Something amazing... and my Southern friends.

This has been Hunter's go-to statement these days. And I thought it described Braden's board-breaking pretty well!

I was going to say my redneck friends in the title... but I didn't think that would be appropriate when referring to a former POTUS. I did have the chance to meet and chat with President Clinton when I attended the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting this year. I actually got to attend a ceremony at the White House when he was in office when I was an AmeriCorps member, so not my first interaction. He's definitely an engaging guy and has aged very well. I think it's the cleaner living he adopted as he got older... I'm referring to his move to being a vegan, of course. :)

And Anthony and I are late adopters of Duck Dynasty... but we both think it is hilarious. I literally have laughed so hard that I cry during some of the episodes. Gotta love laughter! 

Water, water everywhere!

  The neighbor's who live just behind us are great. They have 4 kids - Ben being the oldest who is going to be a senior and Caroline being the youngest and going into 5th grade. The boys love any interaction with them. Saturday they invited us over the wall to use their water slide! 

Started off feet first. 

It didn't take long for Hunter to move to head-first. And Braden moved on to playing swords with Ben and Ryan. 

We sat in the driveway and watched a big storm head our way. Unfortunately this storm seemed to split us and we didn't get any rain from it. Just a great lightning show!

Braden went inside to get something and came out in this "stormwatcher" outfit. 

He's a pirate day and night.

We had a little rain one night on the way to karate. 

And when we got home from church today we had a torrential downpour!  

We own one umbrella... they've now taken off their shirts. This rain was no joke! Daddy just went with it.

We literally had a flood in our backyard. They were pretty much done with it by this point.

Crazy! 

More crazy! 

On other notes... the kids' karate class is a family class, so Anthony got in on the action last week. 

And Braden went to science camp last week at the Science Center with his friend Angel. As you can see, they were excited to get there!

Each day there was a theme and Friday was dress like a pirate day. So Braden fully embraced that. He loved science camp and asked if he could go for 100 days!

Lately

It's already the middle of July. We're waiting and hoping for monsoons, but they've been staying on the edges of the city. We complain about the humidity, but then are reminded that 20% humidity is not something we should complain about. Mid-summer in Phoenix... I don't actually mind!

We went to Postino's to celebrate Daddy's birthday! Yep, eating outside on July 5th! 

Then we headed to the Diamondbacks game. 

They had an awesome fireworks show after the game.  

Our gym has started a "dive-in" movie night and the first showing was The Incredible's. The kids thought it was pretty incredible. :) This weekend is Despicable Me, so they are right on with the Harmon family favorites. We also saw Despicable Me 2 on the 4th. The boys got "minnicans"(aka - minions) in their happy meal. It's one of the first toys they actually like.  

We went downtown to honor the firefighters who lost their lives fighting the Yarnell Hill fire. Such an awful tragedy and it hit even closer to home as one of the 19 was our dear friend Tammy's cousin's son. So much support has been poured on these families, which is wonderful, we just pray that it continues for the long-term. 

Hunter loves to get the camera and I find pictures that he's taken. This one was quite impressive! These bears are his favorite companion. The other day we were leaving to go somewhere and we try to encourage him to leave them home. He held his bear, walked past me and said, "I'm taking bear with me cause I wove (aka- love) him." 

We got our pumpkins planted for the fall! 

Karate

It's official... the boys started karate. And they even got official karate suits the first night of class.

 It's fun that they can take class together.

Hunter's a little behind, but good form on his bow. 

Will they make it beyond a white belt?? 

Practicing the punches!

Chicago!

I had my annual trip to Chicago to attend the Clinton Global Initiative America meeting. Last year my Mom met me and we thought it would be fun for Braden to come along. So this year he made the trip with me and we met both Mimi and Poppa! 

Braden did some Legos at 30,000 feet on the way. He's such an easy travel mate... I'll take him with me anytime. The lady next to us actually said when we landed that he was the best behaved kid she'd ever seen on a flight. Proud Mama!

I had meetings all day Thursday and Friday, so Braden hit the town with Mimi and Poppa. And they pretty much saw it all!

Good bonding time for Braden and Poppa.

Friday night I got to join in the fun on the trolley.  

We found a fun Lego store. 

Gotta love Woody made out of Legos! 

And Braden waited for me to do the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier! 

Chas and JJ decided to take a pass on this one... But Braden and I enjoyed the ride! 

This sign was pretty appropriate given my Dad, Chuck, is a Blackhawks fan. He enjoyed being there during the Stanley Cup and I enjoyed hearing the story about him listening to the Blackhawks on his transistor radio when he was growing up on the farm.  

Saturday was time for more site-seeing, which of course included a stop at the Bean at Millennial Park. 

Braden was the only one who enjoyed the rain! 

And we met a super cool Chicago fireman who was waiting with his truck on Michigan Avenue. He let Braden get in and check it all out. First a Phoenix truck and now Chicago!

I loved having my favorite 5 year old with me on the trip and he loved Chicago.