we've been busy enjoying beautiful summer days and checking things off our summer bucket list

i will get caught up.... eventually but for now i am loving our crazy summer days filled with sunshine, friends, treats, and laughter

i am linking up with jeannett again this week for insta friday

here's a little glimpse at our week:

 we FINALLY made our first trip to the water park

the kids have been so anxious to go but the weather has not been cooperating

this day wasn't great for the water park... a little chilly for swimming for this mama but the kids loved it

it wasn't crowded so there were no lines for rides

a hawaiian ice is necessary to cap off a full day of swimming and going on rides

 sassy was just being sassy while eating her hawaiian ice

 our neighbors church held a soccer themed vbs program last week in the evenings

they had perfect weather for it

sunny, slight breeze, and not hot

my two little ones loved every minute of it

we had a rainy rainy day last saturday

i decided to take the kids to see mr. popper's penguins

it was super cute

did you notice who mauryn has in her arms?

here's a hint... baby addie had to come along to the movie

mauryn informed me that addie LOVES penguins so she had to see the movie

i am glad they didn't charge me admission for addie

she was very well behaved in the theater

her mother mauryn made sure of it

as you can see from the picture safety first

addie has her own car seat and was safely buckled in for the ride

one of her besties has glasses

i guess she was thinking she needed a pair too

 summer bucket list... yes!

 i have been in a bit of organization mode when it comes to our school room

we have been doing some rearranging and making some additions

i am so excited to finally have some white boards and a big chalkboard

now that we are in an actual room i can set up landon and mauryn's work boxes in a way that will be much more effective for them

 lance wanted s'more egg rolls on fathers day

as we were working on our assembly of the egg rolls i caught this little one sneaking some chocolate chips

she just couldn't wait

i tried my egg roll with white chocolate chips since i love all things white chocolate and it was divine. 

 one of the things on our summer bucket list was to make a PVC sprinkler

landon couldn't wait to get his hands on his dads drill

usually we hide it from him

he likes to drill holes in things like garbage cans

this activity was right up his alley

 the shoe racks we are using for our work boxes were white

i was fine with them being white

until i saw lindsey had painted hers cute colors

when i picking up sprinkler supplies i bought some spray paint

i was too lazy to take them apart so landon and i just worked with them set up

they turned out fine

i think i might now have a crush on spray paint

it was easy to use, dried fast, and my kids can help

 our dog harley is so patient

mauryn likes to pretend he is a horse about once a day

 sonic happy hour = happiness

 my kids think rolling down a hill is the bomb

 when landon was drilling for the sprinkler he got a little drill happy

we had to do a little do over with the sprinkler

we had the extra pvc pipe

landon asked for some pool noodles and turned the pipes into swords

thanks to his warrior camp experience he is a little obsessed with making swords

 we spent wednesday at a local splash park with some friends

it was hot 

standing under the dumping bucket was the perfect spot for these boys

 sprinkler in action over the slide

i love how many different ways the kids have put together the sprinkler

this is their favorite

they fly down and off the slide

 we attended a birthday party for this little guys mom

i finally gave up the little guy for a bit so my boy could get some snuggle time in

i love that he loves babies

landon spent a few hours a day last week in basketball camp

he was a little nervous going in on the first day but he loved camp

he is already asking to go back next year

how was your week? did you do anything fun?

Summer Bucket List 2011

each year summer seems to fly by in the blink of an eye.

at the end of the summer the kids and i will say oh we should have done this or gone there.

we get caught up with life and don't always plan specific activities for our summer days.

this year i wanted to be more intentional about our summer

 so early in june we started a list on a piece of paper.

 our list kept growing and soon didn't fit on our piece of paper anymore

we moved our list to a big white board in our school room

i love that its a big visual for the kids to see at any time

here's what is on our list so far:

- go to u swirl for frozen yogurt

- go to roaring springs {water park}

- caldwell night rodeo

- zoo boise

- wahooz

- eagle island state park

- lucky peak beach

- kicks for christ bible school

- pandamania {vbs at our church}

- go to settlers park {splash park}

- participate in the summer reading program at the library

- bike boise green belt

- movie night at settlers park

- have a lemonade stand

- hike camel's back park

- free movie day at the theater

- nampa's farmers market

- back yard camp out with daddy

- boise hawks game

- drive in

- boise farmers market

- sonic happy hour

- have donughts for breakfast

- paint pet rocks

- go to deer flat wildlife refuge

- make home made ice cream

- living room sleep over

- make PVC sprinkler

- make sidewalk chalk

- make sidewalk paint

- have hawaiian ice

- water balloon fights

- go to the ranch

- make pudding pops

- see fireworks

- make a mural

- write letters to pen pals

-go see mr. popper's penguins

- swimming lessons

- look at the stars

- eat corn on the cob

- roll down a hill

- play 4 square

- make salsa

- have a car wash {kids toys and maybe mom's car :o)}

- make play doh

- paint with a straw

- read, read, read, read = movie date

- make indoor tent

- make pin wheels

have the best summer yet!

we've been busy checking things off our list hence the lack of activity on the blog.

we've been enjoying each moment of summer.

i am so thankful for a list to keep us intentional about our time.

what's on your summer bucket list?

