Alternatives

The last couple of summers, we've enjoyed our little above ground swimming pool.  It was a wonderful,  refreshing way to spend many of our hot summer days.

This summer, we opted out of putting up the pool.  We thought it would be too much to worry about with our house on the market and all that goes along with that crazy roller coaster real estate ride.

So a few weeks into our crazy 100 degree temps and LONG drought I passed a little blow up pool at Wal-Mart and thought it would be a great alternative for our transitional summer.

\

Looks like great fun in the picture, doesn't it?

The pool looks exactly like the picture along with all the fun parts.

HOWEVER, they must have photoshopped the kids in the pics because they make the pool look MUCH bigger than it actually is.

What a disappointment.

Our resident munchkin, however, was tickled pink by her new 'water park' and it's good enough for the rest of the summer.

Little Hoopster

Not as in basketball ~ as in hula. 

My dad taught her how. So cute.

.

Better than any of MY attempts ~ that's for sure!

Tea for Two

Gianna CRAVES company. Friends. People that will play with her. We are blessed to have so many sweet little friends that we enjoy so well....but most of them are boys. We've finally gotten to the age, where having little girlfriends to do girly things with is becoming more desirable than it used to be.

One of her little friends, Sophia, has the very same issue - many little friends who happen to be boys. No complaints - just ready to explore some feminine fun.

So today, we had a little tea party for these two little girls.

I was so happy to have the chance to show Gianna a special gift she received when she was only a few weeks old.  It's the sweetest little miniature tea set that I've been patiently saving for just the right age.

I was equally as excited to pull out on of my favorite gifts ~ a tea posy, which is a clear tea pot that brews these fabulous teas which actually bloom in the pot.  It starts off as a round, over sized 'seed' and once boiling water is added, it begins to bloom in front of your eyes.

Their anticipation was precious...

As I added the boiling water and warned them how hot it was, their little faces were so cute with concern...

This is  what it looks like when it blooms....

And this is what they looked like when it bloomed...

Sips...

Tastes...

I hope their little friendship grow as they do...

Oh...and we did invite one little boy...

...Sophia's little brother, Joseph.

Is he not the cutest little Squish you've ever seen? Laid back, smiley, low maintenance....dream baby.

So you think you can sing?

She sings ALL day long:  songs she knows, songs she thinks she knows, songs she makes up....songs, songs, songs.  Some times these songs are impressive, sometimes  they are hilarious, sometimes they are annoying, but most of the time they are really entertaining.

Today I pulled out the karaoke machine so as to proverbially kill that last hour of the day before Daddy came home.  That is the LONGEST hour of the day for me - and I'm sure many stay at home moms - and working moms whose husbands work later than they do. (God bless all the single parents out there!) 

I grabbed my phone to record.  You can thank me later.

Sunrise, Sunset

It's nice to have the opportunity to really appreciate the sunrises and the sunsets with out worrying about to do lists, or bedtime routines, etc.  Here are a few from our Florida tirp.

Who am I kidding?  The surnrises I witnessed were only because one or two of us were sick ~ and I wasn't taking pictures those mornings.  However, here are a few morning shots from our condo...

 It's faint in the picture, but we did get to witness G's very first rainbow one morning before daddy awoke...