A Lazy Summer Day

There is nothing better on a lazy summer afternoon than a pool and grilling out with friends. We're very fortunate to have several friends who have these kinds of amenities and are lovely to invite us over to enjoy them. These pics are from our outing last weekend to my friend Pam's house. Pam doesn't have any kids, so this was a new adventure for her. We all had a blast!


First order of business. Take over the pool float and declare war on the rest of us.











The girls had so much fun. Big A rarely wiped the smile off her face.











This is Mario. He's a trip. This is 1 of Pam's Italian Greyhounds. See that look of mischief in his eyes? Yeah, you have NO idea.










I love this pic of Little A. She's looking down at Mario. It's hard to pinpoint who caused more mischief that day. Little A or Mario?










And no visit by the pool is complete without playing on the porch swing. The girls LOVED this!









Every day this week, Big A requested that we move in with Pam because she REALLY likes her house. I have a feeling Big A is going to pick a new favorite house after we spend the weekend with my BFF.

Deck Accessories

Since hubby finished our wonderful back deck for Mother's Day, we have been anxiously awaiting some accessories for it. We gave it serious consideration and then finally decided on 2 purchases that we could no longer be without. Hubby came home late one night and delivered the items to our deck. (We wanted to surprise the girls the following day with our new items.)

The next day, I couldn't contain myself to reveal the surprise. I opened up the french doors and the girls squealed with delight! Finally, a sand box that they can play in freely! And we searched 4 different stores for sand to fill this turtle and came up empty. We finally found Crayola colored sand at Kmart for $7 a bag. Too bad it took 6 bags to semi-fill the silly thing.

Here are the girls after the big reveal. They are stunned to see blue & pink sand.

I love pictures of kids feet. Those tootsies are just too cute for words.

The girls played for almost an hour in the sandbox and only managed to get about half a bag of sand on the deck. Oh well. We headed inside for lunch and a nap and miraculously, both girls slept for 2 hours. Yahoo!! As soon as they awoke, they both asked to put on their bathing suits and head out to our new pool. How could I say no? I dressed them and let them enjoy part 2 of the surprise.

This pool is one of those hard plastic kiddie pools and it has a slide molded into it. The girls went crazy! Ashlyn took on the slide first, so she could show Ailey how it was done.

Ailey is a very quick study. She had mastered that slide in no time!
The look on Ashlyn's face pretty much dictated the whole tone of that day. Lots of excitement and very happy girls!

For Your Amusement

Recently, a family friend invited us to spend a day with her at our local amusement park. This place has been around since 1925 and has changed somewhat over the years, but it was so cool to see that some things that I remember from 20 years ago are still the same. I was thrilled to introduce my kids to this local icon!

We arrived just as the gates were opening for another sun-kissed southern summer day. Thankfully, the temperatures weren't too warm and the breeze was refreshing coming off the lake that the park surrounds.

The girls took one look around at all the cool rides and were totally overwhelmed. However, Ashlyn took charge of the situation and pointed us in the direction of the first ride that she was really interested in. After riding that, we headed for the little train that goes around the perimeter of the park. Ashlyn hammed it up for the camera while we waited to depart.

This park has a whole section of kiddie rides that were PERFECT for the girls to enjoy all by themselves. The ladybugs were a big hit and each of them rode it several times. Ailey pointed out that this was her favorite ride of the day.

Our friend "Tia" who took us on this adventure was especially excited to take the girls on the flying elephants ride. Here's Tia & Ashlyn getting ready to take off into the sky!

Ailey, being the little Miss Independent that she is, wanted to fly her own aircraft. I see a future as a pilot, maybe?
After a nice lunch, I showed the girls the enormous flock of geese that were begging to be fed. After they gave the fowl all of our leftover french fries, Ashlyn decided to donate her leftover goldfish crackers to the poor birds. She was kind enough to let Ailey have a few crackers to feed them also.
After about 5 hours of fun, mommy was worn out and ready to head home. Both girls were fast asleep by the time we made it home, 30 minutes later, so I would call this day trip a huge success!

A Fabulous Summer Contest!

Hi readers reader! I'm so glad you came by for a visit today! This awesome site that I'm a member of called The Secret is in the Sauce, is hosting another fabulous contest that you should click over and check out now. Click here...I'll wait...

For any of you who are new to SITS and do not have their button on your site yet, if you wouldn't mind mentioning my humble little blog when you comment, I sure would appreciate it! With sugar on top!

Now, I'm off to go lay by the pool and come up with some wonderful blog ideas. I promise, I won't scare you with any pics of me by the pool. No one wants to see that...really. Enjoy your Saturday and I will be checking in later this evening with some new entries!

Perfect Day for a Picnic

Well, you know that summer in the Tennessee Valley has arrived when you open the door and the trees are sweating, the flowers are wilting and your dog won't even go outside. It's hot around here! The thermometer was a balmy 94 degrees and the humidity was a mere 45%, so we decided to brave the elements and take the girls to one of our favorite spots yesterday. This local park, on the riverfront, has this AWESOME interactive fountain that kids of all ages flock to when the heat is just too much outside. We arrived early enough in the morning to stave off the droves of people that arrived closer to lunchtime. Here's our wonderful outing in photos.



Here's hubby with the 2 little angels. Aren't they cute! The animals surrounding the fountain have nozzles in their mouths which are brilliant at squirting unsuspecting parents at the most inopportune times. Such as when you're trying to take a photo of your family.








I love this picture. It really catches my oldest with a priceless look on her face. She's not much of a daredevil, so she knows that trouble is brewing when daddy scoops her up and heads into the fountain with her. She was not amused.










Now, she might not be a daredevil, but a climber she DEFINITELY is. I think she scaled every animal surrounding the fountain this time. That makes mommy very nervous. Something about slippery concrete and head injuries.










This is my youngest. I could eat this picture right up! She wasn't quite sure about these small bursts that ended up as huge geysers every few minutes. She kept swatting at them in the hopes that they would behave.










And finally, after a morning of water fountain fun, we relaxed on the banks of the Tennessee River and enjoyed a wonderful picnic. It was a great day!