backyards, butterflies & birthdays

Grandma Janet came to visit this week.

This was a great excuse for us to indulge in things like banana cream pie on the patio, cupcakes for snacks, and several meals out. Yum.

We have been taking advantage of the late summer sky & spending a lot of time in our backyard.

The new slip n’ slide was a hit. So much so that I was afraid the screaming could be heard for miles.

Our “play it safe” girl, Sophia, would walk and then sit & scream like she had just slid at full speed. They may be just a little young to truly appreciate the thrill of the slip n’ slide, but it did it’s job of tiring them out before 8:00pm. You can bet I brought it out again tonight and will be using it as much as possible as my bedtime trick this summer.

This guy, though, not so much. He wasn’t a fan.

We celebrated the boys 17th birthday this weekend. And by celebrating I mean balloons and matchy plates & napkins, because these girls take preparing for a birthday party very seriously.

I am still telling my brain that they will be adults in just one year. It’s hard to believe how grown up they are, and how it has been nine years since they came into my life. They taught me how to be a mom, which the first year consisted of microwaving their cheese sandwiches when they told me they wanted a hot cheese sandwich, letting them indulge in so much candy at Disneyland that they threw up red licorice as soon as we walked in the door (which, by the way I did NOT clean up), and forgetting their baseball uniforms were in my car before driving 50 miles away on the day of playoffs.

I have since learned a lot about raising boys, but will be the first to admit they are better cooks than me & can clean house way faster than I ever will. Clearly their fathers boys. Oh and yeah, their SAT scores came in and were ridiculously good. They will probably get accepted to any college they apply for. This is a good thing but also kinda scary to imagine Paul trying to get around Chicago (one of his top picks is University of Chicago) without me telling him to look both ways when he crosses the street. You know this, Paul.

Paul was at Boys State on their actual birthday. The girls were bummed they couldn’t wake him with a card, too. It was weird not to have him here, but he had a blast.

Nick’s girlfriend made him this cute cake.

We also celebrated our friend Jax turning 2 this weekend.

Vista made the amazing cake, of course. Check out the fun surprise inside! You can find her information here.

The butterflies!

We were planning to release them over the weekend, but once I spotted one on our curtains we decided it was time to stop yelling “Zip it back up! They live in there, it’s their home!” and let them fly free.

I have a few summer surprises in store, so keep checking back for a few big announcements.

Have a great week!

Amy

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