KC Cousins

My cousin Josie called last month to tell me her husband had a recruiting trip planned to Springfield in June. She wondered if she and the kiddos might tag along for a day with Charlie - we said, come on down.

Charlie and Luca always have the best time together and of course sweet Antonella is coming into her own now as well. So fun to see them grow.... too quickly for my liking of course. We spent the afternoon in the front yard on the slip and slide.

So thankful for Charlie's second cousins and that my family is a family that makes such an effort to keep cousins close. At the end of the day these three will be sweet friends forever - with more on the way!! Such fun!

BBQ

We have done lots of BBQing with friends this summer. 
This crew is not shy and they always end up having so much fun.

Soccer Party.

Charlie so enjoyed his spring soccer season with his friends.
He constantly asked if we could have them over to play so it made since to offer to host the end of the year party at our house.

In my head ... I pictured the perfect summer evening, men on the grill, ladies sipping drinks and kids frolicking in the yard. My picture perfect evening was anything but. We were hit with some serious rain and lots of high winds.

Didn't get to snap too many pics because I was running around trying to make the best of the situation. The boys moved to the garage to grill and the kids spread out on quilts on the front porch and kept themselves busy upstairs in the toy room - you can only imagine what that looked like at the end of the night. 

It ended up being so much fun, just not the most ideal situation I had pictured. Thankful for this group and the mom's that helped me pull off a semi successful soccer party that night.

This is the view of the river like situation we had streaming in front of our house that night. So bummed the kids couldn't use the slip and slide and play in the yard! Of course Charlie asked - but because of all our trees and the lightning we felt like it would NOT be safe!

Coach David presented the boys with their medals. My son of course by this time was in full Incredibles uniform. Congratulations Dash on a wonderful soccer season!
 

Such a sweet group of boys. So thankful for the new friendships that were made this year during Charlie's first soccer season!

Summertime... According to my i phone

Can hardly believe next Thursday is the 4th of July... 

Summer is passing to quickly for my liking. 

Here's an i phone recap.

I am LOVING this recipe I found on the inside of the spinach box from SAMS club. Try it.. you wont be disappointed! 

Here's how I "enhanced" the dish.

I used 1.5 cups of orzo and the juice and zest from one whole lemon and maybe twice the dill.

I added the goat cheese once I plated the dish as well - so it didn't get soggy for leftovers.

I think it is best served a little warmer than room temp.

We had a visit from our Jessica and celebrated with our first of many pizzas on the Big Green Egg.

We use the Pioneer Woman crust recipe. It's heavenly.

Lots of outdoor activities.

Lots of patio time. More on the yard progress soon!

This dining set was my mother's day gift.

I've been enjoying early morning walks

with sweet friends on the golf course too!

We made a trip to the river for Memorial Day weekend - My parents scooped Charlie up early and surprised him with his very own kayak. He was thrilled. We joined them on Saturday morning and soaked up some serious sun and fun.

Came across this old pic of my Armstrong side of the fam while at the river. My mom has all our old albums there. This photo was taken at Sammy Lane - an old fishing camp that was torn down so the Branson Landing could be built - huge mistake! This picture captures the essence of summer time for me. So many wonderful memories with this group!

Family Visits

Sorry... I'm lagging behind I know... This busy life gets the best of me at times!

The middle of May we had a visit from our sweet Northern side of the family. Josh's mother, Joe, Sister Monica and her fiance Bart drove/flew in for a weekend and we packed in some fun!

Started off with a few large boxes of Josh's old toys and sport memorabilia.
We are talking hours of entertainment for Charlie! Old batting helmets, lego's, train sets - you name it, Nana brought it!

It was a BEAUTIFUL weather weekend and we took full advantage. Ate all our meals outside and enjoyed that patio and yard we have put so much love into this year!

Saturday morning was Charlie's final spring soccer game!

We have so enjoyed watching this one run around like a chicken with his head cut off this spring! Happy to report he did score TWO goals ... for the opposing team! Oh Well, maybe we will catch on in the fall. We loved our team and had a fun doing whatever it was we did on the field every Saturday morning.

Glad the rest of our family was able to witness the mayhem!

Had to make a trip to Bass Pro... because that's just where you take your out of town visitors when they come to Springfield!

And then to Sunshine Valley Farm for lunch. So Delicious.

Josh and Joe tackled a few projects at home and the rest of us enjoyed a quiet afternoon in the yard.

Saturday night consisted of more grilling and more visiting!
Said our goodbyes on Sunday and sent our visitors back home... Thankful for the effort it takes to make the trip - anxious to see them again in July when we will celebrate Monica and Bart's engagement with a fun Par-Tay!