Wordless Wednesday ~ Lovin' her private pool!

How's the weather?

There are so many things to love about summertime!

We love grilling and being outside.  The weather here in Ohio hasn't gotten hot yet, and by now in Texas we are dying from the heat.   

We are thankful for the warm-ish days and cool nights!

KennyWood park adventure weekend

We got a weekend away and decided to hit Pittsburgh for a fun day at KennyWood amusement park!

Layla and I rode the bumper cars as our first ride!

I photographed the roller coaster I'd never get on.  Gary, Jeff and Brandy rode on it while I stayed with the kids.  Gary said it was a bit scary, so I'm glad I skipped it!

Hayden was almost tall enough for all the rides, but some he was just under the arrow!  Poor guy, and then Layla was too tall for some rides in the kiddie section.  Both kids are right in the middle!

Layla was a bit skeptical of all the rides.  She is just like me!  We finally got her to ride the turtle ride.  That pretty much explains itself though...a turtle is pretty slow. 

The kids loved the race car ride.  They both felt like they were driving in a real race!

We loved eating delicious sugary treats!

Funnel caaaakkkeee!

Layla and Hayden loved playing all the silly games they could play.

Hayden won many games and he's really good at playing them.  Layla struggled a little and was so determined to win.  Finally after many attempts she won this huge giraffe!  She was so proud!

Hayden loved winning this turtle.  He also won a wolf a monkey and several sea horses.

We are thankful for amazing weather and fun friends.  The kids first trip to an amusement park was a success!

Our week in Instagram pictures

I'm learning to use my new grill! Gary is teaching me well, but he is learning too. We've only used charcoal in the past, so it's fun to experiment with a new toy!

The kids are loving our large yard. An after dinner soccer game was a fun way to end Tuesday.

Wednesday we celebrated Spencer's birthday!

The kids ate cake and ice cream and swam like fishes!

Thursday and Friday were unpacking and cleaning days. It had to be done and we all feel more settled every day.

Hayden loves his Epic 3D glasses. He's special.

Layla had a fun time creating a summer fun checklist. She has even checked a few off the list this week.

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my birthday recap

I had a great time celebrating me yesterday.  I turned 37 and it was a fun day!

My morning started with me having a cup of coffee on the porch in my gown.  Layla made me wear the birthday tiara she wears every single year.  I felt honored to share in her tradition.  I also held the birthday grey Schnauzer.  I'm not sure what the purpose of that was, but I played along as the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to me.

I had a fun birthday breakfast with one of my best friends.  I ate eggs, bacon and my favorite hash-browns.  I love hash-browns.  I'm a sucker for a shredded potato.

We had pedicures too.

We had frozen yogurt and it was delicious.

I had cheesecake yogurt with Oreo cookie crumbles and a few drizzles of strawberry puree.  Our dining experience at the yogurt shop was interesting.  They had a fun display of interesting decorations.  Hayden broke the very chair he was sitting in.  I'm not sure how it happened.  The treats were yummy though and that is all that mattered.

Layla was thrilled to be with her sweet friend when she got her ears pierced.  

Samantha was so brave.

Hayden tried on these hilarious patriotic glasses while we waited.

We went purse shopping and I didn't find a purse, but the shopping was fun.  I'm pretty sure I don't know what kind of purse I wanted.  It looked and looked, but nothing stood out to me.  I've been carrying a black purse and I just want something more summer-ish.

I snuggled on the porch with Layla under blankets because the wind shifted and it cooled down for the evening.  We googled gummy worms, bears, sharks, ladybugs, and the like.  I'm not sure why, but we were looking for any animal that was in gummy candy form.  Did you know they make gummy lobsters.  We were being silly laughing and watching Hayden and Lily play in the yard.  They were chasing each other and Hayden was chopping pieces of bark with a lawn tool.

Anyway...I'm not sure why, but those are the silly things I wanted to document.  Life whether simple or fancy needs to be remembered!

Finally Gary got home from a 3 day work trip. The kids crawled into bed and Gary and I got some time to catch up.  We have been so busy lately with moving and the end of school, it's been wild!  It was nice to hang out and plan our next few weeks.  We are looking forward to a fun summer with the kids!  It seems like my birthday kicks off the official start to summer for our family.

It's feeling more like home around here

As you know, our summer started off with us moving and all being sick.  

I don't know what sickness we have, but Gary and Layla started it, and I have it bad.  I have coughed so much I'm sore, and my eyes are so itchy.  It's like allergies and a sinus infection all rolled into one horrible sickness.  As a mom I don't really get sick days, so I've had to just keep on keeping on.  (I know you are sick of me talking about being sick, but hey, I'm just keeping it real around here!) 

Finally Layla said, "I'm ready for summer to be fun!"  Well, excuse me if being sick and moving isn't fun...haha! Bless her heart!  I felt so bad for her, so I took the kids shopping.  We bought a pool and some outside toys and they each got swim suits.  We got groceries and curtains for the new house.  We did it all in a day and today we were set!  

We ate all the fruit we could get our hands on today.  The kids were thrilled to have a house full of food.  We have been eating out so much since the move and even before while packing.  It is great to feel like we have an almost normal house again.  

I still have plenty of unpacking and organizing to do, but I'm getting there.  We are all just happy to have clean clothes.  I got so behind on laundry.  I did a million loads today and I didn't even mind.  It was great to get it done.  Between loads I watched the kids play in the pool.  

Since I had some down time I tried to beat level 65 of Candy Crush.  Seriously.  I have been on this level for weeks.  I'm about ready to delete the app from my iPhone.  I haven't had much time to play it lately, so I'm thinking I'll conquer it soon since I

I love summer.  I love being at home with the kids.  I want to do fun things with them and let them try a few camps, but mostly I just want to hang out with no set schedule.  I love getting up and having coffee on the porch while they play.  We all enjoy watching Lily run like a wild puppy around the yard.  

I can't explain how we all feel so much more at home in our new space.  We all needed room to roam and play outside.  I'm thankful for us finding a new home.  It isn't our forever home, or even our dream home, but we are feeling at "HOME." 

And now I am taking my coughing self to be to win Candy Crush!  haha! Good Night!