Camp Gee Week

Last weekend, DJ and I drove north and met my parents and dropped the girls off so they could spend a week at my parents house. But first, we spent a fun Saturday with them. 

I took the girls to the pool and packed a lunch for them. 

They snacked, I read, they swam, I tanned. 

Once it got dark, we made a campfire and roasted s'mores. It's a Summer tradition for us, and the girls look forward to it every year. 

They had baths, and then we had a fire. It ended up being a late night for us. 

We're planning on taking these girls camping next year, so I'm sure there will be lots of late night pj's and s'mores in our future! 

On Sunday, we woke up and headed to meet my parents. We found a half way point and met just in time for lunch. 

And how fun is this longhorn smoker! 

The girls made it to my mom's and kicked off their week with swimming and watermelon. 

I kicked off my week with a few hours of quiet time at the pool. 

My mom made each of the girls a "Camp Gee" shirt and took them to pick blueberries at a local farm. 

There were even baby goats! 

The girls made jam with the blueberries they picked. 

They had water balloon and silly string fights. 

I can't believe how fast this girl is growing up. 

These cousins always have the best time when they're together. 

While the girls were away, DJ and I went to see Rocketman, had dinner out, and then ended our week with dinner out with DJ's uncle who was in town. 

Then we walked down to the cupcake ATM at Sprinkles. 

It was the yummiest! 

Saturday afternoon, I drove to bring these girlies home and our house has already been full of loud girls tearing up the playroom! 

We're so glad they're home! 

A few Good Reads

This year, I've been trying to carve out time to read at least one book a month. I definitely don't read enough, but I'm working to get in to the habit again. I had planned on sharing each book with you, but then I just didn't, so, I'm sharing all the books I've read since February, and hopefully, it's just in time for you to make your Summer reading list! 

My mom loaned me Every Breath to read. It's a true story and shows that true love can withstand the test of time. It's a sweet story and you definitely will wish that things were different in the beginning of the two main characters lives. But, we make choices, and we have to live with them. This is an easy read for the beach or plane. 

I'm a big fan of Rachel Hollis. Mostly, because she tells it like it is, and I can find myself agreeing with a lot of what she says (more on that in a bit). It took me several weeks to get through Girl Stop Apologizing, but it's because I wanted to really take in every word and chapter and I found myself underlining so much of this book. If you're in to self help book, then I definitely recommend picking this one up. 

Now, let me be honest and say, that I know a lot of people don't share many of the same beliefs as Rachel- especially when it comes to her Christian beliefs, but, I felt like I was able to overlook those thoughts when they were shared and really just take away the meat & potatoes of what she was recommending. 

I'm kind of in a place, where I'm embracing who I am and my own beliefs, and I shouldn't have to apologize for them. It's what makes me me, and I need to own it. Also, I need to learn to make some time for me, which includes making time to get workouts in, and I felt like this book really helped me realize that I'm important too. 

My mom also loaned me Reese Witherspoon's, Whiskey in a Teacup, which really made me embrace my Southern roots. I've learned that I've let go of a lot of the traditions and roots I was raised with, and this book made me want to sit on the porch with my grandmother snapping purple-hull peas or go swimming in the creek with my cousins or even build a fort. I'm so thankful that I was raised in a simpler time, and I'm thankful I was raised in the South. From the church potlucks to big family gatherings, Reese's book just transported me right back to my childhood. 

Where the Crawdads Sing is by far the best book I've read in a long time! I actually loaned it to my mom when I was finished reading it. It tells a story of a young girl who grows up in the swamps and learns to care for herself. It follows her through her childhood, teenage years, and through her first romances. There's a shocking little twist at the end, but this was a book I couldn't put down! It took me just a few days to get through it and it was hard to close it at night to get some sleep. I've been recommending this book, to anyone and everyone that has asked for book recommendations! 

Okay, I'm down to my last book, but I'm needing some good reads for Summer, so please recommend a few of your favorites to me! 

Friday Favorites: 1st Week of Summer

Our first week of Summer is in the books, and I think we're off to a great start! I'm still working this Summer which is a huge change for our family, but thankfully, it's only part-time and the girls have had a blast on the days that I'm at work with their activities! 

I'm linking up today with Andrea, Erika, and Narci and sharing a few random favorites from the last week! 

I'm starting off this favorites round up with food! Ha! But, we've recently discovered these items from Costco and they're a new favorite around here and I think you'll like them too! 

Costco has this big bag of Made Good Granola in the chocolate chip or the mixed berry flavors. I love the individual packets, because the girls can take them in their lunch or for a snack. I have never been a huge granola fan, but I tried these and I'm not obsessed with them too! And y'all, when I say, I've never been a granola fan, like I think it's absolutely awful and I hate it! But, these..... these are so yummy! I've been throwing them in my lunch and eating them as a snack on my way home. 

