Last Days of Summer

 Sunday afternoon we had a nice relaxing day/evening at home.  

 If there's one thing I know I can get Little Man to eat, it's fruit. Pretty much any kind.

  Watermelon & peaches happen to be his favorite right now, but we go through them all.

  He's gotten pretty picky lately about wanting to only eat with a fork. And while it is possible to eat watermelon with a fork, taking big bites out of a slice of juicy watermelon is so much better.

 However, when Little Man does it, it quickly turns messy, so we usually partake outside.

 And, at least for this biased mom, there's not much cuter than a juicy, watermelon face...especially when accompanied by a big belly! :)

 Oh wait...add in the swing. That just doubles the relaxed feeling.

 Now if this isn't just spoiled rotten...I'm not sure what is!

 And since we were outside, we just rinsed off in the pool. (This picture was taken either for blackmail when he's a teenager, or for his high school graduation!)

 This smile just melts my heart. 

 Ball (bah)...that's what he's saying in this pic.

 He's fascinated with balls. He loves them in all shapes & sizes. 

 It's amazing what grandkids can convince their grandparents to do. 

 And we tried to teach Little Man how to drink from the water hose. 

 He was pretty successful, except he would lower the hose without realizing it and end up bending almost all the way to the ground.

 It was definitely our definition of a fun, relaxing summer afternoon. 

Feeding the Ducks....Again!

** Because I'm always curious who/if any reads the blog, would you leave a comment in the comment section letting me know you stopped by. Thanks! It'll make writing to the great unknown a little more personable. **

Micah's parents were in town, so we took them to feed the ducks. We went to our usual spot, and the ducks weren't interested in our bread at all. Little Man was a little disappointed when none of the ducks went chasing his bread. So, we drove across the street to another lake with  new ducks. They were more than eager to eat our old bread. Little Man has been a little under the weather with a double ear infection & cold, but that didn't keep him from throwing bread at the ducks. 

 Below he is shocked because one of the ducks tried to snatch bread from his hand and snapped at his fingers. He was not happy!

As always, we had a great time with the ducks. I think it might be one of our favorite activities from our Summer List.

Galveston Day Trip

** Warning: Picture Overload! **

Micah's parents came in this weekend, so Saturday we decided to head down to Galveston for the day. We started at Moody Gardens, stopped at the beach to let Little Man experience the water for the first time, then headed to the strand to have dinner and shop a little before we left. Below, you can enjoy parts of our day through pictures. 

Looking at some of the fish at the Aquarium

 Trying to grab the octopus through the glass. 

 I think this was the penguin aquarium

 He enjoyed watching the turtle swim around

 And of course he LOVED splashing in the water. 

 Daddy & Little Man in the shark tank

 Walking up to the boat

 When we got on the boat, Little Man (and the rest of us) were ready for a snack

 Enjoying the boat ride

 It was so hot...Little Man was eating all of Daddy's ice

 Family picture on the boat

 Grandma, Grandpops & Little Man

 A bird feeding in the rainforest pyramid

 After a small nap, Little Man woke up and was ready to explore. I didn't get any pics, but he loved the butterfly exhibit. 

 Looking at the animals

 Grandpops bought Little Man some big, chocolate covered pretzels. I think he LOVED it. Once he sucked off the chocolate, he threw the pretzel at his daddy. 

 And he really loved the beach. I took him with me last year on a ladies retreat in Galveston, but he was 3 months old and only saw the beach when we walked on it a few minutes. This time he loved playing in the water. 

 He would sit and wait for the waves to come up,

 Then laugh and splash when they reached him.

 He had no fear of the water. 

 Had we let him, he would have run straight out into the ocean. We had to chase him more than once. 

I didn't take any pictures of dinner and the strand. We weren't there for long. But we had a great day in Galveston!

DIY Dishwashing & Laundry Detergent {If I can do it, you can too!}

I've turned into one of those girls...the kind that will try anything to save a few bucks. These days, a few bucks goes a long ways. I've seen several "recipes" for DIY cleaners on Pinterest. Everything from carpet cleaners, to shower cleaners, to laundry detergent and more. I never really thought much about it until I was reading one of the blogs I frequent, Liz Marie Blog. Her post, here showed how she had made dishwashing detergent. At about $10, I couldn't resist trying it myself. Below are the few ingredients it took.

Ingredients: (My prices are estimates, as I can't find my receipt)

Borax: $4

Super Washing Soda: $3

Lemi-Shine: $4

Salt: $1(only use 1 cup)

All you do is dump all the ingredients in a container, and mix them. Her post said that she uses about 1 tablespoon per load. I'm in the middle of trying my first load now, so I'll let you know how it goes. 

 If it works out, we could be saving money on dishwashing detergent. Below is how much it made. I filled up my glass container, plus I had about a half of a gallon bag left over. I think this is going to go a long way. 

While reading about her dishwashing detergent, I decided to check out her laundry detergent here as well. It also looked simple enough, so I figured I'd try it. 

 Above are the Ingredients: (again, prices are estimates)

Borax: $4

Super Washing Soda: $3

Oxi Clean: $7

Fels-Naptha Soap (3 bars): $3

4lb box Baking Soda: $4

This one took a little more time in that I had to grate each bar of soap, but overall it was super easy. Again, just mix all the ingredients. She says it makes 4 gallons; I didn't measure, but it filled a big bucket. What you see in the jar (which is also bigger than it appears) is not all of it. And I believe she said she uses about 3 tablespoons. I'm really excited to see if I like how it works. All the reviews I read on her blog were great, and it appears that everyone loves it. I'll let you know how both work out after I've used them a few times. 

Crazy Sleeper

My brother came into town last weekend, and he stopped by the house to see Kaden. I had just put him down for a nap. Ryan walked into Little Man's room to see him, and this is how we found him. 

 I'm not sure how that was comfortable, but he was sound asleep. I took some pics, but I couldn't leave him like that cause I was scared he would roll over and hurt his leg. 

 Although, after I started thinking about it, this probably isn't the first time it's happened....just the first time I've seen it. I love how Little Man sleeps. 

Little Man Reads

I can always tell, even from the other room, when little man is "reading" a book. The tone in his voice changes. He loves books, and he'll sit and "read" by himself for a while. I've tried to get him on video, but he usually sees me and stops. I took this on my phone, so excuse the quality. I know I'm biased, but I could sit and listen to him "read" all day!