A Cute Mess

Sometimes I get mad at my kids for leaving stuff everywhere.  Then sometimes in the middle of getting mad, the things they leave out are just so cute.  Then I stop and smile.  And take a picture of it. 

 

 

Happy Fourth!

We spent a week at my parents and stayed for the 4th of July.  We loved playing with cousins, tie dyed shirts, played Super Smash Brothers on Uncle KC's Wii, saw a great fireworks show in El Dorado Hills, Joey's parents came to see us too, had our own fireworks show on the 4th, and swam and swam and swam. My girls love to visit my parents in the summer because they love that they can swim several times a day if they want.  They swim in the morning, then later after lunch, and then again at dinner and into the dark if they wanted.  Our new summer bed time is 10pm.  We can't seem to get anyone to bed before then anymore.

Carpinteria

I'm trying to catch up with all that we did in June!  We did find a day to escape to the beach when it was well over 100 degrees here in the valley.  It felt so good to get away from the heat.  We went to our favorite beach place and just relaxed.  There was nothing else to do but play in the sand and water and get a bite to eat. 
The girls tried boogie boarding and were loving it.  Sammie has been asking and asking, "When can we go boogie boarding again?"  I love this beach because the waves are usually very mild and there isn't much of a rip tide.  It's perfect for kids.  In fact, there were all kinds of kids swimming way out to the swimming platforms.  once the clouds burned off, it turned into the perfect beach weather day.
We stayed so see the sunset then headed home.

Reading, Reading, Reading...

We have been frequenting the library quite often this summer.  I have been trying to read a book a week.  I'm a little off right now because I've been reading President Monson's biography and it is taking me a while to get through it.  I haven't been having my kids do much "school" stuff this summer.  Sammie and Olivia did go to summer school for 2 weeks, but other than reading, I haven't had anyone practice math or anything like that.  Hopefully, they aren't going to forget everything. 

Stan Hywet Hall

This place was so amazing.  I'm in love with beautiful houses and especially old houses.  I loved driving around Cleveland and see the beautiful old homes.  This home, is in Akron.  It was built by the family that owned Goodyear Tire.  It was completed in in 1915 and was inspired by the English Tudor style.  We toured the house and then walked around the gardens. It was a rainy day and I felt like I was somewhere else, like on an estate in England.  It was absolutely gorgeous.

 

 

 

There were several different gardens, but my favorite was this walled-in English Country Garden.  It felt like the Secret Garden. I could have stayed and read a while book on a bench and be entirely content and satisfied.  We had a great time together and hope to be able to keep up these visits. 

 

In June, I Went to Ohio

Yes, in June I went to Ohio.  My mom and I flew out to visit Becky for a week.  It was so great to see her and Terry and to see her little pregnant belly!  We can't wait to meet their baby boy in November.  We ate yummy food and ice cream of course and visited a few places.  I love the summer weather in Ohio.  It was so mild with a few thunderstorms.  I think the thing I love the most are the fireflies.  I love them.  They make the summer evenings feel magical.

One day we ate lunch at this cute little place.  I love a yummy lemonade in a cute jar.

 The view out on Lake Erie was beautiful.  On the longest day of the year we stayed out to enjoy the sunset.  It stayed light so long there compared to here and it was throwing me off.  We visited a cute lakeside town, Vermillion, and had lunch there.  I got to experience May flies.  Gross.

 Becky likes to walk her dog in this park.  Um...we don't have parks like this anywhere near us.  It was beautiful.

 We hung out at the shore for a little bit and I, for the first time in my life, successfully skipped a rock.  I was pretty impressed with myself.

 The West Side Market in Cleveland was so much fun.  It was charming, bustling, and exciting.  It's a city market where they sell produce, fresh breads, all kinds of different foods, fresh meats, etc.  So much to look at and lots of yummy food to try.  We settled on Steve's Gyros.  Biggest gyro I have ever seen or eaten in my life and we didn't even order the jumbo size.  Delicious.