Insta Joys

it's friday!  yipee!!!

it's been a busy week around here.  

our weekend looks pretty full too.

oh summer how i love you but you are wearing me out.

i am linking up again this week with jeannett. 

here is a little look at our week.

sonic happy hour.

i love you.

.50 slushes for the kids.

1.00 soda for the mama.

perfect treat on a hot afternoon while running errands.

someone was having fun with the sidewalk chalk.

they decided the bricks needed a little make over.

i kind of like it.

for a day.

the weekly weather forecast around here goes something like this: sunny, dry, HOT.

there is rarely a rainy or cloudy day when summer arrives. 

especially when we hit july and august.

we spend a few days a week at the water park thanks to grandma and grandpa who give the kids money for passes each year for christmas.

sometimes while at the water park we will get a treat.

mauryn has a new found love for dippin' dots.

they make me gag.

there is something inherently wrong with little balls of ice cream.

she loves her some dots!

my brother has a harley.

when he came to visit a few winters ago we had to go to the harley store.

landon loved the harley's

so much that our dog is named harley davidson cheney.

my brother sporadically will send landon new harley shirts.

he then will wear it for days on end.

this is his newest shirt.

we have two local theaters that run movies in the summer for cheap.

our "nice" theater runs some older movies for $1 three mornings a week.

our cheap theater runs their current line up of kid movies for .50 on mondays and wednesdays

this was the line up to get in to the movie on monday.

20 minutes before the movie started.

my kids started to panic that they would be sold out. 

we got in!

we had met up with our neighbors for the morning movie.

the boys took in mr. popper's penguins.

the girls saw judy moody and the not bummer summer.

i am wishing we would have gone to mr. popper's penguins. 

i thought judy moody was a bummer!

but hey i only paid $1.50 for the three of us to see it.

another hot day.

took borrowed the neighbors pool and set it up under the swing set.

landon is a daredevil. 

he is always coming up with some new found way to get into the pool

going down the slide is way to easy.

i am still amazed the boy hasn't broken a bone yet.

we had a little bit of a cool down the other morning.

i started my morning with a hot cup of tea.

it was the perfect way to start the day.

while i was sipping tea and having breakfast, this boy was in creation mode

legos how i love you for the few minutes of peace and quiet you bring to my house.

i don't like the little pieces and mess you leave but the trade off is worth it.

this girl loves her a tootsie pop.

it's her treat at her daddy's softball games each week.

lance played on the men's softball team for our church again.

they had a fair season but really started to get into a groove for the playoffs.

they had their last game on tuesday night and took 3rd place.

way to go guys!

it's that time of year again... time to stock up on school supplies.

landon, mauryn and i had a great time browsing the aisles.

i always get a little giddy over new supplies.

not giddy about school starting... i still want summer but i like the excitement of getting the new supplies.

we used these spray bottles and little paint for one of our summer bucket list projects.

it was a hit.

you will have to wait to see the final project until i edit pictures and get my post written :o)

this is what my driveway looked like after our little project.

my clean up crew.

they did a fantastic job.

i think they had almost as much fun cleaning as they did creating.

our dinner one night this week.

chicken taco pizza.

easy peasy.

i am loving my e-mealz.

especially during the summer.

simple, easy, and quick.

just the way i like summer cooking.

The Bucket List - Checking Things Off The First Installment

our crazy days of summer have included checking things off our summer bucket list.

the list had hardly been written on the white board and the kids were clamoring to start checking things off.

one of the first things we did was making a PVC pipe sprinkler.  if you search the internet there are a hundred different ways to build a sprinkler.  we had a plan in mind but landon someone got a little happy with the drill.  there were holes about every inch along the pipe.  needless to say water didn't really want to flow out of the top of our sprinkler.

i returned to home depot to get four more pieces of PVC to rework the bottom of our sprinkler.  the old pieces of PVC pipe with hundreds of little holes did not go to waste.  landon turned those pieces into light sabers and jousting sticks.  

we remade the bottom pieces drilling less holes.  

we set it back up and only about 3/4 of the sprinkler worked.

