hanging out with my boy

Layla went shopping with a friend and then they had a sleepover, so Hayden and I had a Hayden day.

We did all his favorite things.  He wanted to see a movie, so we saw Inside Out.  Then we went for a bike ride, while I jogged.  Dad got home from work and they watched a little soccer and played boats.  He wants a boat for real, so he loves to play with his toy boat and tube.

I think Hayden missed Layla while she was gone.  They are big buds this summer!

the vet and homemade pizza rolls

The puppies had their first appointment with the vet here in Georgia today.  Thankfully we have healthy pups and they haven't required medical attention recently!  Today was just about shots and checkups.  Everyone is all good!

The children stole my phone and took a selfie.  Oh my goodness!  At least they didn't change my iPhone background picture.  They love to pull that trick on me!  

The doggies had great visits with the veterinarian.  Daisy was not a fan of the doctor at all.  She growled and barked at him.  Oh my!  Lily just wanted to lick everyone in sight.  She loves to make friends!

When we got home Layla made dinner for her and Hayden.  She is the best little cook.  I have to say I love it.  I just sat in the kitchen at the table and scrolled through Instagram and browsed Pinterest.  She cooked everything and only needed a little direction from me!  It's so fun to see her being independent!

She took biscuits, and flattened them.  She filled them with pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.  Then she gave them an egg wash bath and sprinkled them with Parmesan and Italian seasoning!

Bake at 425 for 18 minutes and serve with pizza sauce for dipping!  Viola!  What a great summer meal for the kiddos.  They love pizza. It's much more fun to make and way less expensive than ordering pizza.  Win Win!!

double dates

We love to hang out as a family of four, but we also know that it's important for individual time together. Today Layla and I went to a small beach area with one of her friends and her mom.

The boys went to play golf.

Hayden is feeling much better after many itchy days and I'm so thankful he enjoyed his day with dad on the golf course.  We ended the day with dad grilling a yummy beef tenderloin.  It was a fun Monday! 

Where is Lily?

Oh sweet Lily!  She's such a great sport!

Kona Ice at the pool = Awesome!

After swimming in the pool all afternoon the Kona Ice truck was a welcome sight!  They cooled off with a frozen treat before we headed home.

We love our summer Sunday Funday!

this week in summer news

Our second week of summer has been very low key.  

After camping all weekend I needed some down time.  Hayden is having a pretty bad eczema outbreak right now, so he needed to rest.  The dogs were both exhausted and slept for a few days straight and mostly I needed some time to catch up on laundry!

It has been good to relax and veg out.  I was so lazy I didn't even make it to the grocery store.  We were eating whatever we could find here.  

I think Layla has ants in her pants.  She loves to go go go!  I know it's good for her to scale back her days a bit because we are so busy all school year long.  We headed to the grocery store today and I made a few other stops.  While heading to Hobby Lobby the kids saw a Fuddruckers.  They were dying to go eat a burger, but I said no way, not without dad.  Layla said, "If this place had a Whataburger it would be perfect!"  She is my daughter y'all!!  I miss Whataburger so much!  

While we were exploring Hobby Lobby the kids were loving all the home decor.  Hayden found a few manly items he wanted to put in his room and Layla had already redecorated her room walls in her mind.  HA!  Her second best quote of the day was, "I could buy everything in here!!"  See....she's mine!  Whataburger AND Hobby Lobby!!  

We ended the day with crispy tacos and building model cars.  The kids talked me into buying them each their own model car to build from Hobby Lobby.  I was thrilled to buy them because it seemed like something they could do over a period of a few days.  I like when they stay busy, but nope.  They were done tonight!  My fast little builders.  

Here's too keeping my little people busy for the rest of summer, or not.  I'm happy to relax and veg out because before long it'll be time for back to school!

Oh and P.S.  Layla reminded me frequently today that her bithday is in exactly one month!

