Bubbles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danielle took this one.

Summer, Week 4

Hard to believe we're already a month into our summer break. After July 4th, the rest of the time will fly by.

Last week Danielle and I went to the park a couple different times to look for frogs or whatever else we could find.

Danielle stood in this spot, looked at this building and found 2 tree frogs. She just has a knack for these things. The picture is a little pixelated because it's a cell phone picture, but see if you can find them.

We went while it was raining one day and found this big bullfrog.

Tyler drove us to another park one day, where the three of us enjoyed a picnic lunch and a little exploring.

We took the long way back and enjoyed the countryside. I love the farmland around us.



We spent some time together at the water park. The kids talked me into riding one of the water slides with them, and I lived to tell the tale. Tyler splurged on large Icees for the 2 of them.

Of course, we had more softball. Danielle's regular team had the weekend off, but her old team needed a sub for a weekend tournament. She enjoyed getting to play for her old coach and with some of the girls from last year. She played short stop, which she rarely plays, and did a great job. I only took cell phone pictures this week. The 2nd & 3rd pictures are from a friend.

We had a really good time fishing on Sunday afternoon/evening. The humidity dropped way off and the temperatures were a little cooler than usual, making it the perfect day to sit outside and cast a line! It was pretty windy, though, so we were a little limited in location. We wanted to fish in the lake, but it was too rough. We settled for this pretty little pond. We all caught multiple fish, but they were really small. Danielle caught the most. We tried a new-to-us Mexican restaurant for a late dinner before calling it a day. Tyler drove all the way there, around the lake & dam, to dinner, and home. He did a great job. We had a really nice day together.


Tyler doing some dam driving.

The fish were tiny anyway, but they both managed to turn sideways when I took the picture, making them look pretty much nonexistent!

It was a good week.

(Both tree frogs are above the door. One is at the top left, and the other is right behind the light.)

Cuteness Overload

Summer Storm

Summer, Week 3

The weeks are going quickly. After this week, our first month of summer break will be over.

Tyler went to new marchers' camp Mon-Wed last week. The camp is for incoming freshman and new marching band members, but students who want to be squad leaders are encouraged to attend. Tyler would like to be a squad leader this year, so he went. Ron drove through the parking lot to pick Danielle up one evening and was impressed with how good Tyler looked. I think he enjoyed it. I took this when I picked him up one evening. He wasn't a fan.

Danielle went to softball camp at the HS. It was 2 days but she could only attend one. The HS softball players help run the camp, so Danielle will get to help in a couple years. The coach knows Danielle is fast and wanted to see how she compared to her fastest varsity player, so she had them race. Danielle won. :) I didn't get a picture of her at camp either, so she honored me with this sweaty selfie after camp.

Tyler got some driving time in. He drove me and Danielle to pick up my mom and then to the ice cream stand. He gets better every time we go out.

Danielle went swimming with friends on her 2 softball free days. Her team won all 10 softball games they played this week. 7 of those were in a tournament this weekend. It was nice to win a tournament with her team. She took a cleat to the leg from a teammate during one of the games. She also got to play her old team in the semi-finals. It was fun to see all our old friends. Our new team is more competitive, but it just doesn't feel the same. Not sure it ever will, but we do enjoy watching Danielle play.

 

The girls and their dads on Father's Day.

 

 

I don't know how someone can play 3 games in 90+ heat and humidity, get so filthy, and yet look so beautiful by the end of the day.

And here are a few random pictures from the week.

She cannot resist the water when I'm watering the flowers!!

Someone put flags in all the yards for flag day. I liked the way they all looked along the sidewalk, but my phone camera didn't really capture it. It did capture the beautiful sunset, though.

This cute little guy has been visiting. Here he was helping Ron with the yard work.

Happy Father's Day!

Today's Pic

Summer, Week 2

Tyler finished the classroom portion of his driving classes last week and passed the test. I've been trying to have him drive everywhere we go that doesn't require getting on the outerbelt. (That scares me and I have decades of driving experience!) One day last week we just went driving. It was a lot of fun. We ended up taking some roads I hadn't been on before and came across this really cute little wooden bridge over a creek. We pulled into a nearby parking area and walked down a short path through the woods to the water to get a better look at the bridge. As soon as we got out of the van, we were greeted by an overwhelming smell which my son informed me was marijuana. We walked down to the water and ran across the source of the smell. The guys were quick to jump into their canoe and paddle off when we approached. Tyler and I chuckled about that for awhile. We enjoyed our time together.

We went to the zoo for a couple hours one morning. The kids wanted to ride the rides and I wanted to see the polar bear cubs and feed the giraffes. We were lucky enough to get a little show from the polar bears. The mom jumped into the water and caught a rainbow trout. The cub got all excited and jumped in, too. The mom hurried out with the fish but was quickly followed by the cub. The cub stole the fish from mom and ran away. Mom chased after her for awhile but the cub kept outrunning her. It was so cute to watch. Any mom who's chased a toddler around the house could sympathize. We didn't get quite as lucky with the giraffes. They were out but we spent too long watching the polar bears and missed the feeding time. Oh well. The kids rode some rides and then we went home. It was a fun afternoon together.

There was a lot of softball last week, too. Danielle played in a double header Tuesday night and had practice on Wednesday night. On Thursday the high school coaches held a practice with the incoming freshmen and invited the incoming 8th graders to attend, too. Danielle had a lot of fun with that. This weekend she played in a pretty big tournament, where her team finished in the top 16 out of 42 teams. She made some amazing fielding plays this weekend. It's always fun to watch her play.

We also fit in a trip to the movies and a dentist appointment. Good times. :)