roughing it

Blake and I are awesome parents. On Saturday (Pioneer Day) we slept in and sent Lucy on her merry way with my parents to watch the parade. Then the two of us had a long, leisurely breakfast at Blue Plate while reading the paper. We considered a matinee of Inception but then remembered we have a little responsibility (named Lucy).

No, we really missed her and didn't want to miss out on her at the parade so we made our way downtown, met up with family and caught the last three minutes of the parade (yay us.)

But let it be known that Lucy was less than thrilled to see us - so any guilt we had should wash easily away when we see how much she loves her gammy and poppa time (yay us, again.)

That evening was all about us though. We're not campers or really wilderness people but it's fun to "play camping" when your husband does all the work and the tv, bathroom and internet is all within a few steps. Blake and Lucy had planned their camp out all week and really, after this setup who in their right mind would trek up into the hills for the same gig.

Hobo dinners, fire pit, roasted marshmallows, star gazing, flashlights, snuggly sleeping bags and a Parent Trap showing in the tent...our kind of camping.

I made it out there until eleven or so but decided to leave the real roughing it for daddy/daughter. They surprised me and lasted all night!

the essentials

Lucy asked to wear a "camping dress" but I don't have any pioneer garb lying around so I told her campers wear lounge clothes

See, even I participated in pioneer day with a pioneer look of headband and no makeup - yama

For being all about nice restaurants and valet parking Blake can sure play the part of camper - his hobo dinners were yum. He said the last time he had one was when he made one for himself when he was 12...sad, and odd.

These jokers showed up.

On Sunday we were invited to Little Dell with my family. Let's just say we probably won't be invited again. Or maybe I won't be invited. Blake kayaked with everyone and Lucy spent time in the Fish Hunter and the kayak and I pretty much complained.

But it was family time and that's all that matters...right?!

Annoyed with me.

Annoyed with me from afar.

spray paint

This beauty was hanging out in my grandma's back yard and when she offered it to me I didn't think much of it. But after a scrub down, primer and HOT pink it's a fun addition to our outdoor play area.

Lucy painted the little birdhouse hanging from the planter. There are so many cute crafts in the dollar section at Michael's. They've saved us on some of these long summer days.

My mom and I stopped at a yard sale near my grandma's one morning and debated about this planter. We knew it had possibilities but we were a bit bugged the seller turned down our $3 offer for the $5 planter. I knew I'd regret it later and so we picked it up.

Amazing what a punch of color can do. This whole thing ended up costing about $8. after paint.

So, lessons learned:

Rose Park has a lot of cool metal planters lurking in backyards

If you see something cool don't walk away on a couple bucks difference - I would've been kicking myself if I walked away over $2

Don't wear shoes you care about when spray painting - mine now have a pink & green airbrush look

easy laugh

Blake claims that I laugh at anything and everything. Whenever I'm having a bad day or feeling blah I go to someecards and usually laugh until I cry. Blake doesn't think any of the cards are funny - he doesn't even read the ones I email him. Maybe he's just jealous because Blake's really funny too and he can say the dumbest thing and I can't breathe from hyena-laughter.

I've come across something that I'm sure no one else will think is nearly as funny but again for me - tears! Maybe it's because we're somewhat Pottery Barn obsessed. I gaze through the catalogs and want to recreate all their little vignettes. But after this mockery some of those dinner setting are a bit ridiculous. http://catalogliving.tumblr.com

I'm an easy laugh but there could be worse things.

p.s. it's been really hard for me to not laugh at Lucy's new phrase of the week. She's been amused with the words "bum" and "butt" lately but the other day when she was jumping on my bed and said "butt face" it took all I had to not get hysterical. I did let out small laugh and that was just enough to have her say it...a lot.

summer so far

The long 4th of July weekend has come and gone and

it was such a fun one.

Perfect weather!

On Friday night Caitlin & Brinton took Lucy to a carnival

while Blake and I enjoyed a dinner up Emigration canyon at Ruth's.

Lucy had a blast (as always) and it was a great way to kick of the weekend.

On Saturday we prepped for a little bbq in our backyard. I put up a

bunch of cute decorations and we had lots of laughs -

as for pictures these two were all that happened.

Looks like a real happening party, huh?

I promise people came and I promise there was more decor than

the same exact fans in the front and back (lame).

There are no pictures but believe you me -

Blake was truly master of ceremonies of this event. He worked non stop

all day Friday (he had off) and Saturday. Blake wanted a new menu

so all on his own he researched recipes, made an extensive shopping list,

did all of the shopping, unloaded and spread a huge delivery of topsoil,

planted new perennials in the front yard, mowed, trimmed, did ALL the yard work,

helped me decorate, prepped and cooked the ENTIRE meal, cleaned-up and put on

a great firework show while we all lounged on the lawn and ate treats.

He was AMAZING!!!! Everything was perfect and delicious and I really

should be embarrassed that he did all of that and I watched.

I love him for hundreds of reasons but also for making our holidays memorable.

The rest of the weekend was spent going for a drive, working on a few more

yard projects and Monday we had a bbq at my aunt Beth's house (again no pictures).

If someone flew overhead and looked down in her backyard they would have

seen quite the scene of 20+ people playing tug of war...

yes tug of war. This tradition is hysterically fun and this year was no different.

We tried as many varieties (girls vs boys, over 40 vs under, etc.) as we could

think of and the neck ache I woke up with proves that we gave it all our all...

in tug of war.

Since I just have a handful of pictures of this weekend I'll add a few more

of what else we've been up to. We saw Toy Story 3 - Lucy's second movie in the theater.

She was great and can polish off a lot of buttered popcorn.

The movie was very cute and I cried a bit.

Lucy has allowed some room for the Toy Story characters but

no one can touch the princesses.

We went to the Salt Lake Arts festival. It was super crowded

but still a fun evening. Caitlin & Brinton volunteered so Lucy

got her face painted by Brinton. We ate, looked at booths and then watched

Lucy entertain many people by dancing to a jazz band.

If we were smart we'd put out a bucket for tips.

Other than that we've done swim lessons, picnics, saw Eclipse, backyard

baby pool and plenty of snow cones.

And once Lucy's tucked in this is our latest obsession!

Mad Men

This series had been recommended so we finally netflixed all

three seasons and I can't stop thinking about it.

The new season (4th) starts the end of this month and we're all caught

up and counting down.

Don Draper - why must you be so complicated?

Summer tv leaves a lot to be desired so do yourself a favor and

get this in your queue - NOW!!

happy summer!