Finally - A Quieter Weekend

Every single weekend for the past few months has been filled with activity. This past weekend, I made sure we had nothing on the schedule. The only thing that was planned for the weekend was an informal "kick the ball around" practice for Bri's new soccer team on Saturday. It was scheduled to be early (9AM) to beat the heat, but it started raining in the wee hours of the morning. Doug texted the team mom to see if practice was happening, but there wasn't a quick response. We didn't know if it would be raining at the field, so Doug and Bri got into the car to head over anyway to make it on time in case it was still on. When Doug got about 5 minutes away, he finally got the text that the practice had been canceled. Luckily, he hadn't gotten farther.

(If I was still team mom, I would have texted that info much earlier, but I'm not team mom anymore, so I have to let it go. Just sayin'.)

She was cute getting ready to go at least...

So instead of going to practice, Doug took Bri to get doughnuts instead. That made Miss B pretty happy.

Doug and Bri came back home and worked on putting together these lovely Adirondack chairs for our new back patio...

Sunday, Bri and I ran some errands. She wore this cute banana clip we got at the boutique we hit the other day...

We also put together another one of our cute foam kits ~ Bri did most of the work...

Even though we had a low key weekend, I still was feeling off. I still have some anxiety unfortunately lurking around. My temper felt a bit short. I'm very lucky I have such a great kid. Trying to stomp out the anxiety the best I can. I'm a work in progress.

A few weekends ago, Doug, Bri and I did have a nice lunch out with my parents...

 I never had a chance to post the pic!

4th Awesome Week Of Summer Vacation (Art Camp)

Briana had another wonderful week of summer vacation. I cannot believe we only have 5 weeks left until school starts. Crazy!

Last week, Briana attended art camp. She has been to this camp the past two summers and has loved it each time, so I sent her back once again. This summer, the theme of the camp was "The Art Files" ~ the kids became "agents" that cracked unsolved cases of the "Bureau of Art Investigation or the 'BAI'."  Bri's particular camp was called "The Case of the Rouge Agents" ~ the kids learned about artists that broke the rules and created a new outlooks on art.

Bri has been to art camp with her friend Imerie each summer. Love seeing them together once again...

And this time, friend Ella joined the girls...

I picked Bri up from camp on Monday (camp ended at 12:30 each day), and she asked if she could go to Steak N Shake for lunch...

There's a crane machine at the restaurant and B desperately wanted to try it. I told her it wasn't likely that she would actually get a stuffed animal out of it. Well, Miss B proved me wrong. It took $1.50, but she won this...

On Tuesday afternoon, I courageously picked up the whole crew from camp and took them back to my house for pizza and some water sliding...

Yummy pizza...

The girls meeting Mei Mei...

Water sliding time...

Love all these happy, smiling faces...

They made snow cones too...

Drying off a little on the sitting stone...

The girls played hard and had a blast. I am quite sure they all fell asleep quite quickly that night! I know I did. ;)

Wednesday afternoon/evening, some nasty thunderstorms came through. And when I looked out my bedroom window afterward, I saw this...

It was a wonderful sight to see.

Thursday afternoon after camp, Briana begged to go to Steak N Shake again...

We've had a lot of Steak N Shake - we're good for a while now. :)

Thursday evening, two of my besties took me out for a wonderful belated birthday dinner...

And Bri had a date with Doug that night...

Finally, Friday came around and it was the last day of camp...

Bri is going to miss coming to this cute little white building each day...

 When I went to pick up Bri Friday afternoon, she had all her art ready to take home. My friend Val and I took pictures of her and Imerie with a couple of their masterpieces...

A quick stop at Firehouse Subs...

B and I also stopped at a cute boutique and Bri came home with these cool glasses. She liked that you cannot see her eyes through them...

She feels like a secret agent in them. ;) ...

I looked through all of Bri's art and it was all so amazing. She is so creative...

The little artist was quite proud of herself (and her mom was quite proud too)...

She really had a great week with her friends and loved learning about all of these amazing artists.

Week 5 of summer break is ahead ~ no camps! But we do have some fun stuff planned. More on that soon!!!

Father's Day Recap

Doug had a great Father's Day. At least I hope he did! Heh. It was a day all about him.

When Doug woke up, Bri and I had presents awaiting him...

Briana made Doug a very special book of her very own drawings... 

In the picture below, Bri drew herself trading/selling her teddy bear to buy Doug a present. How sweet is that?

She really does miss him when he travels...

And Bri also picked out some wicked cool lightsabers for her and Doug to play with...

Mei Mei had her own gift for Doug as well. ;)  ...

 I made Doug the breakfast of his choice...

 And then Bri and I took Doug to see "Inside Out"...

It was a great movie about a triangle family (mom, dad, daughter) and the daughter's emotions. We loved it!

 And Doug's request for the afternoon was to have some time to smoke some ribs. They turned out delish...

Doug loves to smoke and grill.

If you look below, you will see a picture of Doug's "famous" smoked pork chops. Doug didn't make pork chops on Father's Day, but he has made them several times. They are so delicious. There is a small elite group of people that have already had an opportunity to eat them. If you've been really nice to us and haven't had a chop yet, you may just get an invite soon to eat one. ;) Hee, hee!

But seriously, it is one of my favorite foods that he smokes...

And my dad just sent a picture of a shirt my mom got him for Father's Day. It is so perfect...

It was a great Father's Day.

But I have to admit, I was pretty tired after partying for so many days!!