soft pretzel

*On Saturday my dad, Cam, and I went for a long bike ride. We had initially planned on a hike, but plans fell through and we decided to tackle a tough bike route I had heard about. It was up, up, up, the entire way. But it sure was beautiful (hot..but beautiful!) and we were rewarded with down, down, down on our return. :)

*Once we got home, I introduced  my dad to beerocks. These are bundles of homemade dough filled with ground beef/cabbage/seasonings that Chris' mom is known for. She'll make dozens at a time and always gives us a bunch for the freezer. They are quick and easy and, as my dad can attest to after demolishing two in a row, quite tasty. :)

*While we were gone on our bike ride, Chris and Kendall drove out to the desert for a few errands, including a stop at Sam's Club. Kendall was very excited about the soft pretzels at their food court.

Okay...I'm off to have some cavities filled. Ugh.

sleepover

*In general, I REALLY dislike games. I do enjoy ones such as Taboo or Catch Phrase, which involve interacting. But when it comes to board games with marbles or cards...not so much. Luckily Chris enjoys them and plays often with the kids. The current favorite is Aggravation. I agreed to play with Cam last weekend because he was super bored. Did I like doing an activity with him? Yes. Did I like the actual playing? Um....

(My face is because he beat me. Beat me good!)

*Last week the quad girls invited Kendall to go to the Redland's Bowl to see Cinderella (ballet) and then to spend the night. This was her first sleepover at a friend's house. She was ecstatic!

*Cameron and my mom's birthday are one day apart. We celebrated a week early on Wednesday night. They gave him a set of Walkie-Talkie's. :)

*Last night Cameron had his belt testing for Taekwando. This was his last testing before black belt. He was extremely nervous. He had worked really hard in attending multiple classes the past couple of weeks to make up for all he missed over the summer due to us being out of town. We find out over the weekend whether he passed!

birthday

*This past Thursday, Chris' brother had a work conference out in the desert. He invited Chris and the kids to come utilize the hotel pool. They had done this before and so were extremely excited!!

*This weekend we had Cam's, "friend" birthday celebration. We let him invite his best friend over for the afternoon (who actually brought along his little sister as she and Kendall are good friends). After they were dropped off, Chris took the boys to Walmart and let them each pick out a Lego set. They returned to build, play, and eat pizza. They all had a great time and it was such a nice, low key celebration in which Cam felt super special.

Cameron loves Reese's Peanut Butter cups. For his cupcakes, I loaded the frosting with both the cups and the pieces. He was very happy. :)

our weekend

Friday night was movie night at our church. Chris took the kids and gave me a night off (which I filled with a Hallmark'ish movie that just came to Netflix).

Saturday night was my 20th high school reunion. It was fun to talk to so many people and find out which path each of us had taken in life. :)

The next morning, I texted my friend a picture of my latest attempt at re-creating my favorite cold brew drink from Starbucks. It was a bust and I was annoyed. She gave me some tips, so I'll give it another go and then reside to the fact that I just can't duplicate it. :)

After church, Chris went to play golf and the kids and I watched the second Harry Potter movie. We had just finished the book that morning. I have LOVED re-reading these books to the kids. It's exactly how I remember it with Cameron. Such sweet times. :)

*Last night Chris and I finished up a fascinating documentary on Netlfix, Icarus. Wow. It's about the doping scandal with Russia and the Olympics. Soo good.

first day

*Today was the first day of school. Our yearly tradition of Red Robin the night before took place last night. :)

*After putting on their new, "dress code approved" outfits (this year girls also have to wear collars), we took their pictures. I love Kendall's pose. :)

I was able to go with Chris to take them to school. They were both a tad nervous, but ended up having great days.

*Last week, when the kids were with Chris' parents, Kendall came down with a bladder infection. Debbie took her to the doctor and beforehand, she wrote up a little "diagnosis sheet". She has done this before when we went to the doctor, but this one was a lot more detailed and simply ADORABLE.

*I recently heard about a podcast that I'm now addicted to. I've listened to several so far. They are called, "How I Built This." On each episode, the host interviews various CEO's about how they started their business. So far my favorites have been Clifbar, Kate Spade, and Spanx. I only get to listen to 5-10 minutes at a time (basically on my way to/from work), but they really are fascinating.

new shoes

*With the kids gone this week and school starting up next week, I figured it would be a good time to stock our freezer with a few school snacks. I tried this recipe for cereal bars and they are going to love them!

*I've always loved the look of turtle necks on men. I think it's very classy looking. Whenever I point out a man on TV and say how much I like his turtleneck, Chris grunts with dislike. ;)

Can't get classier than 007!

*Work has been relatively slow this week, which has been nice. I really miss the kids, but I'll admit it has been a treat to come home each day and have nothing to do but relax on the couch! You would think I would utilize this time to get a lot of household chores done. Not so much. :)

*I bought some new shoes that are super comfortable and nice enough for work:

*I once heard that whether your car air conditioning is on low or high...it uses the same amount of gas because the battery is what the fan uses. What affects your gas is simply having the air on or off. Chris disagrees with this theory.