The Busy Days of Summer

I cannot believe it will be July in just a few days! Where has June gone?! I guess days by the pool and a trip to Pebble Beach makes the days fly by!

Last weekend Paul & I volunteered Thursday thru Sunday at the US Open in Pebble Beach. I agreed to sign up because come on, Pebble Beach, but I wasn't sure what to expect since I am not a big golf fan. I have to say though, I am now officially a fan of golf. The US Open was so much fun and I got swept up in all the excitement! I really enjoyed myself and look forward to volunteering in two years at the US Open in San Francisco. I may even take a few golf lessons this summer. :)

I don't have a lot of photos from the event because no cameras were allowed inside but I do have one photo we had taken in the Lexus tent of us with the trophy, yes the actual trophy!

We had several friends also attending the US Open so we also had some fun nights out with them eating dinner and watching a band at one of the local bars. A lot of fun times with old and new friends.


This past week we spent time catching up with laundry and work. This weekend the temperatures finally got up there, we all knew it was coming. The kids are really enjoying all the time outside, especially the time in the pool!

As a belated father's day gift I took the kids to Color Me Mine to make him a coffee mug for work and a special plate. It was quite an experience let me tell you. What they enjoyed more though was the playground right outside the store. Oh well, Paul still got a very cute mug out of it!


I'm sure I will have lots more swimming pictures to come with this 100 degree weather upon us! We have fun plans of BBQ's and 4th of July celebrations coming up next weekend. With all these fun activities my kids have been sleeping great, as have I! Hope everyone is staying cool out there!

Chocolate Decadence

We all deserve a little splurge now and then, and for me my splurges usually involve something with chocolate. I got the idea off of some blogs I follow to make cookie brownies. There are several variations for this treat but I took the easy, not homemade, version yesterday. They still turned out absolutely delicious! These yummy treats are perfect for a summer time picnic or play date because they travel well.

First you want to mix a box of brownie mix (I used Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge) and pour it into a 9x9 or 9x11 baking dish. Then either make chocolate chip cookie dough or buy pre-made cookie dough and drop it into the brownies.

They will take about 40-50 minutes to bake depending on what size pan you use. I recommend some swimming while they bake.

After they finish baking let them cool about 20-30 minutes before cutting into them. Then enjoy with a big glass of milk! We all indulged but then I went for a nice run today!

Summer has arrived!

Since October of last year (when it became too cold to swim in our pool) Alex has been asking me when we can swim again. Although they have had a few quick dips, this Sunday they had a full fledged swim day. With the pool 80 degrees and some fun new pool toys, it was a recipe for a fun summer day.





Yes, I was in the pool but no photos of me with the kids, that is the problem with always being the family photographer!

We did get some great family pics though, with all of us, this weekend by my friend Megan up in Sacramento. I encourage you to check out her blog, Click here. I am so happy with the way our photos turned out!!

While we were up in Sacramento we also all had a great time at a garden party my mom threw for us. It was a great time to catch up with old friends that I hadn't seen in ages. The kids had so much fun, especially Alex with his new friend Alexandria, the daughter of my friend Danielle. The two had so much fun romping through my mom's bushes and trees being 'explorer's.'

We were all so exhausted by the end of Saturday between the party and family photos, another great weekend away. However we are badly in need of some down time at home after all this running around! I'm looking forward to some more swim days and lounging around the pool this coming weekend!