Candid Shots of Summer

We really did fill our days and nights with lots of fun outings throughout the summer. Here are some candid shots taken along the way...

American Girl Breakfast

This summer I've been checking all the parent magazines and parent websites in our wonderful city for things to do each and every week. This time, I noticed that the American Girl Doll store was hosting a fun sounding breakfast event. Well, Kayli was on board right from the start!

Kayli decided that since Ling has been out and about quite a bit lately, it was only fair that she give Ling's BFF, Mary Lynn, a turn to enjoy a fun outing. So, we dressed Mary Lynn in her finest summer attire, the dress that we recently bought when we were in Chicago. She looked FABULOUS!

the staff was so animated and ready to have some fun! All the girls put their dolls in their special chairs at the table...

everyone was instructed to open their paperback book and get ready for a scavenger hunt...

the hunt was alot of fun because, of course, it was just like shopping...as we found the clues, we were familiarizing ourselves with all the fun things they had throughout the store!!!

Then, it was back to the table for a fabulous breakfast bar...

what a nice surprise that they had gluten free muffins for my "food allergy gal!" Yum,yum...

It wasn't long before the girls were all giggling and laughing and acting silly, just like girls love to do...

next, it was time to decorate the mini-beach bags...

the girls really got some great "take-aways" today. Along with this beach bag and the fabric markers, they took home this fun summer travel book with lots of ideas to pass the time in a car or on a plane, a fold out board game and dice, questions to answer, places to write about summer adventures, a really nice hard cover book!

...and naturally, with all that time spent in the store, Kayli found something she just couldn't live without, this sweet kitty, that we added to our "family!"

what a great morning this has been at the American Girl Doll Store!!!

we decided to swing by our house on the way home to pick up Ling, and take her, Mary Lynn, and the new kitty, Mittens, to Applebees for lunch. Naturally, Ling wanted to hear all about our morning, haha! Perfect ending to our fun dolly day!

The 4th of July

Aside from all the fun stuff we did this weekend, when all was said and done, we were consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time when it came time to catching a good fireworks show. So, I pulled out some short sparklers, stuck them in a pot, and lit them all at once for our very own "sparkle show!" Kayli was very concerned that I was going to start something on fire...my silly ultra-cautious girl!

while I had the perfect light, and festive attired "subjects", I naturally had to give my camera a workout!

Tree Climbing Adventure

Some of the best adventures are those that are unexpected, like this day when we decided to check out the grand opening of the new community center. It took some perseverance to make our way here, as the parking was "nil" and we had to park at a school more than several blocks away and take a shuttle, but I guess you can factor that in as all part of the "fun!" Anyway, just as we were entering the grounds of the community center, we could see that there were all kinds of activities going on. As I walked along the grass, I spotted a huge tree with a bunch of kids that appeared to be hanging by ropes, haha! Knowing that there were lines quickly forming at all the activities, I did a brief check with Kayli to see if she was willing to try this, all the while walking toward the sign-in desk, where I signed a waiver (seems like everything you do anymore requires a waiver) then, we waited for the current bunch of kids to come down from their rope climbing adventure, and now it was Kayli's turn! Time to get her gear on...

a few instructions before they're turned loose...

"oh, I see, you mean like this?"

"oh yeah, this guy is cracking me up!"

and she's off and climbing...

so far, so good...

getting higher...

"ok, I'm starting to swing and sway, and ouch, I just bumped into that scratchy tree bark..."

Mom says "Keep going! You're doing great!"

"I can almost see over this big branch..."

and the grand finale...

What an incredibly awesome spontaneous adventure this turned out to be!!!(Ok, so I had fun watching, and I know Kayli had fun even though she came back with a few scrapes from the tree, but later when we were talking about how much fun this had been, I just had to laugh when Kayli turned to me and said "Mom, why do you keep signing me up for crazy things like that?!"