The Bike

We spend the vast majority of our time outside during the summer and that means lots of bike riding for the girls. Audrey has had a difficult time with this. She was just not finding a bike that worked for her. Nothing was fast enough to keep up with her sister and that steering business was a tricky one. Well, with some perseverence and hard work she finally figured out how to ride the "flower" bike. And no bike ride would be complete without a helmet to go with it.
I know in years to come as I will think back to this summer the image of Audrey in this helmet will be frozen in my mind forever. I think it is the most hilarious/cutest thing I have ever seen and I defy anyone to not smile wen they see her little body riding her bike with this kitty (that sometime looks like a pig) helmet on top of her head.

Yes we have resurrected the "flower" bike. This is a boy bike that I got from a friend for 2$. Julia learned to ride on it and now Audrey has her turn. It was once coated with princess stickers that have since faded, the seat is cracked, the "Mighty Mongoose" printed on the side is starting to fade and the training wheels are skeewampus but gosh dangit she loves it. Her improvement makes me so happy.

When riding this bike, every once in a while the training wheels will have a mind of their own. This stresses Audrey out a bit. If she ever falls off I will be about ten feet behind her and she will scream, "Mooooooommm! Why didn't you catch me!!?" I love how I get the blame when things go wrong. Needless to say we are required to stand close to her to try and catch her if the bike ever is to take a tumble. Thankfully she is actually a very graceful faller. We have to remind her that she isn't hurt so she'll jump back on and try again. Which she does. Moving at a snail's pace. It's a work in progress...

You should see how good this girl has gotten on her bike. She is definitely a speed racer. I love seeing her long hair swaying under that helmet as she speeds ahead of us.

This may come as a surprise but kitty helmet not only makes an appearance on bike rides but ALL around the house as well. It is her kitty's pack and play, a purse and great for stick horse riding.

Julia went to a luau birthday party and came home with some awesome party favors. The hosts were kind enough to send home some for Audrey as well. So when we head to the pool they often get in their hawaiin gear in preparation.

The girls are becoming quite the swimmers this summer. I have been so proud of them both. I'll save all of that for the next post.

I'll tell you what. I will not be ready for summer to end!

Stars and Stripes

Of course for the 4th of July we had to dress these girls patriotically and I must say they looked pretty cute in their red white and blue.

We went to the local parade with some friends.

The highlight for the girls were the horses. I told them that if they waved they would probably get candy thrown their way. We have an entire bag full of bubblegum and tootsie rolls that assure me my girls' waving skills are up to par. The real stress was once the candy was thrown. It was a swarm of children scooping and gathering.

They handed out flags. You couldn't eat those so they were quickly cast aside in persuit of more fruitful gatherings.

We went with some good friends which made it fun.

We then came home and had pizza on the grill for lunch. It was our best grilled pizza yet so I had to document our success.

We then made our way to the park for a BBQ with friends. I had to capture Mike grilling the hot dogs on his hibachi grill. Candice made him this scab (I think that's what it's called) and it was pretty much awesome.

We ate good food, had great company and lit off sparklers. Everything a 4th should be and more. I do have to admit Julia's extra long locks make me a wee bit nervous with the sparklers waving about. Luckily we had no problems. Long locks are still fully intact.

Audrey considered it safer to keep it at an arms length. I just can't believe this is our last 4th of July in Ohio. It makes me pretty sad. I will definitely miss the humid evenings and the fireflies flitting about. Something about it feels like home and it will definitely be missed.

We then ended the night with a great fireworks show. We are thankful for a wonderful country to live in, husbands that didn't get called into the hospital and leave me stranded at the park and for great friends that helped make this a perfect 4th.

We even got luckier that the day after the 4th the Hagbergs came to visit us. We took pictures (as you remember from my previous post), got a delicious treat at RITA's, stayed up until 1:30AM chatting, went and exercised with little sleep (Kara is hard core), went swimming, had a delicious cake, had a BBQ and had a yummy dessert for Kara's birthday. Pretty much a perfect two days if you ask me.

The girls adore playing with Bexley.

So glad we could celebate with you Kara! We sure do love this family and hopefully next year we'll be close enough to each other to do it again.

Don't you love my patriotic dessert? If you're born on the 4th of July that's what you're going to get.

Just Because I Couldn't Help Myself

So I still have to post about the 4th of July and all of the happenings around here but until then I had to post the latest pictures that our wonderful friend Kara took. I believe this is our sixth photo shoot together and she never ceases to amaze me. Even luckier for us is they are such great friends that we get to not only take pictures but play while they are visiting as well. We love you Kara and thanks again for capturing my girls so perfectly!
The balloons make it so cute.

Poor Kara got eaten alive by mosquitoes while taking these and it was pretty hot. The price we pay for perfect pictures.

I love this smile.

The light in this one is gorgeous, they seriously look like little angels.

I think this was the point when Julia said, "If you make me stand here and smile one more time I'm going to die!" Just one more Julia. Just one more and you get ice cream, I promise.

I just love this little face. My great friend Kiki made this adorable flower in her hair for the next little Palmer girl but I couldn't help using it a little early.

Love them! What am I going to do when you move Kara!?

Business Is Good

So lucky when my dad has business here in Ohio and gets to make it a visit with us as part of the deal. My parents came up and stayed for a few days so my dad could take care a deposition. We had such a great time. The weather was perfect and we spent the vast majority of our time outside. It was so great to have this time with them.

We headed out to a metro park that has a working farm. I think my dad particularly enjoyed it because he was raised on a ranch and it brought back so many memories. I don't think he misses dealing with chickens or the smell of those stinky pigs though.
They have a little diner out there that has been around since forever. It literally looks like it was picked up out of the fifites and transplanted. They even had a jukebox. We listened to the Beatles and Jim Morrison while enjoying some incredibly delicious home-made food. It was such a fun little place.

