>> when we weren't hiking we were throwing rocks pebbles (gently) at trees.
yep, that happened. and i got home and thought about blogging about it, but it was just a passing thought, obviously. and we continued on our way having summer adventures with the miniature jackie o... >>>
>> one thing i LOVE about living here is all the visitors we get. and we had a few in july and we spent our touring days eating popsicles fashionably in our sunhats. we try to always be tres chic;)
>> but you know how quirky we are and how we just LOVE going to utah every other month.... haha seriously, i feel like we're ALWAYS there (mom, that's not a bad thing! i'm not complaining! but flying alone with remix is getting hard....). regardless, let's do it again.
>> oh, this trip i introduced her to her very own baby. BEST $11 dollars I'VE EVER SPENT. she kisses that baby all day long. sleeps with the baby. hugs the baby.
heck, i kiss the baby all day, too! she keeps us sane.
>> thank goodness she has young grandparents with energy.
>> because clearly her mom comes to utah and leaves all her energy back home. thanks, hanks family for letting me sit in the hammock for 2 weeks straight!
>> because we're so weird, we decided to leave utah for 5 days and pop over to LA to meet up with our papa and his family. clearly the 3 of them had a sweet reunion. #welovethebaby
>> BUT THEN we went BACK to utah, i know, just stay with me, to drop my brother off at the MTC. that's where all the 18 year old kids to go get trained for their missions all over the world. and this kid is headed off to leeds, england, speaking mandarin chinese- GOOD LUCK. haha but we love it. it's the most special experience for these young men and women and we're already feeling the blessings of his service.
>> ALRIGHTY, back to the sweltering heat of NYC. i adore this picture of remix because it's taken moments before she had a fit about going home, and it shows perfectly how much fun she had at the playground. sweaty, flushed, dirty... all things kids need to be in the summer;)
>> waiting for our food at chelsea market.
>> these clouds?!!? right?!?!
>> we rode the ferry earlier this month and we discovered that a great distraction from wandering to the edge is mustard. mustard has 3 ingredients (one of which is a superfood) and is super tasty. so when she asked for a taste, we dragged it out for 20 minutes. and she has never sat so still. i now bring lots of mustard to church... haha
>> "YOU have the mustard, i know it."
one thing (among many) i love about our church is the various opportunities it gives its members to do positive and productive activities throughout the year. especially in the summer. there are so many free camps/activities for kids and youth that are hosted by the church and are AMAZING.
and trek clearly didn't tire me out enough, so then i went to girls camp. so there i am, over a group of fifteen 12 year olds, at some camp in NJ teaching them how to build fires, trying NOT to talk about dang one direction all day, helping them deal with bullies at school, learning how to do corn rolls (not for me), etc. it was a wild time. i was gone for 5 days and lost my voice and 5 nights of sleep. i was a zombie. but a happy one, girls camp is the BEST.
>>> here's me and the girls from my neighborhood. love them. you need to know them, they'll rock your world. PLUS: look at the cabins behind us! it's not even camping. these girls don't even know what camping is....
>> while i was gone at camp, the bebe learned to walk! of course! just my luck! and with that, she also learned she LOVES shoes. she's currently wearing one sneaker right now, but just one. so she wants to pick them out and be wearing them all the time. now shoe shopping is fun for a whole new reason!!
>> i do the strangest things in the middle of the night. and apparently remix got that gene from me. she woke up like this...
>> this week i had high hopes of going on a delightful stroll through the park with remix obediently at my side. YEAH RIGHT. we made it two steps, had to stop to eat a rock. then she was hanging off my legs wanting to be picked up. then she was crawling all over the stairs giving me a heart attack.
>> and later that day, while i was using the loo, remix tried to get into the bathroom and totally biffed it right on the corner. instant black and blue and huge goose egg. it was a nightmare. and of course i felt so bad i let her watch cartoons (that was a first) while i cried my eyes out. it was our first big spill and neither of us liked it. i went to bed and literally thought "i can't believe we lived through this day..." hahaha
AND THAT ladies and gents is a wrap for the summer. it was so lovely in every way. it was so hot and humid in the most miserable of ways (can NY not just learn to be mild all the time???). but we learned a lot and served a lot, and had lots of babysitting help from family this summer. we're looking forward to the slower pace of fall and all the pumpkin cookies that will soon be in ma belly.
so until then...
au revoir!!
