Summer Lovin, Havin' a Blast..

It is safe to say I am fully loving every minute of summer. I am so thankful to be in a profession where we have this time off during the year. The best part of it all is being able to spend more time with my girl. While I love my job, throughout the school year I often feel slight pangs of jealousy when I hear about the different activities of my stay-at-home mommy friends. So these days, I begin each morning with the question, "What should we do today?" 

At this point, Peyton typically opens the pantry door and says "NACK". (My girl loves her snacks).

But, after that, we usually hit a park. We've been dabbling in the park scene these last couple of weeks, trying out different ones. As long as there are swings and a slide or two, we've been there.  Our favorites so far are Winthrop Park (nice and shady), and Tom Brown (awesome toddler play area). However, 100 degrees and parks don't mix, no matter where you are, so we typically keep our park trips to late morning.

Last week, Peyton and I took a ride over to the Trousdell activity pool and had a great time. She was a little unsure at first and kept a koala-like grasp on me, but as soon as we got into the water she loosened up and began splashing around.  She loved walking under the fountains, sliding down the slide, and playing in the shallow water.  When it was time to go, I knew that we would be back again soon.


Such a fun place!

Walking around Lake Ella has been another occasional morning excursion for Peyton and I. We pack lunch, bring extra bread for the ducks, and make our way around until Peyton says "All done lake". Today we even caught up with a sweet friend I went to grad school with. 

 

Feeding the ducks

 

Cute little family



Peyton and Ashley

Along with spending time with Peyton, I also began the summer with a few different projects in mind to work on during those precious naptime minutes. The first of these was to make some kind of a hairbow holder for all of the pretty bows Peyton rips out of her hair on a daily basis. I took a trip to our new Hobby Lobby (love, love, love it), and gathered some supplies. 

I was aiming for simple; I am by no means a Martha Stewart level craftswoman. I painted a circular piece of wood, used a fine-point paint brush to make Peyton's monogram, and hot glued decorative ribbon to the backside. Here's the final product:

Kind of a fuzzy picture, but you get the idea.

Next project on the to-do list involves sanding and painting a piece of furniture... more details on that later.

Happy Summer!