Picnic Time!

In Memphis you have a very tiny window of good picnic weather. Between the sweltering heat and crazy mosquitos it's really not that much fun late June- September. But in April it's just right! Here are some shots from our recent picnic in the park.

Pretty girls on a pretty night

Did I mention our church parish has like a billion kids in it..

Bubble chasing

These were my favorite (obviously) I never could get all 5 to smile at the same time

Slight mishap in the bubble chasing led to the bubbles being dumped on her head, I have a feeling she wasn't innocent in this.

 So get out there and picnic folks! It'll be 100 before we know it. And if your looking for someone to go with, I think we'll be in Overton almost every Wednesday from now till we can't take the heat.

Wordless Wednesday::Spring Has Sprung

My favorite is the kids running down the sidewalk, it just sums up good weather to me. What about you? What says Spring? Any favorite shots?

Looking for a Quiet Spot

As most of you know already, we have some dear friends staying with us for a few months. This started back on February 1st. It has been crazy and loud, but awesome and exciting at the same time.

This living arrangement has been especially great for Wesley. Being an only child means she doesn't really understand compromise in her home yet. She goes to daycare and sunday school and I believe she understands sharing means caring, but not having to share her actual house and Mom and Dad for so long meant she just didn't get selfless behavior. And we really couldn't make her understand by ourselves either. I mean, why would I refuse to let her sit in the chair she wanted at dinner time, or not go into the bathroom at that very moment, or not pick the tv show she wanted to watch at tv time?

Well, all of those issues are regular occurrences now so she has had to learn to take turns, be patient and respectful of others. And it has been challenging for her. She was used to being the only girl in our world. I'm really glad she is having to adjust her reality in this way at this age.

All that being said, it is really nice when we have little pockets of time together and it is quiet and just us. Having eight humans in your house most of the time makes you really appreciate the moments it's just the two of you. That happened this Saturday afternoon when the weather was just warm enough to get outside and breathe! So Wes and I went to Home Depot and grabbed a pallet of flowers and got to work on the backyard. We planted yellow and purple pansies everywhere we had an empty spot. Then we just sat on the deck and hung out. It was great.

 After awhile I decided I should probably shower for the day. When I got out, my house was eerily quiet.  I went looking for all the little noise makers and this is what I found.

It made her seem so grown up! Ollie's set up wasn't a shocker, but Wes just sitting in the sunlight reading made her like a teenager to me! 

If this is the result of this crazy experiment I couldn't be happier. I love that the chaos is teaching all of us to enjoy the quiet moments. And I love how quickly we have come to love the chaos. Soon after this moment Wee wandered the house asking for her baby and Mrs. Ash-a-leigh and Jack and Charlie. She loves them and I love that.

How to start Summertime

First you get a fabulous new outfit from your favorite Aunt, and strike a pose.

Than you get a new pool complete with sprinkler slide!

 Make sure to spend as much time as possible in it

Hit up a carnival or two and get your face painted as much as possible.

When you can't get to a carnival on a Wednesday night, beg your mother to paint your face.

But most importantly, be as silly as you possibly can as often as you can!

Under a Big Blue Sky

As native Memphians, Matt and I know, when the weather is good-- you get outside. You never know how many chances you'll have to enjoy 70+ degree, less than 50% humidity days before the 90+ and 100% ones set in. See in Memphis, we have two seasons- Winterish and Summer with quick glimpses of normal temps in October/November and March/April. But this year has been amazing, we never really had a Winter and Spring really started in February.

**That makes all of us a little nervous about what the summer has in store for us, so we are soaking in the gorgeous weather we are getting right now!

I even had class outside this week!

And everyday just seems to be more beautiful, so...... my house is a wreck, my clothes are not folded or hung up, and if "they" stop by I will be thoroughly embarrassed...but dammit we had to PLAY this weekend.

We really started our fun on Thursday afternoon. We are members of our #1 Zoo in the country, and we happen to live across the street from it. So Wesley and I have a new habit of stopping by on our way home to check out the animals when no one else is really there. 

We started with the brand new dinosaur exhibit. Wesley was scared last time, but she loved it this time, when she had plenty of space to see.

Cat Country was super busy this afternoon, all the big cats were out and right up close!

This jaguar was in a feisty mood, this is her growling at us, seconds later she leapt from that perch to the one behind her in a single bound.

Friday was another gorgeous day, and I have been in a funk lately so I knew that meant I wasn't exercising enough. I searched for a 5k when I got home from school and found Opening Eyes to Autism downtown. The course would take us right by the river at sunset, it was going to be great and a beautiful cause! So I called Matt, he was all for it, we loaded up the jogging stroller and headed downtown. I ran with Wes because I'm not a fast runner anyway, I'm never in it for the "time" I just like running and being outside. Matt on the other hand has been training like a mad man because of his 1/2 marathon back in March.

He had a fantastic run. He finished in 26:37! That is a 8 min mile pace! I was so proud, especially since I just threw it at him like 30 mins before it started. He came in 66th place overall out of over 600. I on the other hand finished 38:35, 12ish min pace, 316th place....oh well we had fun being outside and watching the river roll by. No pics, sorry we were busy.

Saturday morning we got up and immediately needed to be outside, again. So we loaded up our bikes and headed to the Memphis Greenline. I wish I could say that was easy, but we are just now getting into the biking thing and we are not good at it yet. First our bikes have been in our basement for 2 years, so last weekend when the biking urge hit us, we had to drag them to the bike shop and get them working. AND we had to figure out how Wesley could ride with us, so we invested a bike trailer. This weekend we had the bikes and the trailer, but no bike rack, so we spent about 45 mins just trying to get 2 adult bikes, a trailer and three people in our SUV. We quickly realized we had to get a car hitch so we drove straight to the sports store and grabbed one, and while we were there I needed a helmet, Matt needed a bike seat cover, and Wes wanted a bicycle bell and basket (she did not get them b/c she doesn't ride the bike she has now, so I'm holding them over her head as an incentive). 

Finally, we hit the Greenline on our bikes and immediately stopped to eat lunch! Luckily it was on the trail and it was amazing. I highly recommend Cheffies!!!

**Note the PB&J smears on either side of her mouth, someone was way to hungry to take lady like bites!

When our bellies were full we finally set out for our bike ride that we had intended to take 4 hours earlier. And man it was worth the wait. The Greenline is awesome. Seriously, if you are in Memphis check it out. You can even rent bikes. About halfway through we found this great mural, and of course I had to get pictures.

And now it's Sunday. The day the Lord hath made. And again we rejoice! We hit up the church house and then you guessed it, headed outside. This time with our church family. I didn't take many pictures, as I am trying to be better of living in the moment. But here is a sweet one of the precious friends enjoying being outside together.

I hope you all had a wonderful week(end) and I hope this next one is just as great, no matter what the weather brings. Put down the chore list and soak up the world!