July Cara Box

This was my second month doing the Carabox exchange.  I had a lot of fun with it the first time around so I figured I'd sign up to do it again.  (Although next time I have a crazy busy month of birthdays/party planning I may opt out since it just made me even more frantic to get to the post office on time!  Even though I had it all ready to go the first week of July.  That's what a little procrastination gets you, rushing to the post office on the 19th!)  Anywho, This month I was matched up with Sydney  who I hope has gotten her Carabox and enjoys it, I had fun sticking things to this months "sail away with me" theme.  And my own Carabox came from the lovely Avery   (who's name I just love it's not something you hear in the above 8 year old crowd very often despite how popular it is now.)  I had fun getting to know these ladies and am for sure jealous of all of Avery's goats.

On to the box!

I liked this theme because you could take your own spin on what sailing away meant.  Avery had me prepped for a good day at the beach!  Adorable flip flops (who doesn't love flip flops?)  a insulated drink cup (I'm fairly sure that I didn't tell her about my drink cup obsession), Island Berry gum, a manicure block, a little cosmetic bag perfect for stashing things into a beach bag and Margarita Dip Mix, which if I remember to grab some cream cheese when I go to the store we just may be trying out at my daughters 3rd birthday party this weekend with the fruit salad!

Busy, Busy, Busy.

Oh man, per the ushe, life has been hectic, crazy, busy.  Summer.  Oh do I love me some summer.  Days that aren't eaten up by 12 hours dedicated to making a living. (boo) have been spent doing things like more trips to zoos (John Ball Zoo), lots of pool time at my moms house, a trip to Ludington. MI , Potter Park Zoo, I turned 31, we tore up the casino sea food buffet, and just plain having a good time.  In between naps when they are allowed ;)  There are more updates on life to come soon I promise :)

Stopping to smell the roses at Potter Park Zoo

This along with every single "stick your head in an animal cut out" had to be photographed at the zoo.  She's becoming quite the camera ham.

We all (My Mom, Stepdad, Sam, Cassie, Addison & I) climbed Big Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington.

Then we enjoyed a day on the beach

Addison was digging lake Michigan as usual!

Addison has become a pool master, just give her a life jacket and she'll swim around all day.  Take the life jacket off and she can swim underwater to you for a few short feet.  She never tires!

Old school teeter totter at "The Depot" in Mason where we went out for my Birthday meal.  They had some KILLER blueberry pancakes!

it was far too hot for cake, so watermelon it is.  That and its my current summer obsession anyway!

all too excited to blow out candles.

refusing to leave the pool

She's calling him "My Harker" now, which is all too adorable.  Snacks before the John Ball Zoo.

you can't have a toddler and NOT ride the camel.

A little 4 wheeler time with Daddy

Ready for Grandma's house.  Both of her beloved Blankets and her new hat!

on my birthday a client offered to take us out to eat for lunch at Gandy Dancer here in Ann Arbor.  That meant dressing 'nice' which meant no scrubs for a day.  So I had to document that I bought these pants at 21 when I was getting ready to interview for 'real' jobs out of college.  10 years and a kid later and they still fit.  Major win for 31!

and last but not least, Seafood deliciousness.  Firekeepers Casino has an amazing seafood buffet!  Check it out!  I also put $20 in to my first machine, and got up to $114 in minutes...whoo for playing all night with only $40 I had!

We're getting the house and the yard ready for Addison's #3 party this coming Saturday.  Honestly I can't wait for it to be over :)  Parties are too much work.  But she will have a blast and that's really all that matters in the long run.

Monday, Monday..

I'm fairly certain that I will never learn to go to bed early enough on a Sunday night to be prepared to deal with a Monday.  Struggling pretty hard to keep my eyes open today.

As usual I made the most of my three days off.  Friday Addison and I hung out, did a few small projects around the house and attempted to clean but I just wasn't feeling like being stuck in the house so only a few things got accomplished before we headed outside to play & paint a few fun things for Addison.  Nothing much was going on Friday evening and I honestly can't remember doing anything other than a quick grocery trip and a stop at the thrift store.

Saturday I visited with my neighbor and her little girl so that we could do her free photo session that she won from me last fall.  Her daughter and Addison are only a few months apart and eventually they will be in the same class together so it was fun for them to get a chance to play.  Even if Addison was way more excited about someone to play with than Tori was :)

After pictures I got to work on hanging up the boxes that I stained last weekend in my bathroom for some added storage & got Tony to help me hang some picture frames because I stuck and level and even spacing!  While it looks incredibly weird right now to walk into my bathroom and see the things hanging on the wall (it feels like they are out of place cause they haven't always been there) I really like it and LOVE the added storage.

Saturday afternoon/evening we headed to a wedding reception for our good friends/pretty much family.  It was a good time, topped off with fireworks at dark.  My mom took Addison home with her so that we could go on an all day canoe trip on Sunday.

Addison trying out her new apron & bowl that Terri sent over for her. She was slightly obsessed with her new  "costume"

Sunday my kayak made it's maiden voyage with 28 other kayaks/tubes/canoes.  Our friend/pretty much family (we have a lot of pretty much family around here) and his wife were home for a visit from Colorado.  Bobby is in the Air Force and recently got home from a deployment so he and Kaylee came home for a vacation.  (for documentation sake, while "Uncle Bobby" was here Addison was obsessed with him.  She wanted to sit in a lawn chair and watch uncle Bobby mow my brothers yard, they live across the road from us, rather than play since he was busy working and couldn't come play with her.  Every time she saw him it was instant "Uncle Bobby!  Uncle Bobby!!")  While they were here he wanted to go on a canoe trip so his sister invited everyone and we ended up with a 41 person turn out.  Which is by far the largest canoe trip I've ever been a part of.  It was a great time, we were on the river for about 6 hours which is far less time than we thought it would take, and that included a pretty long stop for lunch at half way.  Definitely loving the kayak and can't wait to find the time to go again!

 

man I need a tan!

This week is a holiday week so I get Thursday and Friday off, and I took Monday/Tuesday also so lucky me, six day weekend!!!  yay!