We started out the summer painting and redecorating Madison and Brooke's room. Here's a before picture of a dresser we picked up for the new room. The funny thing is that when we brought it home, Brooke looked like she was about to cry at how ugly it was . . . not to offend anyone, but ugly for a little girl's room. I told her to have faith.
The finished product is much better, and fitting for their new digs. They are very happy with the end result:
We did the same to a totally different armoire. You'd never know it was a country-pine-looking thing!
The room is almost done, just a couple more finishing touches, like a nightstand shelf between the two beds (so the lamp and clock are not on the floor), and some sort of artwork for their walls. I love the shelf above the window that John whipped up one Saturday afternoon while I was chaperoning youth conference. His skills never cease to amaze me.
There's nothing like a good summer rain storm that comes out of the blue, with no warning, and pours down on the two cars you just spent the afternoon washing.
It's all worth it though, because not only is it so rare, but it is fun to play in the warm rain, and even better to have a rainbow over your house!
I love how during summer the kids get to spend so much time together that they become best friends once again without the disruption of school and sports. Then, at the end of the day, they fall asleep contentedly knowing that they are there for each other.
(At least that sounds good.)
Christian and Ashlyn share a room anyway, but they asked if they could fall asleep in mom and dad's bed. I let them; one was on dad's side, one on mom's. I was in the middle to read the story. I left to let them drift off to dreamland and when I came back in to check on them, Ashlyn had moved all the way over to Christian to snuggle with him. It was so cute and sweet I had to go get my camera. There may come a day when neither one of them will believe this ever happened.
Summer is not complete without at least one lemonade stand!
We did it during the heat wave, which was not so pleasant to be out in, but good for sales!
We have some little day trips planned that are fun to do and safe with casts.
First is Gardens of the World. It's a local place that has beautiful displays of well, gardens of the world, and is a perfect place to have a picnic and let the kids run around.
Madison and her friend Monroe loved the giant chess board and had a fun, competitive game going.
Next up is an afternoon at the Getty, which is such a beautiful place. I wish we had more time there. I think I need to go back, sans children, to really get to spend time with all the artwork.
Many (a lot!) of the paintings include nudity or religion. One of the first ones we saw was of a chubby naked baby who was supposed to be John the Baptist. Brooke pointed it out and I read the description, then Christian says, "They have Church stuff in here?"
He knew John the Baptist, but doesn't make the connection quite yet that religion permeates all of recorded history! Too funny!
The gardens and the views are marvelous! The raced to see who could spot the L.A. Temple first.
It's cast day! Are they going to come off? They are both hoping so!!
Oh well, we have one disappointed little girl. Only two more weeks; you can do it!
We spend an afternoon/evening at Carpinteria where we enjoyed dinner, campfire, and s'mores with Matt and Cyndi. Brooke couldn't go down on the sand, and it was too chilly to go in the water anyway, so it worked out well. Andrea came, too, so we had fun with baby Taylor as well!
The kids have been enjoying creating plays and using Photobooth and the video camera as they direct and act in wonderfully silly productions.
On this particular day, our friend Iayn was over and she and Brooke decided to give Ashlyn a make-over, which led to Ashlyn starring in a one-woman show.
We went over to Iayn's house later in the day where the hours of choreography and rehearsal came to fruition.
The Grand Entrance, complete with electronic curtains:
She danced her little heart out to Taylor Swift. We even had tickets and assigned seating.
What I didn't have though is my good camera; I only had my phone.
The older girls were behind us giving her cues as to her next move.
She was super cute! Normally she is very shy around other people, so to see her dancing unabashedly was really something.
The kids even made photos for her to autograph for us at the end of the show. She 'signed' each and every one.
