The Last Few Days of Summer

The last few days of our summer freedom have been unbearably HOT HOT HOT!! I am talking daily heat indexes of 110. It has been quite miserable- but it hasn't stopped our fun!

Friday night Mindy and I had the opportunity to go out without kids! It was fantastic. Mindy and I have known each other all of our lives. In fact, we sometimes joke about the fact that we are before birth friends. Our moms used to teach at Benson High school together. When my mom got the call that she got me, she panicked and called Mindy's mom asking to borrow some baby clothes. So I wore Mindy's clothes before she was born a few months later. What a nice friend Mindy was and is! When we were little we would spend hours playing dolls and other various board games like Life, Pay Day and Monopoly. We would also pretend we were chefs and make these really delicious concoctions out of various types of candy. We had great fun!! Life takes people in different directions (Mindy and her husband and kids live in California)- and luckily Mindy and I have remained friends. Mindy is also my SUPER smart friend that introduced Meg and I. So on Friday night Mindy came and picked me up in this sweet ride:

Now if this convertible BMW doesn't make you feel bad ass and cool....well then they only thing that could would be a convertible SAAB. :D

It was AWESOME!! We went to get pedicures then out for sushi. And of course, LOTS and LOTS of chatting- that only girlfriends can do. It was a fabulous night!!

Sunday we took the boys to see Despicable Me. It was cute. Not my favorite kids movie but there were parts of it that made me and the boys and Matt laugh.

Yesterday was our last day of freedom. And with the horrid heat what else is there to do but to swim?

But I have to admit- it was almost too hot for even that! Still a fantastic time. Unfortunately though, I have gotten used to a private pool. It's going to be hard to go back to a pool what isn't just for people I know. There is no lounging on a raft at a public-ish pool. That is for sure!

At one point I dove off the diving board. The boys thought that was the coolest thing ever so I tried to teach them how. It didn't go so well. More belly flops than anything else. But we are working on it. Mostly, we just enjoyed being wet and going off the diving board. Here is a little video of the boys going off the diving board.

It was a great summer and I loved spending it with my boys!! Today I went back to a paying job for the first time in 6 years! This afternoon rocked!! The staff is wonderful. I LOVE organizing and setting up my new classroom. It is wonderfully overwhelming! I have to say I feel REALLY lucky! I am going to get the best of both worlds- mom stuff and career stuff! Totally looking forward to this year! Now if I can just manage to make it through Monday where the boys go off to kindergarten and I won't be the one who drops them off- life will be grand!

Cramming In the Fun

This week is the last week of summer freedom. Next week I go back to work for the first time in six years! Holy cow!! The week after that the boys start kindergarten!! Again HOLY COW!! When I realized this would be the last week we had before our summer came to an end I decided I needed to cram it full of fun!!

Monday we had a friend come over to play. That was fun- they role played Star Wars most of the time! Awesomeness!!

Tuesday my friend Mindy (who I have known since birth) invited us over to swim at her mom's house. Mindy and her girls (Claire and Grace) live in California. They usually come for a visit every summer and it's always nice to see them. So we spent the afternoon swimming.


(If anyone is wondering- Josh is in Orange, Zach has green trunks on, Alex has batman trunks on)

Wednesday I took the boys to the zoo. I went first thing in the morning to try and avoid the heat. It was also membership days so they had lots of fun activities planned.

Alex, Zach, Josh

For example: we got to see the zoo keepers feed the penguins. That was pretty cool and it made the penguins really active. So the boys and I got to see them up close and personal.

Josh saw an orange fish he fell in love with and wanted to take home but settled for a picture with it instead. :)

While we were at the zoo, Mindy sent me a text saying they were going to the zoo as well. So we met up with them.



The animals were so active that day. It was awesome!! It started to get uncomfortably hot and the boys were wearing out so we decided to leave.

After the zoo, I took the boys out to lunch. It is so nice to spend time out and about with my boys. While we were eating I just kept thinking about how far I have come. Two years ago I would never have taken my boys out to eat on my own. Last year, I may have done it alone, but I would have gotten all stressed out. This year it is really enjoyable! I heart my kids!!

After lunch, since the restaurant we were eating at just happened to be by one of my favorite clothing stores (Anthropologie), I decided that we needed to take a quick peek. I took the boys in thinking we would make a quick circle around the store to see if I should come back later. I have to say my boys completely surprised me and were helping me pick out pretty things to wear! It was AWESOME!!

Thursday Matt and I took the boys out to lunch- mostly because we had a house showing and were forced to get out of the house. But still I am counting that as more family fun!

Later that day I was planning on taking the boys to Prairie Life to swim, but Mindy invited us to swim with them again. Hmmm...let me think- public-ish pool with strangers- or a private pool with friends. No brainier!! So we took her up on it and swam with the girls again.

Me with Zach, then Josh, then Alex

So much fun!! And I got to work on my tan a little more too!! :) I really love being at the pool and swimming!! It's so relaxing to me!! Even with all the kids around! They just make it more fun!

Today we -meaning me mostly-are pretty worn out. I decided that we could have fun around here! So far the boys have played with the hose and ran through the sprinklers.

Played with geomags...

We have cuddled on the couch reading books together....

And have created various things out of paper, tape and markers. The norm around here. It's been so nice- especially not having to go anywhere or do anything!! We may have even been in our pajamas until almost lunchtime!! Wonderful!! However- we do still have 3 days left until I start working so I still have a few ideas of fun left for us to do! I think today we just needed a little pit stop before we start in on the fun again!! It has been a blast!! I seriously wouldn't trade this time with my kids for anything.

The New Obsession: Star Wars

Lately, we have been watching the old Star Wars movies with the boys. We have watched the last half and are still working on introducing the first half to them. They LOVE it!!

Especially Josh and Zach. They have gone a little crazy over it. T-shirts, toys, imaginary play, etc. It's been fun to watch.

The above pictures are of Josh, Zach and their friend next door having an epic battle. Yesterday they had another friend over and they were playing Star Wars- taking on rolls of the storm trooper, Dark Vader (as my kids call him no matter how many times I correct them), C3PO and Luke Skywalker, Hans Solo, etc. It completely cracks me up.