One month until the big double digit day! #10

this is a camping photo dump

This weekend was Lily's first camping trip.  She loved exploring and smelling all the smells.  She got 

herself into some trouble on Sunday morning.  She found a thorn, or some stinging nettle.  She was a mess for a good two hours.  We finally took her to the water and she was much better.

Breakfast is one of my favorite camping meals.  We took 18 eggs and a 3 pound sausage roll.  We still have sausage left, but we devoured the eggs.  At the last minute I threw cheesy grits into the camping bag and they were a huge success.  Layla requested avacado and they were a bit hit.  They always hit the spot with whatever we're eating!

Lily loved seeing the ducks and I think she would have chased them, so I'm glad she was on a leash!

Hayden had a fun time finding frogs.  That boy loves digging in the dirt.  He found so many frogs and caught lightening bugs too.  He's a nature lover!

Daisy seemed less than impressed to be camping this time.  She didn't like the leash she had to be on, but those are the rules!!  She mostly enjoyed curling up in her chair watching all the action.  Yes, she has her own camping chair.

My favorite dinner was beef fajitas.

Sunday morning Gary made the eggs and sausage and then he grilled a pineapple and that ended up being our favorite sweet treat, other than smores of course.

We indulged in fudge stripe s'mores.  Yum Yum.  We used Reese's, marshmallows and fudge stripes.  It was a delicious treat for the kiddos.  We enjoy getting creative with our s'mores!

Daisy wasn't a fan of the water, but Lily enjoyed walking around a little bit.

I honestly thought Lily would get in and swim like crazy, but she didn't.  She's cautious like her momma!  She licked the water and sniffed around.  She did end up swimming, but not too much.

I had Gary take one picture of me....see I really was there.  I'm always on the other side of the camera!  And as you can see, Hayden is exporing, as usual!

The kiddos enjoyed the sandy beach at our campground.  It was pretty private and we were all alone on Monday.  We had the whole beach to ourselves. 

We ended up taking our new floats out to the middle of the lake and hanging out with our friends who have a boat.  The kids loved lounging on this fun float.  They were in the water so much this weekend.  They really love the water like their daddy!

We have a stove top inside the camper, along with a shower, sink, toilet and air conditioner.  We decided we wanted to do mac n cheese the old fashioned way.  We boiled water and made up a little cheesy mac for the kiddos to go with our brats.

Monday we put the jet ski in for a few hours because the lake was so quiet.  I'm not a jet ski fan, so this was fine with me.  We played around for an hour or so and then we headed back to clean up and head out, back to our home.  

Lily did not want to go home.  She tangled herself in hopes we could stay forever!  She's a great camping dog!  We managed to have a wonderful and safe time.  Layla and Hayden each got a bloody knee, Daisy had a hurt paw for about 10 minutes and of course Lily was itching with something, but we had a great weekend and can't wait to go back soon. Whew, longest sentance ever!  

let's camp!

We're camping for my birthday weekend! YAY!!

We arrived at the campsite this afternoon and had to get everything set up.  I love to feel at home right when I get there.  This is our first camping trip in a few years, so it took us a few extra minutes to get everything set up.  

Layla is making sure the hammock works ok! ;)

Hayden is making sure he'll fit on the jet ski daddy brought from work.  We love being able to try out new motorsports toys !

Gary said we look like Sanford and Son, but we have everything we need to camp, even though it's a little cluttered!

After we got everything just right we had dinner and then ventured out for a walk to explore the campgrounds alittle more.  What a great sunset view!!

I love all those characters behind me!  I'm excited for a fun weekend!

39!

We had a fun dinner at La Parrilla celebrating my birthday!

I didn't blow out birthday candles this year, instead I had a giant margarita!

I am spoiled by my guy!  He got me a Yeti cooler!  I can't wait to test it out this weekend when we go camping.   When my family asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday I said, "Let's go camping!"  It's my favorite!

Thanks for a great day celebrating and here's to the next month celebrating my birthday right into July when we'll start celebrating the kids birthday month!   Yipeeeee!