heat wave

it's been a scorcher lately. true summer weather. and we've done lots to stave off the heat, both inside and out. visit to the zoo. several trips to the pool. tot splash at our local sprinkler park. the beach. and lots and lots of popsicles.

we start with a recent trip to the zoo with several of my college sorority friends and their kids. kellie and anna also joined us. we enjoyed our walk to see all the animals, our picnic lunch and our catching up.

harper, brendan and abby. lucky little man : )

my favorite exhibit is the polar bear and seals. even if they don't show their faces. i love being in the blue tunnel, surrounded by water.

of course, little c slept through a lot of the zoo.

our beauty of a friend, anna

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on wednesday, we joined heather and the boys, along with a few friends of theirs, to relax at the beach where my cousins and i grew up. kellie and anna joined us again, too. we enjoyed the day, swimming and splashing in the warm lake, and escaping the water, heat and sun to enjoy lunch on the deck and popsicles on blankets in the shade of the trees.

oh, and will you look at that, she's sleeping again.

this one is becoming a little fish. she's finding more of her inner gills with every swim.

crosby is starting to eye every food we consume. especially when it's in her sister's hands. and she's on the move even more now. rolling front to back and back to front. turning around little by little. she'll be fully mobile before we know it. and then i think harper's in for a rude awakening. she's already been possessive of her toys, unwilling to share even the reading of a story.

i adore this next photo of the girls. they've both just turned 3, sharing july birthdays and a zodiac sign. they've known each other all their lives and their mamas are great friends. i hope someday they both have this photo, turned up at the corners and aged, stuck in the corner of their dresser mirror. i hope they look at it and smile, thinking back at their younger years and how long they've been friends and just how much they've enjoyed together.

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we are zoku-razy. trying all the ones in the book. we have our favorites, and we have ones that we will make changes to the next time we whip 'em up. but we have yet to find ones that we don't like, well, maybe the summer morning ones. and of course, i go by my palate as well as my exclusive taste-testers.

mint chip "whoa, mint." it was overpowering. needs more chocolate to tone it down. none of these 3 finished theirs.

cookies and cream "awesome"

cherries and cream "delicious"

muddied buddies

lots of posts to come...catching up.

let's start by getting down and dirty. july 10th brought 2 guys to their knees in the mud, literally. michael and chad participated in the muddy buddy ride and race series event, and harper and i went and watched the end, which was in fact the best part. they crossed the line, admitting how brutal those 6 miles of alternating running and bike riding, with 5 obstacles thrown in here and there for good measure, but vowing that they'll be back next year.

here they are climbing the 20-foot wall, the final obstacle. notice they're still clean. a bit sweaty, but clean green shirts.

and here they are entering the mud pit...

in the middle of the mud pit...

and exiting the mud pit. not so clean anymore.

racing to the finish line, michael told me later he couldn't see anything but mud.

so accomplished.

and so proud.

these boys took a beating, and they're still smiling.

and then they stood in line to get "showered..."

i.e. hosed off by the ladies.

this is the closest harper would get to michael. when i pointed out that they were entering the mud pit, she was crying that she didn't want daddy to get dirty.

i'm very proud of these 2. way to go, team slowskis.

honeydew

what to do when you are going on vacation and have fresh fruit sitting around that you don't want to go to waste? make smoothies and popsicles, of course!

honeydew smoothie from my new martha stewart smoothie app for the ipad...honeydew melon, yogurt, honey and ice. cool, refreshing and delicious.

summer morning zoku popsicles...honeydew melon, lime juice, fresh basil leaves, water & sugar

my taste tester, griffin.

his review: cold, sour and tastes like a plant.

i thought it was also cool and refreshing, but the extra bit of sugar that was suggested to be sprinkled on the outside did help cut down on the sourness and basil taste that you don't expect in a popsicle. it was a good break for the heat of today.

gotta run to work on our honey-do list to get ready for vacation. post next week with photos from our days at the beach. happy fourth!

pistachio

"A baby will make love stronger, days longer, nights shorter, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.”

Author unknown

our little pistachio. i've been asked recently how we came upon this nickname. when harper was born, the first thing i called her was peanut, because she was so little. when crosby was born i called her firecracker, because of how restless she was in utero. but she was even smaller than harper, so when my sister-in-law met her for the first time, she gave her the nickname pistachio, since peanut was taken. and so it stuck, and here she is.

i took the following photos back in april. i wanted to capture the little things about a newborn that i would soon forget and definitely miss.

the curled toes and fingers. the froggy legs.

the constant sneezing from labor.

the archer's stance.

the first almost smiles.

the grasp reflex when you so gently lay your finger into her hand.

and then she turned two months.

the 2 at crosby's 2 month checkup, both looking oh so pleased as punch.

and then she went and turned 3 months.

i love this true to life moment. can't wait to remember the sweetness of it as they get older and really do mean to knock each other out.

crosby's lovey is an owl...

which harper thinks is hers.

along with a doll gifted to us from a friend, which is stitched on the front clearly with crosby. harper still thinks it's hers, too.

my mom found a photo of me as a baby at 2-and-a-half months old with my i'm the little sister shirt and a blue blanket. being the sentimental type, she held onto both items. and brought them over the minute she found the photo and thought she was looking at crosby.

can you see the similarity??

she's a changing. and quickly. she's starting to make the move to roll over. she's chit chatting away whenever she gets eye contact. she "sings" along with us to any tune we croon for her. she is sleeping longer stretches at night. she can put her animal pacifier into her mouth. she is starting to giggle.

i never knew that you could love a second child as much as you do your first, but my heart has only doubled with love for both my girls and the amazing connection they have for each other.

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and speaking of pistachio, we recently made it in popsicle form using our zoku. i stand corrected on coconut macaroon being my favorite. this one by far takes the cake. yum, yum, extra yum.