Enjoy It

photo courtesy of daddy (kevin)

i.love.this.quote.

this is how I want to live life.
this is the mother i want to be.

life is crazy.  it's hectic.  there are deadlines to be met, appointments to make, bills to pay, daily pressures that can weigh us down, blah, blah, blah...

and then when you add motherhood on top of that.

wow.

any mom (or dad) can relate to the demands of motherhood (parenting).

but no matter what happens, amid the blah-blah-blahs and daily pressures of life, i don't want to forget to have fun.

i want to enjoy my family.

i want to create traditions for my kids.

i want to be spontaneous with them.

i want to go on adventures with them.

i want my kids to experience...and to learn...to go places and do things...

i want them to have fun.

i want them to make memories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the past week, we've been busy having fun.

We've spent time at the county fair

and 

we've spent time at the campground.

Looking back, as a child, the fair and campground hold some of my fondest memories...

and hopefully my kids are on their way of creating their own great memories of being at the fair and going camping.

At the fair, we got to watch mini monster trucks that kids drove and we got to watch horse races.

 We got to ride rides! - and Mason got to ride "grown up" rides this year!  While riding the big fast rides, Makayla throws her arms up in the air and war hoops for the entire ride and Mason sits quietly and every once in awhile squeaks a giggle out.

The Curry kids and their fair faces - 

riding rides and stuffing their faces!

Introducing Mia to a yuuummy cheese on a stick! 

We spent time walking through the barns and feeding the animals at the petting zoo. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the second summer we've gone camping with the kids and even though it is so much fun to take them camping now, I get really excited thinking about taking them as they get older (and maybe because that just means more relaxing time for mommy).

summer #1

Makayla, Mason, and Mia are blessed enough to have been able to make camping memories with Grandma and Grandpa Allen over the weekend.

Camping, sitting by the fire, telling campfire stories, going fishing, swimming at the beach, riding bikes, going on a scavenger hunt...

fun.

simple.

making memories.

The guys fishing.

Mia fishing. 

Mason looooving the boat ride. 

Makayla fishing...although she says she doesn't like the smell of fish and she doesn't like to touch fish, she wanted to go fishing anyway because she was just curious as to what kind of fish she would catch.

We spent time at the beach - swimming, playing in the sand, and eating ice cream cones.

Attempted to make Jiffy Pop.  My hand almost caught on fire and the popcorn did catch on fire...but it was still good! 

Mia taking her friend, Ethan, for a walk. 

My very favorite thing about camping - sitting around the campfire... 

Mia Grace falling asleep under the stars to the sound of the crackling fire... 

Grandma and Mason -

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love spending time with my kids, our family, and our friends.

I love remembering to have fun amidst the chaos and pressures of life.

I love making memories and documenting them here on our blog.

I also love hearing what my kids love most about our time spent together.

Mason's favorite part about camping was fishing.  He loved riding in Grandpa's boat.  His favorite part about the fair was riding the scrambler.

Makayla's favorite part about camping was going by the fire and roasting marshmallows.  She also loved riding her bike.  Her favorite part about the fair was riding rides.

*here's to remembering to slow down in life.  enjoy it.  when it rains, go puddle jumping.**

The Fourth

How did we celebrate the 4th of July this year?
With...

our traditional tie-dying of shirts,

water fight with a fire truck,

lots of cousin time for the kids,

watermelon and sugar cookies,

sparklers and smoke bombs,

fireworks, 

and beautiful weather.

Our Fourth through pictures:

Mia really getting into dying her shirt!

Water fight with the fire truck.
Still, this year, this kids just prefer the mist from the water...

 Fun with family and friends.

We're so thankful to have had the boys from the south join us this year!
The kids really enjoyed spending time with their cousins, Tyler and Brennan, and they added a sweet touch to our memories this year!

We tried and tried to get a picture of all the cousins together - 

Where's Kole?

 Where's Mia?

 Here's one with all of them.  Just think...next time, there will be one more to join the group - Reagyn!

The night was full of food, family, friends, fun, and fireworks!

The next day we woke up to a traditional breakfast of mush at Grandma and Grandpa Curry's while the kids set off more smoke bombs.

We all ate lunch together at the bowling alley - Curry Party of 15 -

and then Kevin and I ended the day at Grady's Family Fun Park with the kids.

We've had a great weekend celebrating the Fourth and spending time with family we don't get to see near often enough.

"I thank god for my life
And for the stars and stripes
May freedom forever fly, let it ring.
Salute the ones who died
The ones that give their lives
So we don't have to sacrifice
All the things we love"

-Zac Brown Band

Welcome, Sweet Summertime

The start of our summer 2014

(lake of the ozarks

grandma and grandpa allen's lake house) -

FISHING 

mason loved it, makayla enjoyed it but was desperate to get the fish back in the water asap because they were babies and she didn't want their gills to dry up and have them pass away, and mia was cool with it from a distance.

SWIMMING 

swimming in ice cold water, playing in the sand, and looking for cool rocks.

BOATING 

i loved watching the kids get pure joy out of riding on the boat...especially when grandpa went fast!

TUBING

makayla was comfortable going tubing with grandpa...and mason was brave enough to go all by himself.  it brought lots of laughter to see his little body bobbing up and down in the tube as he hit the waves all by himself!

FEEDING FISH

the kids love feeding the huge carp that hang out by the restaurants.

SETTING CATERPILLARS FREE

makayla found a caterpillar and decided to keep it as a pet for the morning.  he had to go on the boat with us, we had to take food out to him on the boat to eat while we were at breakfast, and we had to keep him sheltered with towels and shoes while we were going fast on the boat so he wouldn't blow away.  makayla said she could tell by the way his eyes looked that he was just born.

...just imagine the sadness and tears that seeped from her when we told her that she couldn't take him home because he needed to stay at the lake with his family and friends...

WATCHING FIREWORKS OVER THE LAKE 

picking a spot high on a hill, over the lake, and above the city lights, we enjoyed 8 minutes of fireworks at dusk.

BEING A "GUY" 

funny how proud daddy and grandpa get when mason pees off of the deck.

RELAXING 

fun in the sun wore my babies out.

ENJOYING COOL DRINKS 

nothing better than refreshing drinks under the sun.  

kiddie drinks and grown-up drinks...

BEING HAPPY 

WATCHING SUNSETS 

life is good

 MAKING MEMORIES 

looking forward to many more summer trips with the kids to the ozarks throughout the years...

LOVING LIFE

our "normal"

Here's to celebrating summer - sun drenched days and starlit nights!

-Gooseberry Patch

P.S. 

WATERMELON
what's summertime without watermelon?!
mia enjoying a slice of watermelon at grandma and grandpa curry's house and can't "CHEESE" big enough or loud enough!