Ok well it’s safe to say that Summer is flying by, considering I planned to share all these little update posts & have barely kept up. We have been BUSY. Since we last posted in our Summer series, Brandon and I took a trip to Salt Lake City, we stayed with my parents for a week while our house was under construction again, and then we spent another week in Iowa, visiting family & surprising my grandparents with a 60th anniversary party. It was so much fun seeing everyone & doing all the things that come along with living back in the midwest. But! It feels SO good to be home!!!! And to have a fully functioning kitchen for the first time since we have lived here!

I thought I would share a little glimpse into what our Summer nights look like, the days sure are long but I know this season will be over before we know it. We have spent almost every afternoon either in our backyard kiddie pool or at our neighborhood pool, which means Claire is back to taking afternoon naps wherever she chooses to crash. I always wished I would have a kid that could just fall asleep wherever, and now all of a sudden, third kid, three years old, and it is happening. 😉 This is my quiet time to cook dinner, and while Ellie loves to help me in the kitchen, Harper relishes in the quiet moments where neither of her little sisters are bothering her, so she usually sneaks into the playroom to draw by herself or watch cooking shows on her ipad. She is so my child.

We got pretty used to not having a working kitchen, so we grill almost every night. Our go-to lately has been marinating chicken in italian dressing for a few hours and then throwing it on the grill until it is blackened. Seriously so simple and easy, but adds so much flavor! We love eating it over salads or with some roasted veggies. Although every single part of me is dreaming of Fall and all the comfort food that comes along with it!!

After dinner is almost always a popsicle bribe, the girls pick up the playroom or their bedrooms and we head outside for a sweet treat. Because I’m clearly just begging for more sticky messes to clean up before we call it a night.

I caught Claire leaning on Brandon eating her popsicle the other night and dropped everything to get my camera in time to capture it, he’s pretty much the sweetest girl dad in the entire world.

Also please don’t judge me for how infrequently my kids let me brush their wet pool hair these days.

What’s next for us? Celebrating Claire’s 3rd birthday & Brandon’s 33rd birthday next week!! She turned three on July 1, and of course that was a travel day for us, followed by a week of playing catch up, being worn down & everyone having colds. We are so ready to celebrate these two!! Hope you all are having the best Summer ever so far! XO