Full Moon Midnight 50K

So last Friday night, Chris decided Saturday night he was going to run a 50k and we would go camping. The race was in Arkansas at Lake Silvia, it's about 3 hours a way. We headed down Saturday mid-morning to set up camp.  Considering it was very last minute, we made it with about 90% of what we needed!

I added a few MUST on our camping list:

air mattress

picnic table cloth

string for a clothes line

pocket knife

a battery powered fan

The race started at 8:00pm. Chris got a PR for his 50k...6:05(official time).

We woke up early the next morning to let the boys fish, swim and hike. They loved camping. We can't wait to take them on a longer trip.

That's all we caught...but he was so proud!

family date...@ the lAUndRy mat

SO...our dryer is broken. The man came to fix it Wednesday, stayed 3 minutes, then told me he's have to order the part and it will be 11/2 weeks before he can fix it. WHAT...perhaps you did not see my massive laundry pile.

SO...we headed to the laundro-MAT to do some laundry...A LOT of laundry:

2 big baskets

3 small baskets

and

that giant cooler 

it took 5 washers...to say we were behind is an understatement...OOPS

thats what you get when you go out of town last minute and come home to a broken dryer

hiliarious...they loved it

only took 4 GIGANTIC dryers

ENTERTAINMENT...our jar of money

4th finally

We celebrated a very HOT 4th of July with our normal routine...

A BIKE RIDE

PARADE

FIRETRUCK WATER PLAY

with the cutest girl ever

AFTER PARADE SNACKS AND SOME RED ROVER

BIG WATER SLIDE...didn't get a photo

SPARKLERS

AND FIREWORKS!!!

a little late to Instagram

I am ALWAYS late to any technology trends...like instagram. I added it to my phone a few months ago but never used it. Last week I was bored so I decided to play around with it...it's really fun! I guess I like changing the finishes of my photos. 

Yeah for flowers surviving the heat.

Love watching Chris read to the boys.

It's straight outside when the boys wake up...this reduces the mommy's craziness!

Beating the heat with board games.

Oh Monopoly...my sister made me play for DAYS at a time when we were younger.  Tanner has the same OBSESSION with the game. 

Another year to try watermelon...still don't like it:(

Funny mustache straws from Aunt Katie. 

Oh my messy baking partner...it's a love hate baking relationship for Sam and I.

Tanner has been a READING MACHINE...motivated of course by my "summer reading program".  I put stickers on his books according to points...it has been great. He is so much more motivated to read the harder ones. We have done it just a few weeks and I've seen SO much improvement. 

dairy-free blueberry lemon cupcakes

lemon blueberry cupcakes 

changes I made are in bluemakes 24-28 cupcakes
ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour...1/2 King Arthur's whole wheat
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter...3 tbs coconut oil
2 cups sugar...1 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup agave 
4 large eggs, room temperature
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (about 3 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk...1 cup vanilla almond milk
2 cups fresh blueberries plus more for garnish
icing:
1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz cream cheese, softened
4-5 cups of powdered sugar
zext of one lemon
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

Lemon glaze: I made a glaze instead of icing. I used about a cup of powdered sugar plus juice from 3 fresh lemons. It was really yummy:)

Here is the link for the original recipe.

http://www.the-baker-chick.com/2012/06/lemon-blueberry-cupcakes.html

I have been experimenting with dairy free baking lately. I have pretty much mastered some edible breakfast, lunch and dinners. It has taken almost a year seeing as most of my recipes had some form of dairy. I have learned which almond, dairy free and soy products are edible and which are not. Tanner misses out on so many "treats" because they have dairy so I always try to send things for him. 

adult time

A big thank you to our sweet friends Joe and Tracy who graciously opened up their lake house to us last weekend. I can't remember the last time I had so much uninteruppted conversation...heaven. They take the best care of us when we come...Joe cooks and drives and Tracy cleans up before we can even offer to help. Thanks too to Kenny and Wilson who kept us laughing the whole weekend.

chalk paint

We are desperately trying to beat the summer heat around here...I'm sure you are too! In my effort to keep the TV off (most of the time) and the technology out of reach, I gathered the goodies for a few fun activities.  A friend posted this easy sidewalk chalk recipe a few weeks ago so I thought we'd try it out.

SIDEWALK CHALK

Equal parts water and cornstarch

a few drops of food coloring

The boys mixed their own concoctions so our were not perfect.

The colors they created.

In true boy fashion, the artwork quickly turned to a racetrack. What can I say it entertained them longer...woo-hoo!