Sunday

After church on Sunday we made our usual stop at In n Out.  The line at the drive thru was long, so Michael found a way to keep busy.

I, as usual, took pictures of the many boys piled in the car.

Grandma and Grandpa came for dinner and to pick up Nate.  Their oldest grandsons are getting taller and taller.

Brian and Nate cooperating.  As usual.

We'll see you soon, Nate!

(oh...and I have your pillow.  I'll put it in the mail this week!)

Sunny Saturday

This whole Olympics is wreaking havoc on my sleep schedule...even though we DVR everything.  Last night I was up late watching Michael Phelps swim...who can fall asleep right after that?  And that one swimmer...Dara Torres (is that her name?)...wow.  That is one amazingly amazing woman.

Wow.

Anyway, I woke up this morning to two cousins playing video games and singing 'Dani California' over and over and over.  My iPod keeps getting stuck on that song in my car, so they now know it by heart.  Sorry, Leslie.

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I made chocolate chip and black raspberry/pecan muffins...plus a huge pot of coffee.

Saturday mornings are the best.

Hydrangeas from the backyard.

And yes, it continues to be fig season and I found them cheap!  We've been eating them everynight...I wait all year for figs!

My garden has been watered and I picked a ton, including lots and lots of green beans.  I love how quiet and still you need to be when looking for beans...I got my morning prayers done under the sun today.  

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In a few I'm going to start roasting pans and pans of tomatoes for marinara this winter, plus I probably have close to 20 green and red peppers that I'll blacken over the fire, slice and douse with olive oil...those'll be for crostini later on.  Oh, and last week I did homemade sun-dried tomatoes (minus the sun...in the oven, but so yummy!) with fresh oregano...ate those with Greg and Joanna earlier this week and they went over so well that I'll make some more today.

Tonight we are going to their house, where my in-laws have been staying with their kids while they are off frolicking in my state of Colorado. 

And yes, I am jealous.  Very, very jealous.

There are a bunch of messages on my machine that are leading me to believe that summer is coming to an end, but I am choosing to ignore that for the next week or so.  

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Success

Well, I did it.

I successfully wore out two almost 5th grade boys.

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Our cabana...aka, my summer vacation.  Bliss.  Pure bliss.

Much of my day was spent doing this.

Oh, and floating in the lazy river.  I even took a little snooze.  Bliss.  Pure bliss.

Our little cabana came with a waiter...raise your flag and a cute little thing brings you another iced tea.  Have I mentioned how blissful it was?

Our view.  We arrived when they opened and were among one of the last to leave.  The boys had a blast...I think they spent all of 45 minutes total in our cabana...I spent all of 45 minutes outside of it.

The only really icky part about water parks...any water park, are the really wet bathrooms.

For those that use them.

Eww.

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Gifts

Mollie brings me a present every morning.

Uusally, I'll get a flower from a neighbors tree or a single feather.

This morning, she brought me this...thankfully Michael had not yet left for work!

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Summer Days

Brian, taking a picture with Mollie.

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Cousin Nate arrived yesterday and he and Brian have been inseparable.  We went to Chik Fil-a for lunch and then the pool, where they jumped from the high dive for close to 2 hours, until the rain clouds chased us home.

Other than that, they have been skateboarding and razoring and running and climbing non-stop.

I love cousins.  

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Matthew has a bunch of friends over watching the Olympics and they are all in the family room on their laptops.  He found out all about his new roommate and is excited that he is bring his xbox 360 with him from New York.

  Alex has spent today drifting in and out, in and out.  Summer is starting to wind down and he is taking advantage of life before homework and practices and games and training sessions.

The weather today has changed drastically...sunny and warm this morning followed by cloudy, gray skies...and even a few sprinkles.  Michele weather.

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Supper tonight will be burgers on the grill and all those bags of half eaten chips that need to go, plus a big salad.  I'm also going to make a chocolate cream pie...no reason except that it sounds good and it's one of my boys very favorite thing.

I finished reading a book and stack of magazines at the pool...one of the best parts about summer.  I need to pack up some more things to read..tomorrow I will be taking a carload of boys to Knott's Soak City, where my darling, darling husband, who will be at work,  rented me a cabana for the day, complete with it's own patio and a waiter.  

It's as close to a vacation as I am going to get this summer, so I plan on getting there when they open and staying until they close, ordering multiple iced teas in between floats along the lazy river.  

Paradise.

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Ahhh

A houseful once again.

Matthew is home and working through the 'I've been on my own all summer and loving it and now I have to live back here with all you crazy people but can I have $20.00?' thing that he goes through at the end of every drum corps tour.

He has yet to unpack and I am hoping I am out of the house when he finally does...that whole wet mildew-y towel thing on top of already smelly clothes kinda grosses me out.  He'll need that suitcase a week from Friday, so I am sure it will be done before then.

No pressure.

Alex has a friend over and they are playing a completely inappropriate video game...the kind I swore my children would never be allowed to play.  Mother of the year.  

Brian is with Jack and Harrison at the lagoon until about 3:00pm.  M has offered to cook his famous pasta tonight, though Alex's training session just got moved to 6:30pm...which means we need to leave by 6:10 and won't be back until 8.

So, we'll eat early and settle in to watch the Olympics.  Go Michael Phelps!

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Monday Morning

Back to black and white, just for the weekend.  

And back to wearing #5.

This morning's pick.  My garden this year is glorious, except for my Roma patch which is suffering from end-rot...and I didn't catch it in time.

Oh well.  Can't have it all.

Sheila, leaving for a wonderful week away.  She called and asked if she could bring over a gallon of milk and THEN threw in the 'will you please babysit my half dead spider web covered plant?'.

I'm telling you...the things we do for friends.

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M is at work and is exhausted.  The cats have gotten used to us not having a bedroom window or screen (helloooooo burglers!) and have been coming and going as they please.  Which worked out well until M replaced the screen and now every morning at 5 am, the cats try and get out.  This morning, Maggie got her head stuck in our blinds and it wasn't exactly a quiet rustling that woke us up.  Again.

 I now have a very tired and totally fed up husband.  I told him that the cats and I go together and the look he gave me wasn't the kind of look that says he's keeping us around.

Uh oh.

Good thing I know he likes me.

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