Summer in a Nutshell

Um, where the heck did summer go?? Since I have not posted anything in 2 months, you would think we had a busy, busy summer. We stayed on the go but it was mostly at the pool and the lake. Karlee has just taken off with her swimming this summer. She has not worn her puddle jumper but a handful of times and is diving off the diving board all by herself!!

Here are a few pictures from our summer at the lake.

We continued our Funday Mondays most weeks where the girls got to pick what we did on Mondays. Most of the fundays involved coloring or painting. We even colored sandpaper one week and made tshirts with their art.

By far the most loved funday activity was making jewelry with beads. I was a little hesitant to let Madelyn join in on this activity with the small beads but she LOVED it! I LOVED it too because this activity guaranteed me at least an hour of quiet time where both girls sat in one spot and barely made a sound. That is EXTREMELY rare in this house!

Another funday activity that the girls enjoyed was sheet painting. We have more crib sheets than any household I know so I decided to put one to some fun use. I cut the elastic band off the edges so the sheet would lie flat. I used packing tape to tape it to the driveway so it wouldn't come up when they stepped on it with sticky painted feet. I poured paint onto plates and let them have at it. I even had a turn in the paint with my feet too!

We took the girls to the beach for the July 4th week but I will save that for a post of it's own. Chip and I even escaped to the beach a few weeks ago for a little weekend getaway without kids. My parents took Karlee to the beach with them for a week so Chip and I got to snuggle with Madelyn all by herself. Madelyn gets to go next summer when she is out of diapers. My dad doesn't do diapers on vacation!! That's pretty much our summer in a nutshell!!

Monday Funday!

I've been trying to rack my brain with different things to do on Mondays. The pool cabana is closed on Monday and having to pack a cooler with drinks and a picnic lunch and add that to the mound of things we carry to the pool anyway just isn't fun for mommy! Last Monday, I asked Karlee if she had any fun ideas for us to do that day. She said she wanted to go on a picnic somewhere (a picnic ... just the thing I did not want to prepare food for!). I asked her where she wanted to go for a picnic. Out of the blue she said "Auburn University." I have no idea where it came from. I asked again to make sure I heard her correctly and she said "somewhere on the grass at Auburn University."

A grabbed a blanket and we loaded in the car to pick up Chickfila at the Magnolia street location. When we passed Samford Hall, Karlee said "See mommy. There's the grass for our picnic." She knew exactly what she was talking about when she said the grass at Auburn University!!

I parked at the hotel and conference center and we walked up to find a spot in the shade in front of Samford Hall. We all ate our lunch and the girls ran around and played for a while. Karlee then said she wanted to go walk around for a little while. Oh, do I wish it was for just a little while!! We spent 3 hours on campus. We walked from Samford Hall, down by Lowder business building, down by the stadium, over by the President's house, somehow ended up at The Barbecue House for Karlee to use the bathroom, and then back to my car at the conference center. Madelyn walked with us for some of the time but mostly rode in her stroller. That single stroller even carried Karlee with Madelyn sitting in her lap some of the way. I was one tired mommy with hurting feet!!

















The highlight of the day was getting a surprise visit with Aubie. There are a gazillion camps going on at Auburn. When we were playing beside the new Heisman statues, I looked over my shoulder to see Aubie standing beside me. I couldn't believe it. His "helper" said he was on his way to meet a group of people touring the stadium. He waved at Karlee to follow him and he went and sat down to play with her. It was priceless. I was following with Madelyn in the stroller so I didn't get the pictures of them dancing and laughing but Karlee LOVED it. I wished I could have put Madelyn in his lap but I had just got her strapped back in the stroller (which was a MAJOR task) and I was not about to get her out again!!



This was such a fun, impromptu picnic. Letting Karlee choose what we do on Mondays may turn out to be more fun than I expected. I like having someone else make the plans for a change!! Today she spent the morning at her friend Camille's house and had a blast. Madelyn was just stuck with me running errands and let me know that she wasn't happy about it. She kept calling for "sissa" and missed her terribly.

Swim Lessons: Check!

Karlee took swim lessons from Amber Fulford again this year. I tried to keep a low profile while I was there so Karlee would listen and not pay attention to me. So, I only got a few pictures on the last day.

My little fish did so well. She is swimming 100% without her puddle jumper and is more confident in doing it ... even jumping off the diving board.





We headed to the splash park on the last day of swim lessons since we were on that side of town. Karlee took off through the water but Madelyn just hung out and figured out what was going on. It takes her longer to assess the situation than it ever took Karlee at this age. That is good sometimes and frustrating at other times!! Karlee got bored that she didn't know anyone there so we didn't stay too long, plus the wind was blowing about 15 mph and it was chilly!

Blueberry Pickin

A few Sundays ago, Chip had an idea to go pick blueberries somewhere. We ended up in Camp Hill at Blueberry Haven. It turned out to be a very fun day! We walked away with twice the amount of blueberries we intended to pick but it was all worth it! Chip told Karlee that she could have her own bucket and he would have a bucket. The plan was for me and Karlee to pick half a bucket while Chip and Madelyn picked another half a bucket to give us 1 gallon. Well, Karlee decided she wanted to pick a whole bucket herself so we ended up with 2 WHOLE gallons of blueberries!

We put up several bags in the freezer for future use and kept out a few bags for immediate use over about a week. We have had fun making different yummy treats with them!

Madelyn enjoyed the picking just as much as the rest of us did because she was eating them as fast as she could pull them off. She didn't understand to just pull off the big ones. She would get the small, still red, sour ones and make the funniest face as she ate them. The sour taste didn't stop her though!!













Karlee is hovering over her bucket to keep Madelyn from eating them!! Story of our entire day.



Tired and hot but so proud of her full bucket!!



Chip and Mr. Haven bagging up our loot.