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Summertime

The area that we live in has Catcholic churches and United Dairy Farmers on nearly ever corner. That's how people give directions around here.

 Turn left at St. Johns, make a right at the UDF and when you pass St. Thomas go another block and you'll be there.

That also means that in the summer time there are church festivals almost every weekend and who doesn't love a church festival?

They even had Plinko!

And this really fun homemade game where you race your golf balls down the tubes and planks and whomever gets three of their colors in a row first wins.

Bubbles have been on our summer bucket list too. So is chalk, even though it's a staple to our afternoons/early evenings that we spend in the driveway.

Sometimes I feel guilty because I don't make every single day great and go somewhere and do something that really stands out and makes memories. But then here recently I realized that blowing bubbles in our driveway is just as important as the really special days with trips places and discovering new sites. I've realized too that I'm definitely way too hard on myself. I push myself more than anyone else does. After working 3 12 hour shifts in a row it's okay to let the girls watch a Madeline video a few times over while I just rest and recover. Not everyday has to be packed full and accomplished. Although resting is accomplishing something important too. Summer time is all about rest and relaxation anyway.

Lemonade Stand

Last week my girls finally had their 1st lemonade stand. Our best friends bought this cute thing from CVS Pharmacy for them. We had plans of building one and looked up plans and all that, but when there was already a pre made one, it was perfect. 

 

I may or may not have taken it too far when I came across the end-cap at Target that sells everything one may need to open and run a lemonade stand. They had cups, aprons, straws, a pad of paper to keep track of your sales, an ice bucket, and on and on.

We also made Lemon Bars to sell at our stand.

Although we only had a few customers, mostly ourselves buying our own lemonade, it was definitely a success in making summertime memories.

Stream of Consciouness

I miss the good ole days of blogging instead of studying or writing a paper. I have a test at 8am and I'm doing this as a break from studying. I've been thinking a lot about Grad School lately and what it is that I would go back for. I even looked at the entrance requirements for law school. It'd be really cool if I could just be a stay at home mama.

We are moving right a long with our bucket list, but the girls have been pretty bad the past few evenings, so it's not really a good teaching lesson for them to scream and be mean and then let them do fun activities. Life is always a balance isn't it?

Cheerleading season is getting ready to start in a few weeks and 4th of July is right around the corner. Time is still going as fast as ever.

This weekend was one of the most fun weekends of my life. One of my best friends got married and I got to be apart of all the beauty and love. We stayed the night in this beautiful Manor and site of the wedding in Winchester, Ky and I got to spend the whole weekend celebrating the marriage of two of my best friends with all of my other best friends. A girl couldn't ask for more.  The quality of the pictures aren't great because most of them were taken with iPhone and I stole them off Facebook, but they do the job.

I have chosen the themes for Riley and Raigan's next birthday parties and have been looking around town for seashells and mermaids and tea cups. Any ideas for a Tea Party or a Mermaid Party would be much appreciated.

I'm already excited for this weekend to come and it's only Tuesday. I had a rough case of the Mondays today, even though it was Tuesday.

I only work a few hours tomorrow and I plan on taking my kids somewhere fun, but who knows what.

Our best friends bought Riley and Raigan a lemonade stand and the idea is totally getting out of control. I can't wait till it comes to fruition and I can take photos so my family can tell me how overboard I go on things. That's the funnest part of life and being an adult, overboard is totally up to you.

Checking 'em off

So even though summer officially starts June 20, it has unofficially started for us. Riley graduated from preschool, we spent a week on our favorite island, and have gone out for ice cream more times than one can count using their hands. We are making way with our summer bucket list and are checking em off left and right. We made root beer floats and played in the drive way one of these summer evenings, and I discovered after being with my husband for nearly 10 years that he does not like root beer. I wonder how that one slipped by. That, or I just don't pay enough attention to those kind of things. So I made him a orange float with orange soda.

Here are my supplies:

1. Extra wide straws
2. Tall summer tumblers (you can use any 'ole cup or glass, I just used this as an excuse to buy plastic ware- one of my many obsessions)
3. Vanilla ice cream
4. Rootbeer
5. An ice cream scooper (not pictured)

Viola! and boy did we enjoy them.

***

We also accomplished Spa Day and my girls call it going to the Mommy Salon and Spa. They're cute.

We hit up our local Walgreens and Big Lots for cheap supplies. We very well may have had just as much fun shopping for supplies as we did doing the spa part. My kids have found a new found love for Big Lots and all that it has to offer.

Here are my supplies:

1. A mani/pedi set with emery board, a stone, and separators for each of the girls

2. Sea Salt bath salts

3. A face mask

4. The girls each got to pick out a color of nail polish

5. Head bands to keep our hair back

6. An aloe and cucumber bar of soap

7. Turban towels for hair

8. Tea candles (not pictured)

9. Cucumber slices (not pictured)

 

 

In the middle of the day I filled a bath with warm water and sea salt, lit some candles, had a fire safety talk, turned the lights out, and told the girls at the Spa we just relax and are quiet. My girls soaked in the tub for a good while. So fun.

We got our hair all twirled up and got ready for facials. It's was really cute how much these girls got into it and love being girly girls.

My new weapon for a half an hour of quiet time: facials. I told them that at the Spa your relax and are quiet and still. They loved it and laid so still and quiet for at least 15 minutes.

Then we cleaned their toes and got pedicures.

***

We also hit up the Northside Farmers Market, but it was kind of a bust. We live a little while's away and of course the night we decided to go there was a huge wreck. No one was hurt, just huge spools of metal fell off of a semi and into all lanes and it took hours to clean up. By the time we made it there taking alternative routes it was half an hour before close and most booths were packing up and not many vegetables were left. We ended up in Clifton for dinner and ate at the Skyline Chili I used to work at back in the day. It was a fun evening and maybe we will try again for the Farmer's Market again.

I love summer time. I hope you all are enjoying it as much as we are!