summer reads...

If you are looking for a good book to read this summer, this is the one. I am not much of a book reviewer but this was part of our church's book club several months ago and was also the top teen book at our local library. It turned out to be a real fast and excellent read, so if you are looking for something, check it out!

We leave tomorrow for a road trip so by recommendation of our library, I will be starting this book...

... since we will be camping, I am not sure that I will be able to update you from the road this time... in fact, I am not even sure if Dennis is bringing his laptop so I will see you in a few days! Happy end of July!

fishy, fishy, fishy tales...

I am convinced that since we have spent most of the summer in water, Alyssa is beginning to believe she is related to Ariel and she, herself, is a mermaid in training!

A side note on this piece of artwork: this is the first mermaid I have seen her draw! Not bad, hmm? and she's getting better at writing her name, another favorite thing of hers to do - spelling and writing her name. Let's home she doesn't scratch her name into Daddy's car!

making parachutes

I spent the afternoon doing this...

which in turn, created these...

recycled parachutes for launching lego people, the kitty family, lizards, snakes, crickets (and I am sure I am forgetting something) from our balcony.

over and over and over and over...

until finally they all needed a rest on the landing... until tomorrow!

PS. I changed my blog look... header drawing compliments of Jaiden. You might want to check it out, he's quite the artist!

Miss Independent

As if this is some new revelation but somehow today confirmed any doubts that might have been associated whether Alyssa could win the title of Miss Independent.

Be forewarned that this is a lot of photos all about peanut butter and jelly...

... today, I was making lunch for Jaiden and me when Alyssa marched in the kitchen and demanded a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But before I could respond, she also announced (in the same demanding tone) "I will make it myself".

And she did...

It was so cute how she managed to do it all by herself. She got her own little knife, the peanut butter, the jam, the chair to stand on, her own plate... you name it, she did it!

And then she sat down and ate it all!

how to dress like a ghost

This morning I was greeted by a ghost...

who proceeded to tell me "this is how you dress when you want to be a ghost."

So now you know if you ever want to dress like a ghost, this is how it is done.

celebrating the 4th on the 5th

Yes, we celebrated the 4th on the 5th this evening... we got hit with the biggest rain, hail, thunder/lightening show imaginable... this has never happened on the 4th here so after many attempts last night, we decided to wait on the sparklers and a few others.

So Happy belated 4th of July!

"Lumos"

Alyssa and a sparkler was a crazy mix... Dennis kept trying to dodge her as she would lunge towards him saying "Daddy look!"

mountain fun

After a week of 90+ temperatures, we decided to head to cooler weather and went here...

We spent a full day doing lots of exciting activities, including...

bungy/trampoline jumping...

Alpine sliding... which Alyssa adamantly screamed, kicked, cried to not go while Dennis held tightly and headed down... only for her to instantly stop and enjoy the ride!

... but this boy must have gone at least 20 times down... going faster and faster until I could no longer keep up...

... this was the bribe for after going down the alpine slide... which she also went down a dozen or more times with Daddy!

and a bit of rock climbing as well.

One thing is for sure... I am exhausted and will sleep well tonight!