Insta Friday

happy sun shiny friday!

we might hit 75 degrees today... yes!

it could finally start to feel like summer.

i am linking up with jeannett for insta friday.

here's a little peek at our week:

 this girl and her doll, addie. 

she loves that they have matching pj's.

addie tags along often to run errands, go to the park, etc..

except if she gets in trouble or didn't sleep at night then her mom {aka mauryn} puts her to bed.

amazing how much trouble that addie can be some days.

 tinker bell with bed head.

it is not unusual for mauryn to go from pj's to dress up clothes

tinker bell is her favorite right now

 this old man has been part of our family for 15 years

mauryn loves him

he sleeps on her bed most of the day

she especially loves if he crawls up on her lap for a little snuggle

 we went to watch our neighbor compete in boise's ironman 70.3 last weekend

we had to park by the beach and climb over the other side of this hill {there is a path}

pat's mother exclaimed this is no hill it is a mountain

it was quite a little hike

 my girlies waiting for the swim to start

they figured if they sat up there they might get a better view

i think my girls had the right idea

 while we were waiting for the bikers we visited powells sweet shop

i heart this store

so many reminders of favorite treats from when i was a child

 mauryn taking a break in the shop

i told you addie went everywhere

 what movie is playing in the sweet shop?

charlie and the chocolate factory of course

 morgan enjoy her sweets while we wait for pat on his bike

 i heart white chocolate

i would pick it any day over dark chocolate or milk chocolate

when i was in the sweet shop and saw a white chocolate toblerone bar i was thrilled

it was worth every little calorie

 as we were walking to the bike/run transition point we passed this cute brick house

it was the first brick house in boise

i love that they had signs telling about the house and preserving that bit of history

 bike to run transition point

at this point the athletes had done a 1.2 mile swim and finished a 56 mile bike 

now they were headed out for a 13.1 mile run

 someone was getting a little bit tired 

 sunday after felt like our first taste of summer weather

by late afternoon the sun was shining and it was warm

the kids thought it was warm enough to break out the pool and slip and slide

brr! glad the kids don't care they had a blast

 even if no one would race him landon loved the slip and slide

 i found these two snuggled up together one morning

mauryn had gotten up to get a drink and then decided to just crash with landon on the floor

 tired girl + blanket+ fingers = 2 hour nap

 landon has recently discovered justin bieber

now he has the fever

 my kids love any type of games 

when lance's parents were here last weekend they spent hours playing old favorites and learning some new card games

 my boy loves water balloons

he will spend hours a day filling them 

the kids had friends over the other day which meant an all out water balloon fight

which turned into a squirt gun fight and a bucket of water throwing fight

the kids were full of smiles and giggles

the pay off of saying yes more often

 i love that it has been cool enough that we can keep our windows open at night

it has been glorious for sleeping

i am thankful for each day i don't have to turn my air conditioner on

we woke up the other morning and we were all FREEZING!

the temperature had really dropped the night before 

when mauryn got dressed she put on a wool sweater

it was cold but i am thinking that was a little much 

 mauryn is constantly singing

sometimes you can make out a familiar song but most of the time it is some song she has created by combining parts from her favorite songs

you surely can't sing without headphones on using the cord as your microphone

our neighbor across the street has a few cool ride on toys

when he is outside cruising the other kids rush over to eye the cars/jeeps

mauryn and coop are checking out this cool rig hoping for a ride or maybe a chance to drive it

how was your week?

Finding Joy - Weeks 20, 21, 22, and 23

i am behind. really really far behind on blogging.

i am combining the past few weeks of joys to get caught up.

life has been busy. 

crazy busy.

lazy days of summer should be renamed crazy days of summer.

as crazy as it is i wouldn't change a minute of it.

prepare yourself for a ton of pictures.

- street performers in san francisco

 - an afternoon strolling through anthropologie... all the lovlieness

 - relaxing on the train

- traveling under the bay on the bart. kids thought that was so cool!

 - family time in san francisco

- exploring the city

soaking up the sunshine

 - seeing the golden gate bridge

 - as a fan of the tv show full house {which my kids now love} it was fun to see the painted ladies from the opening credits on the show

 - the painted hearts around union square in san fran

- kiddos going "gangsta"

 - sea lions sunning themselves

 - a morning spent at the acquarium

 - ghirardelli ... yum!

 - boats on pier 39 on a sunny morning

- lunching in a park with the jones and cheney families

 - kayaking

 - our first experience with seeing a geocache

 - marshmallow teeth

 - four days at bass lake

 - spending quality time with denise

 - kids crashed in the car on the way home

- three amazing little travelers

 - mauryn's first dance recital

 - morgan's dance recital

 - mauryn getting out the "po nailish" to have fancy nails for church

 - summer vacation

- creating our summer bucket list

 - our first strawberries from our garden. they are tasty!

 - play dates with friends/neighbors

 - art work on the driveway

 - little miss riding her bike

 - tinker bell

 - lucky peak... so pretty

 - exploring

 - our neighbor pat at the finish line of boise's ironman 70.3.  

 - playing in the sand

 - i love white chocolate and last weekend i found a white chocolate toblerone bar. oh my it was tasty!

 - walking downtown boise.... love boise.

 - our own version of a water slide

 - playing in the neighbors pool

 - racing on the slip and slide

 - i found these two snuggled up together the other morning

 - lance's parents were here visiting and they are gamers. they love to play any type of card game.  there were hours spent playing favorite games and learning new games.

 - water balloon fights

 - friends who are neighbors who don't mind when you stop over in your grubs to return something and end up visiting for 3 hours.  i am so thankful to have great neighbor - friends.

- finding time to get caught up.  blog posts coming on our trip to california {aka maycation}, pat's ironman race, girls' dance recital, recipes, and more!

what have been some of your joys recently?