last night of summer

here i sit on the last night of summer and i have to admit it:

i feel more than a little spoiled.

these days at home were so sweet

i know i said that last summer

and, true....last summer was so wonderful

but these past 10 weeks have been a different kind of lovely

is it possible that every day it keeps getting better?

in some ways harder.....but always, somehow, better?

that each day the sky is a deeper shade of blue?

with Tulip being mobile this summer, we were able to experience more together

and i cannot deny that this family of four thing is shaping up to be quite the picnic ;)

when people ask us what we did with our summer weeks, we tell them that there was no one big vacation or trip to mark our time together...just lots of little, intentional things that wove our bond tighter

like riding horses

and eating picking strawberries :)

and oodles of parks

learning

and laughing...

embarking on new adventures

but always returning to the comforts of home

and while we had our share of frustrations, eye rolls, tears and waking up on the wrong side of the bed, (or crib in some cases!) we thoroughly enjoyed these weeks of togetherness

tomorrow momma and daddy are back to our classrooms.

and i think that even though we were super-spoiled with an awesome summer, we're all ready to get back to the routine that school provides.

i'm so grateful for this profession that provides J and I an avenue for pursuing our passions, WHILE giving us heaps and heaps of time with our girls.

at the end of the day, we know that this is ALL by grace...

and what more can we do at the end of a beautiful summer, as the crickets chirp softly outside, but bow our heads low and thank Him once again for filling our cups to overflowing?

Amen.

number 19: pretend camp

we've got one week left of summer

and there are a few things left on our bucket list

the other night we decided to tackle #19...set up the tent on the deck and pretend camp

J and I are not much for campers ourselves

not that we wouldn't enjoy it...i guess we've just never really tried

but we know lots of friends who love it and we're all about providing experiences for our littles, so we thought we should give it a whirl.....sort of

with us not being too familiar with the ins and outs of camping, we didn't want to go hog wild right off the bat and find ourselves over-zealous and under-prepared

so, we started close to home

real close

like, 3 feet from the door to our house ;)

J set up the tent and air mattress and after the girls were fed and bathed, we "ventured" out to the deck

our silly little pickles were crazy excited about this little 2-person tent that took up most of our small deck

 we started with stories

and when that lost its appeal, Tulip was quick to ask for the "si-ya" (slide), which J had put on the roof of the garage since there was no space for it on the deck

but how can you say "no" to those blue eyes?

so, J heaved it back over the railing and squeezed it in

it was worth the effort

these little munchkins thought it was heaps of fun to slide from the outside of the tent to the inside....simple joys, i guess

when Tulip's bed time drew near, we snuggled her in to the comfort of her crib and then stole back outside for more stories by flashlight

we were all having so much fun, no one wanted to go to sleep

but, finally, we did quiet down and listen to the song of the crickets and the cars passing by

it wasn't too long before Peach had drifted off and i scampered back inside for more blankets and another pair of socks

i only made it until midnight before heading to the comfort of my own bed....i know, i know:  party pooper!

but Peach and J slept peacefully until the 7:30 wake-up call of the birds

check out that face...she can't articulate it, but I know that smile is the one that says: 

"thank you for doing this glamour-less job of making memories with me"

wa-chis!

despite the fact that her sister does the majority of the talking for her, Miss Tulip has taken quite a leap into the world of speech

over the past few weeks, her language has really started to develop

her favorite phrase is, "wa-chis!"

if you lived in this house and heard it as often as we do, you'd know that means, "watch this!"

to which you MUST respond, "I'm watching..."

no other response will do

not, "okay, go ahead..."

or "ready, go!"

nope.

she'll keep repeating herself until she gets the desired response and then, she shows off some random trick that MUST be followed by lots of clapping :)

"wa-chis" - i can eat with a fork

"wa-chis" I can drink out of mommy's cup

"wa-chis" I can kind of imitate my sister's somersaults and sometimes i even incorporate a balloon into the trick - FANCY!

"wa-chis" I can eat a freezie pop

"wa-chis" I can scoop, dig, throw sand and take my sandals off!

really, though - watching her grow this summer has been pure joy

some of her other phrases these days are:

"seh-go!" - ready, set, go

"ta-tu" - thank you

"peesuh" - please

"ep!" - help!

"appy" - happy...she'll say this over and over again until someone starts singing if you're happy and you know it

she's one cool cat

so glad she's mine :)

county fair

i must begin by saying that the last post was a total surprise and the PERFECT anniversary gift......wow
my husband just might be the best guy out there
how did i ever trick him into marrying me? ;)

moving on.......

with just a week and a half left of summer, we're squeezin' out every last drop

case in point:  a gorgeous night at the steele county fair

we'd never been there, but a few friends highly recommended it and we decided to give it a whirl

this smile pretty much tells the story:

we had a total blast!

it was a perfect summer night

with good food, cute kids and plenty of barnyard animals.

who could ask for more?

i honestly forgot for a minute that i was at a county fair

it felt so much like the state fair that i had to remind myself that the admission was FREE!

we started out with the livestock, where Peach got down and dirty talking to the animals

tulip, on the other hand, was terrified!

ever since our neighbor's dog ran up and knocked her down, she's been uneasy around animals and the fair pretty much tipped her right over the edge.

she whined, cried and scratched at our necks for dear life

poor thing!

we must get a dog to remedy this situation........soon

we pried Peach away from her four-footed friends with the promise of a corn dog

it had been decided (by me) on the way to the fair that since we didn't have to pay to get in, we would eat whatever our hearts' desired and (for once!) not worry about cleaning our plates or consuming things that actually benefit our bodies :)

i enjoyed my favorite fair food....a gyro

the chocolate covered strawberries on a stick were a hit!

as was this enormous pickle!

i promise you, it had enough salt in it to provide for all my sodium allowance for the next month(s)

wouldn't you know, Peach found herself some more animal pals

at the petting zoo, she got to pet a kangaroo, giraffe, camel and a whole host of other animals' whose names i had never heard of

this guy was extra friendly - he even gave out kisses! 

on a trip to the bathroom, Peach discovered a small band playing polka music and she was in heaven!

we had to run to get J and Tulip so they could join us in dancing in the streets

we're goin' to a wedding tomorrow.....should be fun!

look who got brave at the very end!

she even fed a piece of corn to a goat and pet this calf!

i was proud as punch.....

and if the animals were the highlight for Peach, the following pictures will tell you exactly what made Tulip's fair-lovin' heart soar:

i cannot put into words how heavenly these cookies tasted

i'm closing my eyes right now to remember it

mmmmmmmmm....

i pretty much had to hose down the wagon when we were through, but my oh my were they worth it!

finally, Peach insisted that we not leave the fair without riding a "roller coaster"

while we couldn't find a roller coaster, we did find these little kid versions of the tilt-a-whirl

the girls in line in front of us heard Peach say that she wanted to ride in the purple one

they then did a bunch of whispering and rushed to the purple car, sticking their tongues out at us as we headed towards the yellow one instead

my heart sank for just a minute, but Peach held it together and we showed them by whooping it up in the yellow spinner :)

on the way home, it was decided that we will definitely be back again next year