Growing up in Alaska has definitely made a difference in my adult years, I can't handle a lot of heat! I am pretty pathetic in the summer. 

 But we've been trying to stay busy and keep our mind off the heat. A lot of time indoors but also playing with the water table, swimming, and playing at the splash pad with friends.

 

It wouldn't be summer without Popsicles and a lot of afternoons spend in the nude. Only the kids of course!

We've been getting the girls to sleep in the same room again and it was going well until I decided to completely ween Kate from nursing. We have all gotten little sleep over the past few nights and she is learning how to take naps in the living room when her schedule gets messed up and Ellie is already asleep in their room.

Ellie constantly begs to go to the park. She used to love going down the slide but now she wont go near them. She climb to the top of a tall slide at the park a few weeks ago but didn't want to go down. A kid behind her tried pushing her and I think it scared her. We are going to have to work on it.

Not running the past few weeks means I've had to find a new outlet and unfortunately it has been through baking. Cody hasn't complained but my waistline sure has. The girls devoured brownies like they were air!

Last Saturday was the Spudman Triathlon and the biking portion goes right by our house! We put up a sign that said "Smile if your peed on the swim course" and cheered people on as they rode by. We got a few funny looks but mostly people just smiling and laughing. A few people told us that they either had or wished they had gone to the bathroom in the river. 

I took the girls swimming with some friends a few weeks ago. It was Kate's first time and she didn't seem to mind it at all. Ellie loved that the pool was so empty that she could swim around all over with her friends. I love the pool because they have a part roped off that is 1 1/2 feet deep for little kids. Perfect!

One other thing we have been doing a lot of this summer is reading! The library had a summer reading program that if you went in every week you could be entered into a drawing to win a bike and everyweek they gave away free coupons to places like Little Caesars and McDonalds. We got a call from the library this morning saying Ellie won the bike!!!!

July has always been one of my favorite months. There is always a lot going on and birthdays that make it seem to really fly by fast.

We celebrated Kate's first birthday on the 9th. I'm not much of a party planner and one year old's are pretty easily entertained. I blew up a bunch of balloons for the girls to wake up to and it was perfect, they both had a blast with them.

We had a few errands to run while we were in town so I decided to stop and try on clothes for fun. I found a pair of pants that actually fit and were super flattering but didn't really need new pants, mine fit with a belt. We grabbed one of Kate's favorite foods, chicken nuggest, and went to eat lunch with Cody. He must have been listening really intently because he surprised me with those jeans on my birthday a few days later. 

I honestly don't remember what we made for Kate's first birthday dinner, probably wingers minus the sauce for the kiddos. But we did have cup cakes. Ellie really liked the frosting and nothing else but Kate didn't like the frosting at all and kept rubbing it between her fingers.

We got Kate a little peoples snow white house and a block train for her birthday (thank you huggies for rewards codes and free toys!). They surprisingly played really well that night but the next morning they started fighting over the train and it hasn't stopped yet.

On Thursday I went for my run and about half way through my foot started to really hurt. I had Cody come and get me but I was very dissappointed because all I wanted to do for my birthday the next day was go for a hike. It was feeling better the next morning so we still went but just on a short hike. The girls loved it and laughed and sang the entire time.

That night instead of going out to dinner we grabbed food to eat at home with the girls (thanks Jess!). They are all saying hooray for churros!!!

I loved the Fourth of July growing up not only because of the fireworks and parades but because it was also both of my parents birthdays. We'd go watch the parade and go play in grandma and grandpas back yard (our hard had a lot of trees and dirt) so it was nice to play on grass and run through the sprinklers or play bad mitten, a lot of bad mitten. This year was a lot different, having two small kiddos makes things a lot different. 

When I started running my ultimate goal at the time was to run a 5k in under 30 minutes. The last 5k I ran was on thanksgiving and I missed that goal by about 2 minutes. I was determined to have an official time that was better than that so I decided to run a small local race on the fourth. It was so small on fact that I was the first woman finisher but only because all the really fast ladies in the community ran the 10k. The 10k racers started 5 minutes before us so the time on the clock was off and I think we finished later but I was still able to get under 30 minutes and my new goal is to keep getting faster. 

We didn't take the girls to watch the parade because it was definitely nap time. But we did have a BBQ with Cody's and then went and watched the fireworks. Kate finally fell asleep during the fireworks and Ellie was a little unsure of what to think. 

Sometimes life is rough, really rough. But those times are rewarded with simply perfect days. Today was one of those days, so good that I could cry from the joy that was very much needed. 

We didn't start the day like normal, cleaning the house before it gets too hot. We headed to the library where the girls love to color and pick out books and movies. 

Our second stop was to the park. The library hosts a storytime and lunch through out the summer but this was our first time attending (and sadly the last time they were hosting one for the season). The theme of the day was "it's alive." They had goats and bunnies to see and pet, a Frankenstein mask to make, a story time tarp to listen to a book, and a snot making area (it was like play dough or gak). They also had parents fill out a survey to score a free book! 

After the park we grabbed Cody and some lunch. I love when companies have coupons, it makes it so much easier to convince Cody to go out to eat when a 10 piece chicken nugget and large fry are only $3! He said he needed to do a quick work thing in Twin and then afterwards he could take off and head to Coscto so we tagged along. 

I thought his work thing would be just a few minutes in the office or grabbing parts but there was a reason he didn't give me much of an explanation before. He had to disc the field (imagine a giant tillwr) where they are building a new store just down the road from the twin location.  

Cody and I spent a lot of time when we were first married sitting in a tractor and again when we moved back to Burley when Cody finished school. It was nice to be able to spend time with him and to have the girls with us in surprisingly very good moods. But it was a lot different also because there wasn't the pressure of having someone constantly checking on you or having a radio constantly blaring in the middle of your conversation. I've missed our tractor talks but I don't miss the long hours and everything else that came with Cody working on a family farm. Both the girls took naps while in there and the other half were content to just play and be with their dad. 

(We drove Cody's pickup across the lot and let her test out Ellie's car seat, I think she wants one that roomy now!)

We are having family pictures in a few weeks and needed to find Cody a shirt that meshes well with the girls adorable outfits that I'm dying for them to wear! We didn't find anything... Until we got home and I dug through his closet.

I love when companies send you free coupons for your birthday. Unless you read it wrong or can't find it when you are right out front of said business. Ellie didn't mind Jamba Juice for dinner and I'm pretty sure Cody has threatened them with mean words not to build one in Burley because it would make us broke. 

Tonight ended with handstand contests, tickling, and chasing each other like week barrels. And a lot, a lot of laughter. It was one of those evenings when everyone is in a great, happy mood and bed times have waltzed right out the door. Two hours after bedtime and they are finally asleep in the same room (we will see how long this lasts, I'm giving it until midnight before they are both awake) but I'm still smiling and Cody's asleep in my lap. 

Today was a great day. But more than staying busy and a lot more playing in one day than we do in an entire week, my attitude has been a lot better. I've been pretty bitter the past week about not being able to run and have my outlet that I've been in an awful Debbie downer mood. Today was the perfect way to step back and see that my kids aren't really as bad as I think sometimes, I'm the one who is not being a good mother. Instead of focusing on the positive that they bring I've been having a pity party for what I can't do. Today was a great reminder that they will always be them and always be there for me, they truly are the best. I need to make the best of te situation and not wait for the ideal situation. And we can have the best adventures and time together if we are all truly present. 

Now I'm rambling and am not making any sense. Maybe the later bed time for everyone is really getting to me.