Bean and Squirt.

The girls had a tetra tank when they were younger.  Keyword 'had' and the tank was loosely their's, aka mom had to clean it and get the dead fish bodies out.  Therefore, the tank has been on hiatus.  They have been begging for betta fish (thanks Erin and Bret).  So after they finally wore me down, I allowed them to spend their own money on a betta fish.  Iwas not about to spend a penny on these fish.  They each got a tank and fish and dug out the old fish tank props.

Here is Kendall's betta, Bean (naming was also her choice).

Sidney named her fish Squirt.  

Welcome to the family!

The Farklers.

These girls.  Quarantine has been hard on them, but they have been troopers.  So, when Paige's birthday came around, us parents decided to let these girls have some time together.  It is tricky to ever know if you are making the right decision, but mental health won out in this one.  Paige's aunt did a little photo shoot with the girls.

Paige's grandpa has a backyard pool, so the girls were able to cool off and have fun in the water.

Kendall has been really enjoying giving pictures as gifts lately.  We bought this great frame, and she made a farkler collage for Paige. I love that these girls have each other!

Summer Days.

The girls and I have been making the most of the time together this summer.  We had our first meal out in forever.  Cheesecake factory, yes!

After our meal, we shared this delicious piece of cheesecake.  It is very hard to remember to 'savor the flavor' when something like this is set in front of you!

Bailey continues to be more spoiled than ever.  If Kevin was worried that we would not show Bailey the love (which he was;)), he has nothing to worry about.  This doggo lives a charmed doggy life.

He even got his own feeding station.  I absolutely love this sweet setup.  Thanks to a recipe from Grandma Terrell, he has been getting lots of homemade dog treats as well.

Valerie and her son Josh joined my dad and I for a round of golf.  It was so good to see these two.  I know Valerie has been playing it pretty safe.  It think the outing was good for all of us!

The girls and their face masks.  I wish I could capture them all, but here is at least one shot of one of the crazies doing her beauty routine.  Love it!

Happy Trails To You!

Homeschool Horsemanship was filled with a lot of starts and stops as we have navigated this crazy pandemic.  Alyssa finished off the session with an amazing trail ride for the three girls in Sidney's class.  It was Sid's first time going 'off roading' with the horses and she enjoyed every moment of it.  She has asked for a trail ride for her birthday this year as well.

In addition to continuing a weekly lesson with Alyssa, we started her at a place near our house.  The trainer is Jaime.  The cool thing is that she is doing the lessons with her friend Avery.  Jaime has enjoyed working with the girls and always finished off the lesson with a little something fun.  Here she put the girls on the horse bareback together as they walked the horse back to the barn.  She has given the girls a lot of freedom to just enjoy riding.  It has been great.  We have been very fortunate to find two trainers that love horses and love kids!

Staycation 2020.

Work has been absolutely insane the past few months.  However, the work project that has earned me the title of 'workaholic' in my home, launched just before the 4th of July.  There is still a lot more to do, but the breathing room feels nice.  With work under control, some time off was in order.  The girls and I typically do a summer staycation where we go to the water park and amusement park.  Considering the current pandemic, none of us felt comfortable with those plans this year.  We pulled together a list of fun activities and took some time to get away.

We went on a great hike in the Military Reserve.  There are a ton of great trails in this gem, but we chose one that was easy and partly shady.  It is a definite do over.  We even talked my mom and dad into going with us.  Of course, ice cream was in order afterwards.

We spent a day fishing, swimming and kayaking up at Arrowrock.  Kevin loved this place.  I must admit I have never seen it so crowded before.  Typically, we have the whole place to ourselves.  I felt pretty accomplished loading all of the kayaks up and driving that precarious road on my own.  My parents were just a car length away, so that was helpful.  The girls were a huge help getting everything loaded up.  It was an amazing day.  Hannah went with us, which is always a treat.

I bought my first batch of fireworks as an adult this year.  They even threw in a couple of free ones to celebrate the occasion.  Our whole neighborhood went nuts, so it was a ton of fun.  The girls said this was their best 4th of July ever.  It reminded me of when I was a kid and we used to pull our fireworks together with other families and make a day of it.  I loved it!

I managed to get in a couple rounds of golf.  One round with my dad on the morning of the 4th.  Then Sid and I went out by ourselves one morning.  Anyone reading this should not get the idea that I am actually a good golfer.  However, I do really enjoy it.  I remember making fun of Bret and Kevin over their golf obsession.  Then Kevin took me out one day.  It was actually a lot of fun.   

The movie theaters are not showing any new movies these days.  I did see that they were showing Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  I took the girls to see it.  I was curious if they would enjoy this movie as much as I did.  It did not disappoint.  They were laughing hysterically.  Now, they will get my 'Bueller, Bueller" reference.