July +August 2017

February 1, 2019February 1, 2019Leave a comment

It wouldn’t be July if we didn’t do Coronado! Even when it’s just for a few days, it’s always good.

I absolutely love sitting on the beach and hearing someone shout your name! I love running into friends and having the down time to actually sit and talk.

Cousins being cute in matching jammies.

I love this picture. It’s still the lock screen on my phone. Just watching waves, enjoying a snack in peace and quiet.

Ok the seaweed was a little gross…but the people were cute!

The famous beach lobster boil. It’s still talked about in hushed, reverent tones.

We took a vote, s’mores are better on the beach

Coronado is always the last hurrah of summer. Then there’s the dreaded 10 days before school starts where everyone is bored, tired of swimming and there are no camps. It’s a rough time. But thankfully we get to celebrate the best fur buddy anyone has ever had! Happy 4th birthday Mac!

Ah the first day of school. So much fun, so many nerves! 2nd grade and PreK.

The total solar eclipse was on August 21st. It’s the first time in years that a total solar eclipse was visible in North America. I remember the last one – we went downtown to the science center and looked through all their glasses and instruments to see it. The kid’s school deemed it “unsafe” and vowed to keep everyone indoors for the entire event. I tried to get enough glasses for at least one class at a time to see it, but apparently that was unsafe too…so instead I got doughnuts, sprung the kids from class and we had our own viewing party with friends in the parking lot! It was amazing – totally worth potentially damaging our retinas forever.

It was also August in Phoenix. It was stupid hot, as you can tell by Auggie’s face.

June 2017

January 14, 2019January 14, 20191 Comment

This isn’t *quite* where I left off, but it’s close and there’s always a lot going on so here goes.

June 2017 was a typical for us – nutty. It’s always filled with camp, swim team, birthdays, our anniversary and prepping for vacation. It’s jam packed, flies by and is always a ton of (hot) fun.

This is pretty much where we were if we weren’t in someone else’s pool….Also, you’ve never seen anyone happier than PW when Sylvia the Swan finally flew away in a monsoon.

Case in point:

Also it was clearly the year of enormous floats.

This sweet little lady turned 8. EIGHT! This one really threw me for a loop. The slippery slope to 10. And then she’s driving. And off to college. I tell both of them at night, I squish their head and their feet so they stop growing so fast.

And in true Wand style, you get two parties; one on your actual birthday with family with a cake of your choice; this year she went for my triple yellow cake with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. What it lacks in beauty, it makes up for in taste! (Also it was like 110 degrees and even in ac, butter melts so)….

…and one insane party with all your friends.

I don’t know why she’s mad, but those eyes kill me.

Someone else celebrated 35 years (😲)

And we had friends celebrate birthdays in June too – including Abby who turned 8 right after B. Her amazing mom channeled her love of Target into a theme. And Target happily hosted it!! It was so much fun.

There was a lot of camp too. I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous following these two in every day. Not pictured; the stupid amount of crap from the snack bar that they ate and I allowed because they must have burned off thousands of calories each day. Or because I’m lazy. Either way, they had a ball.

*Do you see Auggie’s little ankle bracelet? And all 24 of Baylor’s? This was the summer that B really got into making bracelets – like the kind you do with the #4 knot over and over. Needless to say, the nostalgia was awesome and we tied bracelets until our eyes crossed and fingers bled.

And for our annual trip to Montana, we decided that splitting up with me flying with the kids while Peter drove with Mac was really not all that much easier. It was expensive and took almost the same amount of time. So we decided to ALL drive to MT! I have to say, it actually went much better than anticipated. The kids were awesome and we made it in two days. No one puked, we didn’t kill each other or lose anything out of the back of the truck – overall, it was a success! The return trip however…well that’s a post for July.

There is also a 75 pound dog in this picture. He’s laying on the floor with about 2 feet total to his name. And he does it like the saint he is.

Aaaahh. The payoff of 18 hours and 1,100 miles of driving:

More Montana 2016

December 29, 2016December 29, 2016Leave a comment

The rest of the week was jam packed. Did I mention that the Dehaven’s came to visit? They always bring the fun. And Jeff shared his pictures too!

We rodeo’d in Livingston…

We creeked…

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Creek cooler

Which lead to a lot of this….

Do you see the fish right in front of Baylor?!

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And after taking a year off from our last Yellowstone Park visit, we again braved the winding roads with all 7 of us. This trip went far better and we even made it all the way to Old Faithful without murdering each other and only one person vomiting. Success!

Stephanie studying the warnings carefully…

The amazing Grand Prismatics

I’m so bummed – the colors of the pools are amazing – but it was barely 32 degrees and so the steam made it hard to see.

Old Faithful

A tourist died earlier this year jumping into one of these pools. It’s so hot, by the next morning, they could only find a few bones….

We also got to see the Beehive Geyser. It’s less predictable than Old Faithful, erupts for a shorter period of time but is as intense. Plus you can get a lot closer!

