Summer Days

I find it ironic that I have been at home a good chunk of the summer and have found less time to blog than usual.  So, in case you think I've been sitting on my couch eating bonbons instead of blogging...here's a little of what we've been up to, courtesy of the photos I have happened to take with my phone.

For the first time since we bought this house 5 years ago, we had colorful blooms from the hydrangea next to my kitchen window.  To say I was excited about this development is an understatement.  There may or may not have been a squeal of excitement upon their discovery.

This has been the hottest, driest summer I can remember.  I think my van was overestimating here, but it certainly FELT 121!

When cleaning out the phone, I feel obligated to post at least one of the many pictures I find courtesy of Hallie.  The baby doll smiles pretty for the camera.

We've spent some good time at the pool this summer, and got to celebrate Miss Meredy's birthday at the pool!

She had a lot of help blowing out her candles...

This was our "homemade" Father's Day present for Daddy.

We've cleaned out most of the closets in our house in preparation for putting it on the market.

We've spent a LOT of time at the zoo, thanks to Papa buying us a season pass!  I know most of the animals' names (sometimes I do confuse the elephants and Hallie has to correct me), which I realized the other day is kinda weird.  I think I could give a tour.

We picnicked after our zoo trip one morning.  Not sure what faces H and B are making here.  The picnic was fun--we did it before it got so stinkin' HOT the last couple of weeks!

The zoo has a children's part that has water spouts, and the kids begged to come back and play in the water.  Why not?  (I sent J a picture of this, and he replied "gross."  I just tried not to think about the cleanliness of the water.)

  

Sara Bee got her summer hair cut this weekend and looks super-cute.

And today we FINALLY had rain!  Hallelujah!  So we popped popcorn and watched Tangled--while Archie carefully cleaned up any crumbs that we dropped.

It has been a great summer.  Not perfect--we had some adjusting to do being away from school and our normal routine--but great.