Skills

Little mister's got new skills.

Whistling skills.

Well, sort of.

It's actually an  "ooooooo" sound rather than an actual whistle, but he sure thinks he's whistling.

If he hears us or someone else whistling a little diddy,  he rounds out those little lips into the perfect "o" & tries his hardest to let out a whistle.

 He whistles around the house, in the car & all through the grocery store.  And he does it so quiet & soft that it sometimes actually sounds like the real thing.

Real thing or not, it's stinkin' cute.

Good Life

So the {relatively} new One Republic Song?  I dig it.

So much so, that I've deemed it my theme song for the summer.

Because I can't even count the number of times this summer that I've caught myself saying, "Man, this is the life."

You see, this little stay at home mom gig I signed up for almost a year & a half ago has turned out to have one really big perk.  It's called Summertime.

I promised myself long before Summer ever rolled around that we were gonna have the best one anybody could possibly dream of.

I promised to fill our days full of sunshine & gobs upon gobs of fun.  To hit up every aquamarine pool out there & splish & splash to our hearts desire.  To cruise the town with the sunroof popped & the windows down, feeling bathing suit straps flap against my sunkissed shoulders.  To glance into the rearview mirror to find my favorite little summer dude jammin' to some cranked up summertime tunes.  To sip on LemonBerry slushes & CherryLimeaids & wince my way through the brain freezes. To end our evenings out on the deck slurping syrupy, sugary ice lollies {also known as popsicles}.  To meet up with friends at parks & pools for hours of playdate fun.  To carve out a chunk of afternoon for nice long naps.  To spend less time on housework & more time sucking every bit of daylight out of clear blue skies.  To eat our food grilled & to enjoy our desserts frozen.  To live up every summer moment we've got.

It has been one promise I've had NO problem holding true to.  All those things I promised myself we'd do?  We're doin' em'.  And we really are having the best darn summer anyone could ever dream of.

Seriously, this has gotta be the good life.

Could someone tell me-e-e-e what there's to complain about?

*cue cheesy whistling*

Super Duper

Sopping bathing suits still puddled on the floor of the bathroom, beach towels draped over the back deck, dirty grilling utensils strung along the patio table, a dishwasher that is packed to the brim just waiting to be run, & a mountain of laundry I'm pretty sure I'll never see the end of.

All evidence of a super duper weekend.

{Papa & Grandma had to see for themselves this slipper slide business we've been telling them about}

With all the traveling we've been doing lately, it was so nice to have a weekend at home just letting all of our worries fade away, kicking back & filling our days with laughter, & having a home full of people we love & treasure.

{standing in Papa's work boots}

Between trips to the local pool, grilling out & eating til we were stuffed & miserable, being bossed around by a little toddler who insisted on giving his grandparents a run for their money, & staying up with my little brother into the wee hours of the night hearing all of the new changes in his life, I'd say it all added up to one big super duper weekend. 

And even though Monday morning is here & I'm up to my ears in messes, it honestly isn't bugging me like it normally would.

'Cause super duper weekends are worth every bit of mess they trail behind.

Happy Monday!

Hope you had yourself a super duper weekend!

Auntie Lovin'

This kid sure doesn't lack in the love department.

He's got parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, & an enormous army of friends & family who love him to the depths of the earth & back.

Did I mention the aunts?

Two really awesome aunts that cleared their schedules & declared a "Prince Jett Jett Day" so that they could love him all up.

I've said it before, that one of the biggest joys of my life has been watching & witnessing my friends & family love the little soul that I brought into this world.

I love these girls.

And I love the way they love my little boy.

Branson

Sprinkled with activity, peppered with relaxation, & seasoned to perfection.

That pretty much describes our little getaway this past weekend.

When Jared & I sat down to map out our summer plans, something we felt was important to include in all of our summer fun were some "grandparent trips".  Both sets of our parents are such an important piece of our lives, & we want Jett to not only have amazing childhood memories with us, but also with the grandparents that adore him so very much.  

So first up for a fun filled "grandparent trip" were Coach & Gigi.

Destination: Branson!

It really was an awesome trip.  We packed three days full of all kinds of fun & activity, yet also managed to balance it out with some much needed rest & relaxation.

We spent our mornings out on the deck, sipping coffee & watching golfers in the distance.

We splashed our afternoons away in the pool just steps away from our condo.

We cruised "the strip".

We spent our evenings curled up in blankets, laughing at funny movies, & indulging in great big bowls of ice cream.

{the two biggest kids in the entire park}

We took naps as needed.

We hit up Silver Dollar City.

We all took our turn at riding round & round on kiddie rides.

And we paused for just a moment when it actually hit us that we're now on the other side of this whole family vacationing thing.  We're not the carefree kids running all over the place, pointing out everything we want to do & everywhere we want to go, just savoring sweet childhood.

No, we're the ones doing the planning & packing & organizing, all for the sole purpose of making sure our kiddo has a summer to remember.  All for the sake of watching our boy run to & fro, a great big grin stretched across his face, soaking up all the fun a little boy can possibly soak up in one day.

And while vacationing was fun as a kid,

it's even better as a parent. 

Don't believe us?

Just ask the grandparents.