I am not the summer bucket list kind of person - since we home school we can do things all year round (whenever it works for us) and I really love that - so we don't have to cram everything into summer break - yes for things that elevate stress. I love everything simple, and as stress free as possible.
I have to say I do miss summer in Europe and all the opportunities we had, but we are kind of determined to find away to do things around here.
Some things we have been enjoying lately (some are summer time fun, and well some are just every day around here)
#1. Girly date with Hayleigh.
So my little mini me and I went on a little date the other day. She loves painting her nails, so I though it would be fun to go to the nail salon together. The verdict - she didn't like it as much as when we do it at home (I think it was because we had a man paint our nails) - that is probably a good thing because it is way cheaper! It was still a fun little outing with her, and now our summer feet are all ready.
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| So many choices! |
#2. An afternoon at the kid's museum.
Shortly after we moved here (like when we where still excited for all the newness) and when I was motivated to google everything about West Texas (with the hope that I would find some gems around here), anyways the kids have been begging us to go back to the kids museum.
It has changed a bit since we were there last time, and you aren't allowed to take pictures with a camera anymore (just on your phone) that totally annoyed me. Nevertheless the kids had a blast, and it was nice to have something to do inside on a super hot summer afternoon.
#3. Slip 'n slide fun.
One perk of having a set of grandparents in town is they come up with fun stuff to do. Nate's parent's got this slip 'n slide and we were able to break it in over memorial day weekend. The kids loved it so much.
This actually inspired us to be "better summer parents" and to get a pool - we are working on that and hope to have it all together in a couple of weeks.
This isn't necessarily a summer thing, but more a like a lifestyle change thing. I generally drink a smoothie every day (and the kids will every once in a while), well after I had such huge success with our rainbow food challenge, I decided to try out the smoothie project.
So we start our morning off with making a smoothie (1st breakfast) together. The fun thing is they get to pick all the things they want to put into it (on this nifty little sheet) and they also get to help make it.
This has been so huge for us, nutritional punch first thing in the morning is such a game changer. We have all enjoyed doing this together, and I hope it will last for at least a little while.
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| He use to be terrified of blueberries, and here he is enjoying a blueberry smoothie. |
Hayleigh and my obsession and love continues. I am so excited for my backyard flowers to start blooming so we can pick them. I am so thankful for the cheap flower bins at our grocery store (they are cheaper than starbucks, and they don't make me feel bad) - score!
#6. Golden raspberries.
I always see an abundance of beautiful produce from farmers markets in California, and it makes me so jealous. I was so excited to see these beauties at one of my favourite grocery stores. They are fabulous, and sweet.
Around Mother's Day we went wild flower hunting and instead found a tortoise. She have been hanging in our backyard, and hanging with Millie. One night we had the back doors open to enjoy the rare rain, when all of a sudden Millie and Mable came inside together making a beeline for the cat food. Ever since Mable have been coming to back door pretty much every afternoon for food. This have been a fun adventure, she is still a little skittish with the kids (they get over excited and a little loud) but she follows me around when I water the garden.
My kids love popsicles, but I hate all the junk in them, so I found these fun molds to try out, and well I love them. Nothing beats playing outside in the water and mud and cooling off with a popsicle. Also our cat loves it when everyone hangs out, outside with her (she is so weird.)
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| Making their club house their own - ha! |
We have this bush that grows these insane tiny flowers - it is the perfect bush because no matter how many Hayleigh picks, they never run out. Bonus, the are super pretty.
We started up on our morning walks again for no specific reason besides that it feels good to be in the sunshine. The kids love it, especially Ian because he gets to rid his bike away from home. It is beautiful here in the mornings that we have to take advantages of it before the deadly heat in the afternoon. It has been a nice little outing, refreshing and rejuvenating.
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| Of course she had to stop for some flowers. |
One of my all time favorite things to do in the morning before the sun is up, is to venture into the kitchen make a cup of tea and find inspiration in my fabulous cookbooks, to bake something delicious. I love how it is still dark, and the sun is starting to peek out with some music, and maybe a candle or so going. It is seriously so calming to me.
It is no secret that I have a slight obsession with food, food blogs and well cook books. These beauties met me on my front porch (thank you Amazon) - I love them all, and have had a blast reading through them. My Indian food obsession is in full swing - I have major cooking plans this week.
I love it when the kids play outside. I pull up a chair under our mulberry tree and read. My current read...
#14. Meet chomper.
Generally I go grocery shopping by myself - but everyone once in a while I take the kids with me when Nate has something going. They went with me, we saw a Venus Fly Trap, and boom before I knew it, it made it's way into our cart. They names it Chomper, and it has been an exciting time in our house.
We have finally found a solution for our veggie patch. Millie cat have been digging, in the beds killing my seedlings and also eating them (I have a vegetarian cat) - I am happy to report that everything is finally going well and we are excited to eat from our garden.
It has been so nice to have some routine and structure, and to continue our journey of settling in.
We are looking forward to me sunny and warm days, and just being together. Spending time with the kids, and continue to cultivate our family relationships.
Happy Tuesday!
Enjoy some sunshine today!
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