Monday, July 31, 2023

July Fun

It's hard to top our trip to Arizona, but we managed to have a lot of fun after we returned throughout July. I can't believe August is next week and school starts in 2 weeks, ahhhhhhh!

The day after we came back was July 4, so of course, we had to participate in the neighborhood golf cart parade. We did about 10 minutes of decorating and got up there as quickly as we could - that 2 hour time difference is no joke!

Only picture I took of the parade, oops!

Some of our friends came over and we hit up the pool and then had a potluck dinner and sparkers to round out the night. It's so fun doing life with friends you've had for literally decades!

Keaton and Paige - the 2 littlest girls with the biggest personalities!


One of our Summer Bucket List goals was a night of golf and dinner at the club. It's been so awful with the heat that we turned that into hitting golf balls and dinner.

Three little golfers who got real hot and whiny

Trent is super into a card game called YuGiOh and a local {well local-ish} gaming store has tournaments! Brent's nephew, Branden, is also into YuGiOh, so he came with us. Trent had a blast!

The Gurley cousins!

Super successful at keeping her in her bed!

A very nice surprise from Brent!

Who wants a fun story about books? There was an author event in my little town with Katherine Center {whose books I very much enjoy}, but I couldn't go because I had plans with a friend for a wine night. Well, Drew was attending a creative writing workshop at the bookstore that was hosting the event. When I went to pick her up, the author was there signing books ahead of the event! I was able to buy the book, get her to personalize, and then we chatted together for 5 minutes. SO AWESOME!

Oh you know, just a picture with an amazing author!

That same night Drew started practice with her basketball team, yay!
So excited she's trying something new!

Previously mentioned Wine Night!

We also kept our neighbor's dog, Sarge, for 4 days when they went to the beach. The kids are gaga for Sarge, and he was so good! Getting us ready for our dog...hopefully next summer!



Enjoying his first pup cup!


Brent was out of town for a golf tournament when we had Sarge, so I had bed partners!

My niece was also baptized in July! See, I told y'all it was a busy month!


And we had lunch after the Baptism service.

Babs and Pops, the OGs

The Swope Six!

I ended up bringing my niece and nephews home with us to have a Cousin Sleepover {another Bucket List item}, and the kids had a blast.

Nothing better than reading a book while the kids swim!

I made a gourmet dinner of chicken strips, french fries/tater tots, apples and carrots!

My buddy while I worked on Monday. XO

Another day we met up with Sarge's family {ha!} and had lunch and went to a local frozen treat place. Paige had the 'Let's Go Party' milkshake - a cotton candy and bubble gum milkshake with whipped cream and sprinkles, and it came with hot pink sunglasses!



Another day, another dog walk. But this time with the puppy of the family Trent walks for.

Before and After of Paige's fun eyeshadow - 
doesn't she look like she partied too hard after waking up?

The girls love when other instructors let them get on stage!

Me taking notes during a YuGiOh lesson, ha


Gosh, I'm exhausted after reminiscing over our July! I'm usually ready for school to start, but I'm not there yet. We are having the best summer!


Friday, July 28, 2023

Movie Review: Barbie

 Allison and I were so excited to see the Barbie movie AND took our daughters with us opening weekend!


Plot: Barbie suffers a crisis and that leads her to question her world and her existence.

Allison, Brinley, Paige, Drew, Allena! 

Review: Oh my gosh, we LOVED it! It was hilarious and deeper than I expected and so much fun and all the feels. I laughed so much and teared up a little. It is by far the best movie I've seen this year and probably in a longer time than that. The casting is perfect, and I loved all the Barbies, all the Kens, and Allen. I was a smidge worried {with the PG-13 rating} whether I could/should take Paige, but I decided to take her and it was totally fine. A few off-color jokes was it! I am ready to see it again!!

My Barbies!



Thursday, July 27, 2023

Currently: I Live on the Face of the Sun

Current Book

I devoured this in about 24 hours. Huge 5 star read from me!

Current Song

Left and Right - Charlie Puth and Jung Kook {from BTS}
Anyone shocked it's a song I discovered in Jazzercise

Current TV Show

Rewatching this - I love this show so much!

