High Five for Friday (8.7.15)

1. Now that we've returned from our month-long visit to Wisconsin, our primary goals are 1) catching up with friends, 2) fitting in as much summer fun as possible, and 3) preparing for the new school year. We have accomplished - and continue to accomplish - goals #1 and #2, but other than purchasing our school supplies, the kids and I find ourselves miles away from tackling goal #3. At least we still have 17 days left of summer vacation!

2. I feel so lucky to have found "my people" - good friends, who support and love me and my family when we need it (flashback to Will's bout with pneumonia earlier this summer) - here in College Station. I've said it before but I'll say it again…my village is vast and my heart is full.

In addition to being there for all of the deep stuff, my friends make life fun too...sometimes they show up with embroidered, personalized baseball-style caps for all of the grown-ups and cozy, personalized blankets for all of the little girls.

That hat is the first I've ever owned in which I don't look completely ridiculous. I plan to wear it A LOT.

3. After multiple years of fear in and around the water, Hallie has finally become a confident enough swimmer to truly enjoy herself at the pool and in the lake. I still keep a close eye on her of course, but she now swims wherever she wants in the pool, without a lifejacket and without panicking, and keeps up with her friends. It would have been a shame for her to miss out on all this fun! (And Texas is an awfully hot place to sit out of the pool…)

I think Will jumped the gun...

4. We discovered only after all taking and looking up close at all of these pictures that Hallie makes the best faces while she plays baseball. Her visible determination and commitment are kind of adorable…but they have no impact on how well she hits - or doesn't hit - the ball. I don't think baseball is Hallie's sport...

5. Happiness Highlights:

Popsicles with great friends on a HOT August night.

I like this pic because at the exact moment I took it, Will's popsicle
fell off the stick and landed in his lap. He ate it anyway.

As good luck would have it, Will is not (yet) severely allergic to
Texas' vicious red wasps. He was stung by his eye, but thanks to
our friend Isaac's mother's quick response (she removed the stinger
and coated the skin with garlic to lessen the inflammation before
the rest of us grown-ups had even figured out what was going on),
the swelling was considerably less than I would have expected.

His first real training callus. He was THRILLED. 

Tough boys and their lollipops.

Happy Friday, friends!

Linking up with High Five for Friday!