Now, you can get the big bag at Costco for around $10.00, but it's also available on Amazon as are the granola bars, and I've also seen the Made Good bars at my local Target. 

I also found these popsicles at Costco, and I love that there's no yucky ingredients like artificial dye or high fructose corn syrup. 

For more of our favorite Costco finds, head to my Costco pinterest board. 

Gretchen had a sleepover with friends a few weeks ago, and her friends mom made her a Harry Potter sleep mask! How cute is that?! 

A few weeks ago on Facebook, a friend was saying how much she hated Toms shoes, and I was all "Have you seen their wedges?" Because they're wedges are my favorite! I wear these on repeat all Summer! And my necklace is from Rustic Cuff, which has always been a favorite!  

As are these earrings from Nickel & Suede. And psst- I'm giving a pair away this month! 

Anyone that grabs their Premium Starter Kit from Young Living using my referral link will get a free pair of Nickel & Suede earrings of their choice or a diffuser bracelet from The Wild Bloomery! Young Living's PSK is my favorite way to get started with essential oils, and I think you'll like it too! 

Speaking of oils, Lemongrass has been a new favorite for our wool dryer balls! 

And this view in Austin will never get old. 

DJ's parents were visiting last weekend, so we took them to this spot, where they could see the lake and downtown ATX in the distance. 

She asked me for a piggy back ride and I couldn't say no. 

And Monday afternoon, we loaded up and headed to the splash pad! These girls had a blast playing in the water. 

A few weeks ago, we noticed a colony of bees settling in to our water meter. We called a bee keeper and he came to remove them, and gave us the honey comb they had built. The honey was so yummy, it almost made me sad the bees had to leave, but I'm allergic, and we didn't need a big sticky mess in our water meter! 

Afternoon cuddles our are favorites! 

I took the girls to see Aladdin, and friends, it's so good! We'll definitely be adding it to our DVD collection, and I wouldn't mind us all going back so DJ could tag along too! 

And after the movie, we treated ourselves to milkshakes at Chick-fil-a, and somehow, I'm wondering why I didn't realize sooner that they had milkshakes! 

Yum! 

This girl and I walked around the block.... well, she skated! 

And then she decided to make a leaf collection, and she went all around looking for leaves. When it was time to go inside, she said, "I'm going to bring in my leaves so they don't die!" When I told her they were already dead, she said, "well, I'm going to put them in water." Okay, then, okay. 

Well, that's it for our first week of Summer! We have a busy weekend planned so I'm off to an appointment and then we have lots and lots to do!

Happy Friday friends! 

Psst- don't forget to follow me here on Instagram. 

Let's Shellabrate!

Last weekend we celebrated TWO birthday parties! 

Megan's birthday was Memorial Day weekend and Adalyn's birthday isn't until July, but we decided to kill two birds with one stone, and it may have been the smartest thing ever! Having a Summer birthday myself, I knew that it would be super hard to get in touch with Addy's school friends, so Megan agreed that she would share her party with Adalyn, and we invited friends from both of their classes, football, and gymnastics. Thankfully, they both agreed on a mermaid theme, so we ran with that! 

I ordered cupcakes from our local grocery store, and my talented momma made the mermaid tails and shells! 

She also made each of the girls a special cupcake topper just for them! 

Target came through with the decorations! I picked up a helium tank and balloons and we quickly blew them up the morning of the party. Also, how cute is that mermaid balloon! 

I found crinkle paper on sale, so I bought a few packages, and put the balloon weight down in the middle and added a little paper shell. 

Tablecloths

Plates

Napkins

We opted for just cupcakes and juice boxes, so we didn't need much. 

We hosted the party at the girls gymnastics studio. We just thought this would be easy and fun, even with a mermaid theme! We had talked about having the party at an indoor water park, but the girls were pumped to have it at gymnastics. 

Plus, they were able to show off their skills!

We opted for open play rather than having a bounce house or obstacle course and the kids had a blast! 

Rope climbing and the foam pit were everyone's favorites! 

At the end of the party, everyone jumped in the foam pit for a few pictures! 

Then, we headed out to sing Happy Birthday to Megan....

and to Adalyn. 

Our 8 year old with her balloons. 

We brought all of the presents home with us to open, which we've never done before, but I really liked doing it. It was just less chaotic and we could see what the girls were receiving without kids crowding the space. 

The girls were thrilled with their presents! 

They were so blessed with lots of fun, new toys! 

She was pumped about this gymnastics Barbie!

We are so thankful to all of our new friends that came out to celebrate these girls!