Super Summer Fun

It was a good week. We kept busy doing regular things at the beginning of the week and then we finished off with some fun things. On Thursday, some friends invited us to meet up with them at Landa Park Aquatic Complex out in New Braunfels. We had a lot of fun. We definitely need to go back again when Paul can come with us. Today we decided to take the kids to Peter Piper Pizza to have lunch and play games. It was a pretty fun couple of days!

A three mile walk, followed by plant watering and grocery shopping adds up! 10,000+ steps and 5 miles before noon.
I got me some new eyeball art. 😉
I love the design on them.
Abigail requested m&m cookies. They were quite tasty! I love my stackable cooling racks. They allow me to have a lot of cookies cooling without taking up too much counter space.
Wearing Joseph’s old Shazam costume.
She told me I needed to pretend that I was Shazam’s biggest fan and that I needed to act super excited when meeting Shazam.
Joseph was happy his Miles Morales Spider Man costume still fit.
This was the time of day I decided it was time to put my feet up.
I discovered a new apple that is super crisp and tasty: Cosmic Crisp apples. They are so good!
Joseph getting ready to get into the water at Landa Park.
Abigail getting ready to head in.
It’s a spring-fed pool. On one side of the pool, water is coming in from a river. On the other side, the water leaves. It was pretty chilly getting in, but it felt good because it was a really hot day. They have a really big slide over there made from a tarp. That went into a really deep part of the pool, though and was meant for adults or bigger kids. There is also a rope swing over there that bigger kids or adults can use to swing out over the pool to jump in, as well as a large float that people could climb up onto.
This side was more shallow. It’s perfect for younger kids. It has a water slide and then the twisty brown slide that empties the kids out into the water.
Abigail going down the water slide. I think she spent the majority of her time going down this slide and the twisty brown slide.
Joseph floating in the slightly deeper part of the pool. There is a ledge right on the edge of the pool that is only a couple of feet deep (the ledge is what the handrail is screwed into) where people can sit or walk. The part where Joseph was is about four feet deep. One thing we discovered was that the bottom of the pool was covered in algae, which made it really slippery. I was holding Abigail, trying to get her out a bit further and lost my footing several times. This made her freak out (even though she was wearing her life jacket). She would then cling to me and try to climb me…which would push me under. Miraculously, I always managed to catch a breath before going under, so I never did swallow lake water, haha. I did get to practice swimming the sidestroke while carrying a kid, though…because that was what it would take to get both of us to the edge of the pool. Any time I tried to take more than one step, I would slip on the algae. The first time, I was trying so hard and going absolutely nowhere. It was like a cartoon, haha. She did go out with me a few times, though…as long as I was holding onto her.
Abigail playing a racing game at Peter Piper Pizza. I had to take the picture from this angle because she needed me to push the gas pedal down for her.
The carousel played “It’s a Small World”.
Playing Guitar Hero. She asked for my help to push the buttons and then got bored halfway through. I think she thought she was going to get to play the actual guitar.
One of the prizes she chose was a set of sticky mustaches.
Joseph and his pixie stick prize.
Hammin’ it up. Abigail opted for three smaller prizes: the mustaches, a parachute guy, and a bracelet. Joseph opted for a bigger prize (a popper key chain) to go along with his pixie stick. The pool noodles are from our stop at Walmart on the way home. I think they’ll come in handy the next time we go visit Landa Park (we definitely want to go again before summer is over).
Joseph and his prizes (and his pool noodle, haha).
Abigail tried to get Joseph to wear one of her mustaches and he declined…so she gave it to me. I figured a picture was required. 😀 She has one more mustache, but she wants to save it just in case they have mustache day at school (she might be in luck…they seem to have an obscene amount of dress-up days throughout the year).
After years of using trash cans, we got a fancy compost bin. It’s going to be so much easier to stir things up now!

My Happy (Even Though It’s HOT) Place

It’s been rather hot this past week. Instead of dwelling on that (for too long, at least), I decided I would focus on my different happy places. That’s what came to mind when I saw the pictures that were taken this week, at least…so here goes!

Happy Place: helping this one give her first talk in Primary. 🙂
Eh, Not-So-Happy Place: it got up to 110 degrees on our covered porch. Ew.
Happy Place: walking into Abigail’s room and finding out she decided Buc-ee was going to be a doctor.
Happy Place: getting to see her imagination just constantly on overdrive. She told me she wanted to be comfy but fancy, haha.
Happy (Albeit-Sorta-Sweaty) Place: taking a three mile walk/jog every day and getting to do a mid-walk break at the park in our subdivision.
Happy Place: The front porch right after an unexpected rain storm where I can see the beautiful post-storm sky.
Happy Place: this cozy scene that I get to see every day.
Happy Place: getting to see the new exterior lights that Paul put up today all lit up. They’re way better than the builder-grade ones that were up there before and they have an outlet on the side of them that will make it easier to plug in Christmas lights.
Happy Place: I’m so grateful for our home!
Abigail drew pictures for a story and then told me what to write. 🙂

Fourth of July and Some Fun Food

This past week we were able to do some fun things. Monday was the Fourth of July. We started out the morning by going to the zoo. After that, we went home and relaxed before dinner and fireworks. Much fun was had by all involved. I also took advantage of it being summer and made some yummy food and treats. Paul finished putting up the last two lamps in their respective places (under the bookshelves and in Joseph’s room). All-in-all a productive week!

Abigail checking out the black bear.
A three-banded armadillo. Interesting fact: this is the type of armadillo that can roll completely up into a ball (the nine-banded armadillo can’t do that).
Abigail really liked the armadillo.
Pretending to be a deep sea explorer.
Appeasing his parents. 😉
She loves this boat.
He was chilling in-between the sliding glass door and the screen. I love our “pet” anole.
She asked me to help her set this all up and then she asked me to find some limbo music to play. She totally cheats, by the way. 😉
Getting ready to watch fireworks.
Yes, we are just chillin’ in our driveway.
Some small fireworks.
The kids really liked the fountains.
They ended up being quite impressive.
Fun food #1: baked gnocchi chicken alfredo. It’s basically a casserole with chicken and gnocchi in an alfredo sauce with melted cheese on top.
It was pretty tasty. Abigail actually ate every bite of her dinner that night!
I did a little decoration rearranging. There used to be a bowl on this cabinet. I decided I wanted to move it to a different spot…
…I like it in this spot much better. There was already some stuff in the spot where I wanted to put it, but since it’s a bowl, I just put the stuff inside the bowl. 😉 Well, some of it. My little bird cage didn’t fit in there, so I moved it…
…over here! I like this little section even more now.
Playing Knights and Dragons. Abigail was a queen who was getting attacked by a dragon, so Joseph came to her rescue.
Fun Food #2: Dragon fruit. The kids wanted to try it because it looks really neat.
This is what it looks like inside. Everything in there is edible. It was slightly sweet but rather bland. Friends have told me that the dragon fruit that you get in China and other Asian countries is much sweeter.
Fun Food #3: I used cocoa crispies to make rice crispy treats. They were pretty tasty!
The light under the bookshelves.
The kids put it right to use.
I love sights like this!
The new light for Joseph’s room. It will be a great reading light!
I decided that since we’re swiftly coming up on a decade of being in Texas it would be fun to put up a picture of what the trees in the back looked like when we first moved here in comparison to…
…now!
Here’s the front tree ten years ago (and look, no houses around us…crazy!!) in comparison to…
…now!
I’m so grateful for the shade it gives me. I was able to stand in the shade the entire time while I was watering plants/grass in the front.
Our “finale” this year. 🙂
The neighbors down the street. It’s always a fun time.