the summer is winding down.

things have been pretty boring around here lately.  i think that it's a sign that summer is winding down and school will be here before we know it.  yikes.  as much as i do love summer and no school, i feel that i am running out of things to do to entertain these children of mine.  swimming just isn't as exciting as it was at the beginning of summer and the constant one on one attention that my lovely kids think they need every second of every day is a little too much for me...then guilt sets in and i feel bad for not wanting to play a game with them or even make them lunch. (i definitely wouldn't win mom of the year.)  so, thank goodness for a $2 purchase at target, i got my kids these almost endless amounts of fun punch balloons.  they have been running all over the house playing with them.  we will see how long the fun lasts.  hopefully, it will last for the next week until we leave for a much needed trip to california where we will finish out our last days of summer.  i can't wait!!

sparklers.

a little backyard fourth of july celebration to show our our love for the usa.

proud to be americans. 

grateful for our independence.

happy birthday america!

a cool and rainy fourth of july.

i have lived in arizona practically my whole life and i can't remember a fourth of july that had better weather than this one.  we woke up to overcast skies and by mid morning it was raining.  all the kids put on their swimsuits and ran out to the backyard.  they were running around as if it had been months since they had seen rain.  oh wait, i had been.  somehow our rain party turned into a family weed picking party that quickly turned into a competition to see who could gather the most weeds.  everything has to be a competition.

after they got sick of the backyard, they moved to the front yard where they picked some friends to join in the fun. they splashed in puddles, had some bike races, did some rain dances, and ran around being silly.  we had forgotten what it was like to be outside playing...during the day!  after the rain cleared up, the weather stayed cool (like low 80's which is unheard of here in the desert in july) and we lived outside for the day.  it was so wonderful.

play-doh

over the weekend our kitchen table turned into a mini play-doh factory.  i must say, i am never thrilled when the play-doh comes out because it is probably one of the messiest things to clean up but it was too hot to play outside and we are already getting sick of swimming everyday of every hour so, this was the alternative.  a good one too.  it kept these little rascals busy for a few hours and they even did a pretty good job when it came to clean up time.

their assembly line went a little something like this: jack formed the balls, ava pressed, cut and shaped the doh, and eden was in charge of final touch ups and displaying the finished product.  it was quite the process... a well thought out process, i might add ;)