HOW is it already halfway through the summer?? I feel like I spend so much of the spring looking forward to a slow, relaxing summer and we have barely sat down these last few weeks. We need to make some changes for July. Looking at the July calendar though, I don’t see that happening. 😉

We have been busy trying to stay cool, playing outside and loving lots of time with friends and family!!

We’ve spent a lot of time at the splash park these last two weeks! My boys love it (and sitting in the shade afterward eating all the fun snacks we bring). 😉

Parker was a little unsure at first but once he figured it out, he went crazy!!

Love my boys.

On the Saturday before Father’s Day, we celebrated my dad. So thankful for this man!! He is a wonderful dad and Pops. 🙂

Father’s Day was such a wonderful day!! It was seriously one of those rare days where everything just went perfectly. We treated Jon to a Father’s Day brunch and stuffed ourselves silly.

The boys helped him open some presents.

We went to – where else? – the splash park and the kids ran off some energy.

Love these faces!! 🙂

And finally, we finished it up with a fantastic grilled dinner and s’mores (Parker had to miss out on this one – a VERY curious, VERY active boy around a very hot firepit kind of scares me to death!). Such a wonderful day!!

This little sugar wants to be big like his brother so badly. 🙂 🙁

This last Thursday, Nonnie and Papa O came into town!! We spent the entire weekend being spoiled completely rotten. They took us out to eat, they played nonstop with the boys, we got treated to shopping and activities. We were so thankful! The boys LOVED them being here!

We had to take them to the splash park. 😉

They bought us the game Hedbandz and we were dying the rest of the weekend over some of Nathan’s questions. When we first put the headband on Nathan we told him, “Okay. Now you have to ask questions.” And he said, “Okay. So do you think when T-Rexes ate people, they would start with their heads?” Ha! We said, “Not just random questions, you have to ask questions about what’s on your card.” He said, “Oh! Okay, so is it a long, long string attached to a skateboard and you can hook it up to something?” He kills us.

And finally, here’s our finished backyard!! I couldn’t find a before picture, but basically it used to be almost all dirt. We tried to seed it several years ago and it worked for a while but then all the grass died and it went back to just dirt. We added the patios, added the sandpit and the playground and did sod this time. We love it! The kids have been out there almost every day. 🙂

Part of the reason I have been putting this post off for so long is because every time I thought about sitting down to write it, I just got very tired since it’s been so so long!! We spent a good part of May with me cramming in a deadline and then the whole beginning of June finishing our backyard, so I didn’t have a ton of opportunity to sit down and blog too often. Hoping that changes this summer!! There is much to remember about these busy, fun, exhausting days. 🙂

But the deadline is done, the yard is done and I have two boys who are growing like weeds this summer (and the proof is in our grocery bill!). 🙂

So, grab a glass of sweet iced tea and get ready for a TON of pictures! Here’s what we’ve been up to so far this summer:

We have done lots of swinging and this kid has loved it!

One day we were out working in the yard and we looked over and Nathan had set up a “Mud Pie Station” for him and Parker. They were DISGUSTING afterward but they had so much fun!

Parker has discovered his love of two things – reading and Mickey Mouse. And when the two things are combined, it’s just perfection. 😉

We went swimming for the first time this year in Gammy and Pops’ pool. Obviously, Parker hated it.

So did Nathan. 😉

These boys and their snacks. We love our snacks around here. I get asked for a snack approximately 3,659 times a day. 😉 Love these sweet post-nap cheeks.

We also discovered our love of spaghetti…

And dip. 😉 Notice the chicken nuggets stacked neatly out of the way so he could get to the important stuff.

Nathan got to help his poor teammate who broke his leg on vacation play outfield. The idea of a broken arm or leg has become completely awe-inspiring to my boy thanks to Carsten’s fun wheelchair and awesome cast. We keep reminding Nathan that it’s super painful and not as much fun as it looks. 😉

He played his last T-ball game the next week. He LOVED this year!!

Dad presented the trophy at the end of the year party and it was such a sweet moment. 🙂

Most of the A’s. 🙂

We went to Story Time at the Balloon Museum and they had a time when all the kids got up and danced to music with little handkerchiefs. Both of my boys were in heaven. 😉

Inside a hot air balloon basket!!

We had the sand for the backyard delivered and a huge dump truck came and poured it in our front yard. Nathan thought it was about the coolest thing in the entire world. 😉

Helping Dad smooth it out. 🙂

This boy has always been our helper kid and he helped us so much with the yard!! Love his sweet heart!! Parker is picking up on this too and has also been trying to help – it’s just so wonderful to see!

And this one – ha!! We have developed quite the sense of jealousy over the last couple of weeks. If Parker wants mine or Jon’s attention and Nathan currently has it, it’s the END of the world. He does not like to share! I remember Nathan being super possessive of us too at this age but it is a whole new ballgame when there is a sibling to compete with. 😉

Last Tuesday, we went with the Beechems on the train to Santa Fe! We’d never been on the train and it was so much fun. It took about an hour to ride it up, we had lunch at a super fun restaurant and then rode the train back home. It was so much fun and it was so tiring that the kids and I all slept afterward. Ha!

SO thankful that Jon had the day off and could come with us!! This baby of mine is becoming the biggest Daddy’s boy. 🙂

Two buds on the train. 🙂

Looking out the window for Moo Cows. 😉

 Us. 🙂

We’re here!! Time for lunch!

I love this picture – Nathan is just not a good influence on our sweet Gracie. Ha!!

The restaurant we ate at was SO much fun – they had a little courtyard in the middle of the building that had a big playset in it where the kids could play right by the tables so the adults could still eat and talk. It was SO much fun!! We loved it!! And the food was delicious!

After we woke up from our naps, Parker and I ran some errands and had to stop for a sweet tea because it was just blistering hot outside. It’s supposed to be in the triple digits this weekend. Ugh.

Post-nap Parker. I cannot get enough of his sweet face!! He’s just a riot. I spend 90% of my day just laughing at the things he says and does.

Yesterday we had our friends Blake, Shannon, Violet and baby Deklan over for dinner. The boys and Violet spent most of the night outside playing and then took Popsicles out there for dessert. SO much fun!!

Whew!!! I think I am all caught up!! I will do an official backyard post soon and show the before and after pictures – it looks SO different!!!

Such a fun summer so far! 🙂

First off friends, I am just EMBARRASSED at how long it has been since I have updated this blog!! I finished up my deadline just in time to jump into a backyard landscaping project that is eating up all of our free time, but we are all set to finish today so come Monday, I’ll be back here with some major updates. 🙂

In the meantime, how about a little contest for Bake Me a Match, which releases on Monday??! Yay!! 🙂 I will draw the winner Monday morning!! To check out more about Bake Me a Match, click here.

Ready to enter?? Use my handy little Rafflecopter below!! Good luck friends!! 🙂

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Friday!

I am SO far behind on this blog and I need to write an actual update, but for now, I just wanted to say that I am done with my deadline! So thankful!

And…

We are now TEN DAYS to the release of Bake Me a Match!! You can preorder it on Kindle here! It will release on Kindle and Nook on June 15th. Can’t wait for you guys to read the rest of Annie’s story! Check back on Monday for a fun contest!! 🙂

Have a great Friday!!