Summertime!

Since you've heard from me it has been busy, busy, busy! I have many stories to share. So let's start here...

Hanna turned 11. Yes the picture is a little odd. In fact it looks like she is turning 6, because her mother cut off her other hand with her photo-taking expertise. Are you wondering why we are celebrating in a hair salon?

Because all she wanted for her birthday was blue hair. Is that odd? I'm not sure she is my first. The girl doing her hair (who was quite young) thought I was really calm for not freaking out at the amount of blue in her hair. That was meant as a compliment but of course caused me to freak out!

This was her yummy, yummy cake that I ate alot of because I was still freaking out about the girl, at the hair salon, telling me I wasn't freaking out.

This is Hanna's new present for her 11th birthday, and yes I jumped on it alot the night we got it to work off all that chocolate cake. Oh yes, she did too!

Did I tell you that the day after she got the blue hair we were going to Kansas City for a graduation party? It was all my dad's coworkers. I wasn't sure how into blue hair my dad would be. In fact as I was thinking back to high school days and what he might have done if I arrived with blue hair, I decided braids for Hanna. Braids that cover blue hair.

Enough of blue hair! This is in Overland Park, KS at the Deanna Rose Farmstead. We LOVE the farmstead. Here Zac and Hanna and Will are feeding baby goats.

Amidst all the chaos Ms. Abby learned to sit up...

at least some of the time!

We've been swimming, lots! But this was right before our very first day. By the way, the goggles are a permanent fixture for Zac along with batting gloves on both hands!

We went to Kentucky. This is my sister's grave. We were there on Memorial day. Bittersweet always. I miss her!

Nanis lives in Kentucky. We go every summer. What to do at Nanis' house? Climb a tree! A great big one!

We went to Boonseboro and learned all about Daniel Boone, and of course bought GUNS!

The kiddos swam in the creek with their cousin, Rustin. They had so much fun! Stripped down to their undies and jumped in crawdads and all. These city kids can hang in the country...I think! Ok, maybe not.

We sat on Nanis' porch (notice, I have a running shirt on. I believe I got dressed in running attire that first day and quickly decided sitting on the porch drinking coffee was way more my speed. I put the clothes back in my suitcase and left them there for the rest of the trip. So liberating!)

This is what we look at when we sit on the back porch at Nanis'...

Is that the July issue of Southern Living you ask? Nope, that is my Nanis' garden. It is beautiful. Her home always makes me feel at peace. Is she when we are there? Probably not, considering she mopped her back porch at least 4 times. One time it just might have been because Zac peed. Seriously!