Current Audiobook/Podcast


Current Drink

Nothing new to report here, every day I have some combination of:
-a chai
-coffee
-lots of water
-a Zyng drink
-Diet Ginger beer

Current Food

Brent's trying some meals from Factor 75 and I've had a few and they are SO good!

Current Shame-Inducing Pleasure

Have you ever had these? I can't stop eating them!

Current Outfit

I'm going to the dentist today, so I'm wearing real clothes!
Brent was really confused when he saw me getting dressed, ha.

Current Celebrity Crush

Ken!

Current Mood

I am shocked that school starts in less than 3 weeks!
We have had such a good summer, and I'm not ready!!

Current Anticipation

We have 1 last summer getaway coming up that I'm super excited about.
AND my birthday is next week, yay!

Current Wishlist

So stupid...but I really want a Bogg bag!

Current Movie

Since I've seen Barbie {review coming soon!}, I guess this will be next!

Current Picture

Love when other instructors are so sweet to my girls!


Wednesday, July 26, 2023

AZ Trip Part 3: Sedona and the Grand Canyon

The last phase of our trip to Arizona included Sedona and the Grand Canyon. We got up and out of our house in Scottsdale and hit the road to check out Montezuma Castle on the way to our house outside Sedona.

We had 2 rental cars on the trip and separated with my parents, me, and Paige in one car, and Brent and the big kids in the other. I was the navigator and main source of entertainment for Paige, so we had LOTS of activity books with us ha.

Man down! 

Enjoyed the way Starbucks looked there - had to share with my mother-in-law!

Time for a little history lesson: Montezuma Castle is a preserved Indigenous American 'apartment' that is about 1,000 years old! The Sinagua people lived here and it acted like a high rise apartment complex. You aren't able to go into the Castle {you could until the 1950s!}, but they had a small replica that showed lots of the details of it, and it's extremely fascinating! 







Resting again!

We got to Cornville {where house #2 was, about 30 minutes outside Sedona} a little early for check-in and there weren't a ton of restaurants around, so we ate at the local golf course cafe. Brent and my dad were right at home!

Brent's expression!

Drew made this collage, and it CRACKED us all up.

We got checked into our house right at 4 and immediately got in another amazing pool. Not quite the backyard set-up that we had in Scottsdale, but the view was INCREDIBLE. It was so peaceful, we loved being out here. I actually thought this would be a super fun house for a girls weekend.


Hi, Brent!

Drew strikes again! I love her photos!

We woke up for our last full day in AZ ready to hit up Red Rocks in Sedona and The Grand Canyon.

A mimosa with a view

The Red Rocks were INCREDIBLE!

I wish we had more time in Sedona, but we wanted to make sure we made it for our GC tour on-time, so we didn't spend much time there. They had tours where you could do a hike and then yoga in the Red Rocks, and I would have loved to do that. {Sounds like I really need a girls trip!}


We stopped at Chapel of the Holy Cross. It was beautiful!





We had about a 2 hour drive to get to the Grand Canyon. We decided to do a guided tour through Pink Jeep and I'm so glad we did! We had a great guide who was very knowledgeable about the Grand Canyon and have a definite love for the area. We had 3 different stops along the way and it was just beyond description for how beautiful it is. It is mind-blowing and made me feel insignificant but also in awe of our world. Lots of pictures to follow, so if you're bored with this post, this might be a good place to stop. {grin}

Our first peek at the canyon from our jeep

View #1

Our tour guide also took excellent pictures {grin}


The pyramid shaped peak is called Vishnu's Temple.
I had to take a picture for all my colleagues in India!

Snuggled up in the Pink Jeep!

View #2







Our last stop was for us to watch the sun set over the GC. That was INCREDIBLE!



Maybe my favorite picture of the entire trip!

Kate haha



Her 'Simba' moment

We got up July 2 and headed to the airport and with that, our vacation was over!

This picture made me laugh - sleeping the same way!

Drew got a hoodie at the Desert Botanical Garden but was really bummed there wasn't anything at the Grand Canyon gift shop that she liked. So we had a mission in the airport to find a second hoodie for her. [giant eyeroll at buying hoodies in July when we live in Texas] And we had success!

And yes, Birkenstocks with socks, sigh

If you made it this far, you're a trooper! We had an amazing trip, and I'm excited for our next adventure!!