The girls loved the superman ice cream.

The farm really is such a great place to visit. Julia reminisced with her good friend "snowflake" (the horse she named) and we played the old time games and walked through the buildings. It is interesting to think about how much work it would be without electricity and modern conveniences. Life was much more simple and a lot of hard work.

The girls ADORE their Nana and Papa.

The girls lounging in a hammock. They have it so easy. Julia did try to go and collect eggs in the chicken coop. That was interesting. Julia was surprisingly brave battling the chickens but came back empty handed. I don't know if we are cut out for farm work.

Here we are posing with our good friends the chickens. Some of them were missing a lot of their feathers from being "hen pecked" by the larger or "cooler" chickens.

While my dad was finishing his work we visited the rose park. It was so pretty and so hot. Luckily they were running the sprinklers and the girls were able to get a refreshing spray. I love when I get to share these beautiful places with someone visiting.

Audrey found a sandbox and was covered from head to toe in dirty sand. I think I can still find sand grains in her hair.
This is Rupunzel's Tower, we're sure of it.

Thanks mom and dad for the wonderful visit! We loved every minute.

Our Summer So Far

So we have been busy this summer! Right when Julia finished school and her graduation we hopped on an airplane and headed out west. The girls are at a great age for traveling at the moment so we thought we had better take advantage.

We first spent some time in Wyoming. We headed to a unique place we call the "clay hills." I have many memories as a child playing on these hills and it was great to see my girls enjoy it as much as I did. Julia was nervous that she wouldn't like it but the entire time we were there she enthusiastically said, "I was wrong! These are great!" She was like a mountain goat running from hill to hill.

Audrey even scaled a few and was so proud of herself. Becoming queen of the mountain is quite the accomplishment. I love her "far away" look in this picture.

I tell you what, sometimes Wyoming gets a bad rap. But there are few places with a more unique and beautiful landscape. the sunset as we were leaving was so beautiful. And you know what? Sagebrush can be beautiful too gosh dangit. I have a lot of love for my home state.

A little family picture. What's that? Bryan wasn't there? That's right he was working. Working nights. So I was having a great vacation while he was working 17 hour shifts. Sounds fair right? Thanks Bryan for being such a hard worker for our family. Now I got myself feeling guilty.

A family shot from atop the mountain, minus a few. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this place.

A huge added bonus was the yummy food. A face covered in sticky marshmallow mingled with sand and dirt is a happy face to me. My girls loved playing with their cousins and it's always great to be with family. This place always reminds us of our Grandpa Sylvester and I know he would have loved being there with us.

Next...

We headed to Utah to spend some time with Bryan's family. We went to a new park that had a great splash pad for the kiddos to run in. They all loved to snuggle with Grandma in between playing.

We also spent some time at Amanda's house with Alli and Ilene. The girls loved playing there. Audrey and Alli are just a couple of months apart and got along so well.

Phillip was also so good to my girls. I think he pushed them in this swing for a full hour. Now that is a dedicated uncle. And it was so great to have Christie and her kids drive to see us. Best of all we got to have Cafe Rio after the squirt park. They know how I need my fix every time I visit. We had a great time with the Palmers. They sure are good to us.

We were also able to squeeze a very short visit to the Hendrix family. It was little Will's first birthday and they had a bounce house and a snow cone machine! It was a great visit to say the least. It's been too long since I've had me a tiger's blood snowcone. It has also been 5 years since Barb passed away and it was great to spend some time with Whitney. She is becoming so much like her mom. You guys are like family to us and we sure do love you.

Our kids are almost exactly the same age, except I've been a bit slower with the third (like a year and a half slower).

Oh you think that's all? Why no it is not.

We next headed to Idaho Falls because Bryan had a job interview. I decided I had better meet him and see this place in case we end up for the long haul. Bryan and I are squatters. Once we settle we tend to stick around so I want to be sure we are picking a place that we will be happy. I'll tell you what. This has been an entirely new interview process. Usually you pay your ticket, get your own hotel, basically beg to get accepted and wait and wait and wait to hear anything. Not this time. They flew Bryan out, got him a hotel, a car, and took us to the nicest restaurant in town. When we arrived at the hotel they had this huge basket of bread waiting for us with toys for the kids.

Now we're talking! This is the kind of interviews I can handle! We really loved Idaho Falls and will have to see if that's the road life will take us in a year. Until then, Bryan has some more interviews and hopefully some more bread baskets. That bread was tasty.

Finally...we headed down south to Saint George for a little mini-getaway. Carli and Chuck came with us and we spent our time swimming, eating good food and catching the breathtaking southern Utah scenery. We haven't been back for a good visit since my Grandpa Sylvester died (like 15 years ago) so it was crazy to see how much has changed and grown.

We ate too much good food.

When we first drove into Saint George Julia commented on the fact that it was a desert. "I want to live in the desert because it NEVER rains!" Well after a couple of days and when the heat hit 98 degree she was singing a different tune. We headed out to Snow Canyon and I'm pretty sure at one point she was sitting in the road crying, "I am going to throw up it is so hot! I can't walk anymore! I am so thirsty!" So.....maybe the desert isn't the best place for us. But we sure had a great time swimming and visiting those places that have such wonderful memories.

Phew! That was a super long post. It was overall such a wonderful trip. I have to thank my mom for literally driving me everywhere and being so flexible. I have to thank the girls for being such troopers through it all. They handled everything so well and we really didn't have any bad nights. I want to thank the rest of my family for being so accomodating and spending time with us. We have been blessed with such an amazing family and truly love our visits back home.