the real summer

Now it's summer with temps in the high 90's. I love seeing the back to school adds all over though. It reminds me that school is just around the corner. We didn't go out for ice cream yesterday because it would melt all over the place before it would be eaten. I opted for $1 mini shakes at Del Taco. Angus cried because he wanted all the flavors in one shake but they can't do complicated stuff like that. Winter complained about the smallness of the shake and Mya does not like milkshakes because they taste like milk. Addie was happy with her little strawberry shake. I reminded them that the ice cream agreement was good if they did 4 days of math and reading, and they only did two days of math and reading and that they should thank their nice mom for bending the rules for them. So then they all thanked me and drank their shakes. 

My thankful thing this week is our amazing AC we get to enjoy.

The girls take very good care of their dolls. They treat them like real babies. I occasionally throw them around and get a little lecture about how I've hurt the baby. 

Angus doesn't treat the dolls kindly either.

I'm sure he'll be a good dad one day...

This is a T-wex

Our church had a beach day at Corona Del Mar. Dan worked. I've been way more adventurous this summer with the kids. There's no way I would have gone to a beach I'd never been to before, not knowing what the parking looked like or bathroom situation looked like in the past. But this year, I've been to Santa Monica, Corona Del Mar and... well that's it. But both of those were unknown and I braved them both. It was a very fun day in Corona Del Mar. Thanks to Jackie and Harout for organizing! 

This is some very intense hole digging.

Watermelon eating contest.

Winter and friends started another hole. Or maybe she found an abandoned one. 

This is a neighbor's hole that was pretty much a swimming pool. Winter's not shy. She jumped right in. It's a public beach after all. 

"Mommy can we go to a beach with no sand next time?" He hates sand in his crocs and sand in his nether regions. 

 +

Addie is one with the sand and makes sand angels. Nobody likes the beach showers and waits till we get home to get rinsed off which makes for a pretty sandy car. But it's totally worth it. Mya couldn't come unfortunately because her foot wound is still healing. She got to spend the night at Grandma's house so she was happy. 

Winter is sweet. And honest. Later she told me she tried to give this Olaf lip gloss below to Mya and Addie but they didn't like it either. I was her third choice. Thanks sweetie.

Dan is in the process of replacing cabinets in the kitchen with brand new ones he built with his own two hands. Out with the old!

A couple of kids were grounded from TV and Angus has been begging me for play dough so we made some. It's nice having older kids that can read the instructions and make it themselves. They made Barbie dresses. 

Addie had her first official play date last week with her friend Jade. Jade told her all about how she was officially adopted into an awesome family recently. Addie told Jadie, "I want a new family!" Addie has always wanted to live with the Higerds. They have better toys and they do fun stuff. I've always told her she can't just go live with another family. Now she knows about adoption so her dream has become a little more real. 

Jade has a dog named Pepper. You can see him peaking into the window at the top of the first pic. Addie says he's part German Sheppard and part cat. 😊

These recommendations come from Costco since I just went there today. Haven't been to Trader Joe's this week unfortunately. 

This is a nice little pack of snacks to throw in the pool or beach bag. One egg, apples and sunflower butter, crackers and cheese. Two for $7.

This coffee is so good. I shopped around quite a bit and finally tried this at Mari's house and found my perfect coffee. It's bold and full of flavor but not bitter at all like Starbucks and other brands. They have a coffee grinder at Costco that you can use. People like to come up to me and ask me how it works while I'm using it. I love talking to random strangers so I don't mind at all.

I use this stuff like 10 times a day. It's so nice and convenient and I feel like it's healthier than the other sprays. It may not be.