lance determined we don't have enough water pressure for the sprinkler to work with our original set up.

so we gave the kids the pipes and all the pieces and let them go to work.

they mounted the sprinkler on the swing set and turned the slide into a slip and slide.

after a little bit they disconnected part of it and created a little shower over the slide.

they had the best day.

i learned to let them just go with a project and use their own creativity.  i can give them a general idea but what they come up with is better than what i could have planned.

landon and mauryn both attended an evening vbs program at our neighbors church.  it was a soccer based program. the kids went each night and learned soccer skills, had a time of worship, puppet show, bible message, and then played a soccer game before they went home.

they both really enjoyed it.  the weather was perfect and they were so happy to see their friends from awana.  landon was all about the game and learning new skills. mauryn was more interested in socializing or carrying her ball under her shirt like she was pregnant.

one of the things the kids had on their bucket list was to roll down a hill. 

random.

every time we come to a hill they roll down it.

they giggle and laugh.

the simple pleasures of life.

since june had been unseasonably cool the kids decided it was a great time to have their camp out in the backyard with their dad.  

morgan and landon worked to get the tent set up

while i distracted these two characters by playing a game of fetch,

and mauryn was just hanging around.

once the tent was set up the kids and lance hauled in their entire bedrooms blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, stuffed animals, snacks, and games.  they got cozy, kicked me out, and had a blast sleeping out in the tent.

i had a blast having the bed, tv,  and remote all to myself :o)

more of our summer of crazy fun coming soon.

what have you been checking off your summer to do list??

Boise 70.3

three years ago boise hosted their first half ironman triathlon {1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run}.

it was a huge success.

over the past few years this race has grown in notoriety and popularity.

our neighbor pat decided to participate in the triathlon this year. lance was working as pat's crew and the rest of us went along as his cheering section.

the race started around noon at lucky peak reservoir. it was a beautiful saturday morning, probably the best weather day of the summer.

while we waited for the athletes to get ready for the swim, the kids found the best viewing spots on the beach... on top of a dinosaur.

the race started with the professionals in the water first.  pat got into the water about 20 minutes after the professionals started their swim.

 pat's heat of swimmers taking off at the start.  it is just a pile of arms and legs as they get started before they spread out.  

pat finished his swim in around 45 minutes.  he was right on track for his goal finish time.

once he came out of the water he had to head to the transition area. 

we all quickly loaded our stuff up and run up the hill to cheer him on as he started his bike ride {which would be 56 miles}

pat all geared up and ready for his ride

this was one of the most impressive things about this race.  as the swimmers came out of the water they had volunteers standing by with water, putting sunscreen on the athletes faces, necks, and backs, and there was a spot where they had volunteers helping the athletes to get their wet suits off in order to help make the transition smoother.

while pat rode his 56 miles we settled into a fun little area of boise called bowen crossing.  we had a picnic lunch, visited the candy store, and cheered on the bikers.

pat rounded the corner and his little fan club went crazy cheering him on to his final miles on the bike.

as soon as pat flew by us on his bike, we quickly loaded up and ran for the car to try and catch up at the transition to the run.

we missed pat by about 5 minutes at this transition point.  he was already off on his run.  we waited around a bit to watch and cheer other people as they came in off their bike ride.  

by this time of the day {around 4:15} this little bug was ready for a nap. she landed on her dad's back pack to rest up before we moved on to our next spot.

we left the bike to run transition and walked to find a spot to watch the runners. the run portion of the race was a loop so we knew we could catch pat two times.  on the first loop of his run he was looking strong. he was giving the kids high fives and had a big smile on his face.

here he is coming into the finish. he had about .2 miles left in the race at this point.  i think he was just ready to be done!

we met up with pat at the finish line and he looked great.  he was smiling and chatting.  i think we might have been more tired from chasing around all afternoon than he was after completing this race. i asked pat if it was harder to do the half ironman or run an ultra marathon {he's completed 2 fifty mile races}.  he assured me the ultra marathon was much harder.

pat we are so proud of you and had a great time cheering you on in your race.

we can't wait to watch you compete again next year!