Pretzel Making

I ordered a kit from Amazon to make pretzels at home. This kit, Auntie Anne's at home baking kit, was super easy to follow and fun, as well. 

I've always wanted to make homemade pretzels, but I felt a bit intimidated by the process. This kit made my apprehensions subside and now I'm excited to try it again. 

The girls got in on the fun and we all were impressed at how easy it is to create that pretzel shape!

Six thumbs up for these delicious pretzels!

The Turtle Rescue

I just ran across the photos of John in our pool rescuing a turtle. I totally forgot about this daring rescue. He did a great job and the turtle ended up back in the nearby lake. 

Family Fun

Not sure how I missed posting these photos from our visit with John's family. They were here in late June and we had tons of fun with the eight visitors who were here with us. 

Cousins in the sunshine

Pratty's mom and Bestemor enjoying the outdoors

Lily and Aunt Mary Katherine

Lily, Sofia, Shelly, and Kaden

bestemor, Pratty's mom and da, and Aunt Kristina

Sofia and her mom (Aunt Mary Katherine)

How Does Your Garden Grow?

This is our first time trying a little garden patch in our yard. The girls and John planted the seeds back in April and we are now seeing some vegetation make its appearance. They planted tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and green onions. 

One of our tomato plants was stripped bare about three weeks ago. It was so weird to see the stalk that was left behind. We're not sure what came along and ate it, but it appears they enjoyed it. 

The remaining tomato plant

It's been fun to watch those little seeds form into actual food items! Looking forward to our harvest.

Tomatoes on the vine with marigold in the background (I remember having marigold in our garden as a little girl and I wanted to add them to this garden)

Here come the cucumbers!

A Whale Rescue

Last week my brother-in-law and his shipmate rescued an endangered whale in the waters near Virginia Beach. It was not only a cool thing to do, but very heroic. They took video of the rescue and their story has been all over the news and a ton of web sites. Here they are on the Fox National News (click link to see the video).

Evening Swim

The days here are hot, but the evenings are just warm and nothing feels quite as relaxing as an evening swim.

Root Beer

At Christmas, my sister gave the girls a root beer making kit. We set it aside and made plans to make the root beer as a summer project. John, Lily, and Shelly are root beer lovers. So, they got to work creating their drinks. After the mixing and measuring and bottling the root beer must sit for 1-3 days. So, we will report back on the taste of their concoctions.

Ready to make root beer

Kitchen Excitement

Busy workers

The creation process

Bottling

Labels

Bottler!

Room Decor

This summer (as always in the summer) we like to freshen up the girls' rooms with a bit of new decor. Some years it has been new furniture or new bedding, but this summer we are adding special touches to their rooms with wall decor. Shelly's room is still in progress, but Lily's is nearly complete.

Here are just a few of the things found around Lily's room:

Birds on a wire picture hanger with photos from Instagram (printed by Printstagram)

Her mannequin (known as Lily Jr.) and bulletin board

Nail Polish tray holder thanks to our local nail salon owner!!!! 

The nail and makeup station!

Painting nails

Makeup and fashion inspired wall decor

The Latest

Blog posts have been slim this summer. Busy making memories I suppose. 

We had a nice 4th of July at the annual neighborhood event held by our friends. They live on a farm with horses and lots of room for kids to have fun. There was the traditional golf cart parade and the fireworks on the golf course afterward. Regretfully, I took no photos on the 4th. 

The girls and I are keeping busy with pool time, walks, shopping, trips to Charlotte, and Ikea. We've also had many organizing and cleaning projects. Lily and Shelly are both becoming the ultimate organizers and I'm loving it. 

More adventures await us. Happy summer. 

Taking an exercise break

Making shadows on the road

IKEA shopping trip

Trip to VB

The girls spent a week in Virginia Beach with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. They had so much fun. 

While they were in VB, John and I took a trip to Biloxi with friends. We all had a great time.