And the Old Faithful Lodge was fantastic. At 112 years old, it’s seen some amazing history. Also I’m sure it’s haunted.

And it wouldn’t be Montana without visiting the Long’s for some horseback riding lessons. The girl’s favorite, Duke, was donated to a school to be a therapy horse. They get reports once in awhile about how happy he is to be ridden every day! Thankfully the ladies were happy to give Heidi a try – and they now have a new favorite.

Auggie is still not sure he’s a fan

Auggie with the safety check

And we drove kids and a dog around in a gater. While taking selfies. This looks safe, right?

Super Moon Summer

August 11, 2014Leave a comment

We were able to catch the July Super Moon and it was just spectacular. I think I’ve written a time or two about how I have no clue how to use my camera – especially in low light. The Super Moon was so bright, I was able to capture this on just Auto settings!

And with a little bit of tweaking…

America the Beautiful

July 18, 2014July 17, 20141 Comment

All American 4th of July 2014

Small town parade….

Rodeo…where the only limit on the number of beers you can purchase is how many you can carry

I’ve got some work to do on high speed low light pictures….

Fireworks, pig roast, family and friends

‘Merica

(Did you notice Baylor’s missing tooth?! More on that later when I can stop crying…)

Loving Cousin Z time

There was much controversy brewing over the ring in my back pocket. Anywhere else? No one would notice. In MT? Everyone things I’ve taking up dipping…I assured everyone it was my lens cap, not a can of tobacco!

We did discover that Auggs is not a big fan of fireworks. But he was a trooper and agreed to watch them from inside so there’s hope he’ll be with Peter on the fire duty in the future!

Ride ’em Cowgirl

July 15, 2014July 15, 20141 Comment

The first week we arrived in MT, Baylor was scheduled for riding lessons with a friend’s wife. She is a teacher and she and her family have an arena and a pony perfect for lessons. I skipped the first lesson and I was totally shocked at the second lesson how amazing she did! Our friend, Carolyn, also noted that she seemed like a natural. She has a calm yet excited respect for the horse, Duke. She listened to everything Carolyn told her and she did each action, even the scary ones, happily. I’m excited to find her a stable at home and keep up her skills. Can’t wait until we can go out for rides together.

Leading Duke to the arena

Each lesson starts with her turning herself around in her saddle while Duke is lead by Carolyn. It is to teach balance and this kid must have been a cat in another life because she does this like she’s done it every day of her life!

You gotta love having a school teacher teaching riding. Carolyn put the letters of her name on signs around the arena and B had to ride Duke to each letter in order.

In just three lessons she had Duke in a trot and was neck reining all around the arena! I’m guessing by the end of the month she’ll be jumping him over obstacles…

Big Sky July

July 3, 2014Leave a comment

In a moment of stressing about packing lists, I realized how far we’ve come and how much we’ve done in a short time to make a dream of ours come true.

Let me back up to last summer. After a long flight and drive to the ranch, Peter and were sitting in rocking chairs on the deck waiting for Auggie to doze off. It was after 10pm and the sun was almost down. It was cool and quiet and…perfect. We started seriously thinking about how we could make a transition that would allow us to spend more time in Montana. After a lot of conversations, we came up with a plan.

In just under a year, Peter has passed the Montana bar, been admitted and we have booked a rental house for all of July. We can both work from here and he’s working on a Montana client list – ensuring lots of summers in Big Sky country to come – and I’m sure a few “client meetings” during hunting season too…

The logistics of getting here were a little daunting. We settled on having Peter drive the 18ish hours with Mac and all our ~~crap~~ stuff while I flew with the kids. I’ll save you the details…but there was a barf bag involved in my part of the trip. But we made it all in one piece! The house we rented sight unseen has turned out to be great (with a few additional baby proofing measures post Auggie’s minor tumble down the stairs. Hearing Baylor scream “Auggie fell down the stairs!!” was as close as I’d like to come to knowing what a heart attack feels like).

We’re unpacked, settling in and awaiting the arrival of our friends/house guests! And this morning, we’re waking up to this:

Summer Time and the Living Should be Easy

June 4, 2014Leave a comment

When Baylor was a toddler, I dreaded trying to keep her entertained in the summer. There’s a limit to how much pool time a two year old will do. I got sick of sweating it out at the splash pad. The museams start to loose their appeal….and trying to get a bored toddler to nap? Did not happen.

As soon as she was old enough to go to day camp, I would sign her up immediately. Our days went from being filled with bordom to being jam packed and allowing just enough time for some mommy and me fun without putting either of us in the looney bin.

That is until this year. I jumped at the chance to sign her up for camp at the swim club. She was bumped into the older group because she can swim well (score one for weekly swim lessons – yes I am patting myself on the back) and she gets to play tennis, golf, basketball and anything else they can play on the grass. And she loves it – she comes home with rosy cheeks, tired eyes and a belly full of junk food. She is running with an older group and the kids are allowed to move between their activities without a lot of guidance – plus there is free time where they can do whatever they want from video games to swimming. She is in love with the independence!

The down side is that I’ve heard her say a dozen times “we have to leave now?! I just want to play with my new toys!”. And pick up time is smack in the middle of Auggie’s nap. Which means my mid morning is spent trying to push his nap time out which is amazingly fun.

That’s when I realized that somewhere in the last year or so, we’ve started to transition to the big kid “I don’t need constant entertainment” phase. And Auggie has never been in that phase which is leaving us a little over scheduled and for no reason. So we pulled the plug. I canceled the last two weeks of camp and instead, we’re going to spend it getting bored. We’re going to stay in our jammies until nap time. Hit the pool. Watch Frozen too many times. Make and eat popsicles. Play with birthday presents.

So here’s to easy living, catching our breath, getting bored and enjoying a relaxed summer.

It’s My Kinda Town…

July 1, 2013June 30, 2013Leave a comment

When we saw friends Karen and Patrick in January, Patrick issued PW a put up or shut up on a visit to Chicago. Patrick has been living there for nearly the last decade and Peter is always saying we need to go. You can only make your wife cheer for the Cubs for so long before you actually have to take her to see a game. (side note: I’ve now been to two more major league baseball parks than Peter. Which kills him. )

So, we booked tickets, PMac and Karen’s guest room, and dropped the kiddos at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. The party started at the airport when we decided we had time for margaritas (plural) before our plane ride. Patrick and Karen had planned a full weekend of baseball, great meals, a little sight seeing and a lot of fun. It kind of went like this: arrive, drink, drink, eat, drink, sleep, eat, drink, drink, baseball, driiiiink, eat, drink, eaaaaaat, drink, drink, sleep, repeat. It was, in a word, fantastic.

Game #1, Cubs v Astros. Bleacher seats.

We actually believed that it was going to miss us. We were wrong.

Three hour rain delay felt much shorter with the assistance of many many beer vendors. And a batting helmet full of nachos. No really. Like an actual sized batting helmet. With nachos.

How do I know our friends are professionals? They brought their own ponchos. $0.69 v $10.

Watching the mechanics of rolling back the tarp was so cool.

I love the ingenuity of the people that own the buildings across the street from Wrigley. They remodeled the rooftops with bleachers. Genius.

The ivy. Properly trimmed to keep jerks like me from picking it.

After the game, we headed home to change and then back out to The Loop for dinner at The Girl and the Goat. Reservations in June were booking for August…thank goodness Karen is a smart thinker and booked our reservations in February! It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Tapas with amazing ambiance, good wine, great servers, no time to take pictures because we were too busy eating a drinking. But I did manage to snap a picture of the Chicago River from the cab – so pretty.

Saturday brought sunny skies and game #2 – or as PW called them “the really good seats”. We were in the 6th row behind home plate. I’ve rarely seen Peter as excited and happy as he was for the pregame, game and post game.

Panorama of our view

Post game bar crawl. Happy camper.

Our last stop of the night was Red Ivy – an all encompassing Chicago sports bar. We caught game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals and it was a blast. Everyone in the bar was electrified – it would have been hard not to cheer for the Blackhawks.

Duh duh du duh duh du da da da duh duh!!

(Chealsea Dagger. Look it up)

Check out that mullet.

We went home tired, a little hung over but oddly well rested. It was the break from parenting that we very much needed whether we knew it or not. Getting to laugh with old friends, swear, sleep in, drink at will and have conversations that were only inturupted by more food, drinks or funny comments was amazing. Big hugs and thanks to Patrick and Karen for being the most amazing hosts! Can’t wait to see you in the desert in July and for the big day in 2014!!

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

June 13, 2013June 12, 20132 Comments

Baylor has been in swim lessons year round since she was about 10 months old. Lately I have been getting the business from a few parents as to why I would do that. I questioned it a little myself until Baylor jumped into the club pool before PW was near her. If you’ve ever watched a kid panic in the water, seconds seem like hours. I saw the flash of panic on her face when she came up for air as the pool was deeper than she thought. As Peter made his way to her, I saw the panic quickly be taken over by muscle memory. Her head went back and her chest came up – she back floated for a second to catch her breath, get oriented and then calmly rolled herself over and kicked to the wall. I realized then and there that the last 156 swim lessons have been worth every penny.

Fast forward a few weeks and we’re in our lovely neighbor Melissa’s pool. Baylor was splashing on the steps and then decided she would swim to me – she swam half way across the pool with “scoops” (arms) and side breaths. I. Was. Amazed. I have been in the baby pool with Auggie during lessons for the last 6 weeks while Bay was in the big pool. I had no idea her strokes had gotten so good. When Peter joined us later, I thought his jaw was going to hit the cool deck as he watched her swim so well.

Want to go where we go? Check out Hubbard’s Family Swim School. Indoors (no sunscreen, no sun, no bugs, no chlorine), year round in a heated pool. What’s not to love?

The Goon Room

A little of everything and nothing, all in one blog

Tag: summer