Sunday & Monday

I was super tired yesterday--Sunday after all the fun from Thursday through Saturday! But, as per Sunday tradition, the day didn't let me down at all. I went to church and then came home and made a pizza. On a spur-of-the-moment we went to the pool and just laid in the sun (and clouds) and chatted the afternoon away. We didn't even get in the water, but it was just what I needed after a fun-filled weekend.

After the pool, we tried to stop at Road Ranger for a cherry limeade, but the fountain was broken. Talk about a let down! Instead, I had been itching to make some peach tea, so I tackled that. I boiled some water, 40 spearmint leaves, and 3 peaches, along with some sugar to make a peachy simple sugar. Then, I threw in 4 green tea bags and one mint melange tea bag from Trader Joe's. 

I'm not messing around, the final product is DELICIOUS. So, so good. And, luckily Katie found some $0.99 cherry limeade at the store and she picked one up for me. So, I shared her a mason jar of peach tea. Needless to say, my fridge is full of so many tasty drinks it's hard to choose!

Then, we had the last regular season softball game of the year. Right about the time I was starting to be somewhat useful! But, my socks are done, so I guess I am too. I'll miss wearing tall socks.

Pacino has been dragging the hull of the Teatanic all around. He is strange. At least I could find it today. Yesterday that wasn't the case.

Speaking of tea, this is the BEST tea. It has spearmint, peppermint and lemongrass. So tasty. And I've decided that summer doesn't mean I can't have hot tea. This stuff is gonna be awesome cold, though. I can't decide if I want to use the teabags for that...there are only 16 left!

Oh, Saturdays

Summer is coming to an end much too quickly. Luckily, I have lots to do and am making the most of what's left. This weekend has been exhausting, in a very fun way.

Hanging out at Greg & Diana's lake house all day. Life is always better on a boat.

They also humored me and let me attempt at water-skiing. After about 85 times (ok, 12) I finally made it up, only to hit some crazy wakes after about 12 seconds. 

Ended the night with a bonfire at Becki's. Makes me (almost) ready for Fall!

Even played a little guitar and sang around the fire. Fun for me, maybe not for everyone else! :)

Crafting

After we got back from T-Swift I decided to utilize my afternoon with some of the crafts I've been stocking up on.

(Don't worry, pictures from Swifty are in editing mode. Now you can look forward to tomorrow's post.)

I bought these crates, which I'm going to stack up and use as a shelf (hopefully). I was buying the supplies, and didn't really read the instructions. Well, turns out, the instructions say that spray painting doesn't work. Whoops. I did it anyway, and it looks like it covered pretty well. I'll have to scope them out tomorrow and see. 

Then, finished sorting the rest of the 140 pictures I ordered for scrapbook making. P was feeling sleeping...I had just used the calming spray because he was going nuts and walking over all the pictures. It didn't work for long.

See what I was saying? The paper and pictures might be a little crinkly. 

The first spread: Sugarland concert in Sioux City. Love it!

2nd page: movie night. I am still trying to hunt down my Titanic 3D ticket...I can't find it anywhere! Hopefully it turns up. That was all I got done for tonight. I forget how LONG it takes to make pages! No rush, I guess. This is going to turn into my year-long project, I have a feeling.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

...make lemonade!

Life handed me some lemons this weekend when we had extra from my grandma's birthday party. So, I mixed up all of my favorite things into a pitcher.

First, some big lemons.

Second, simple syrup and fresh mint.

Finally, since I have an infuser pitcher and some fresh berries, I added those too. I also left all the pulp in the lemonade since I have a special place in my heart for pulp.

And the overseer of the operation...he wasn't too fond of the lemon, so he watched from a distance.

Sunday & Monday Fundays

Lindsay got me this Teatanic. It's an infuser shaped like Titanic! Awesome!

Ate these two for lunch on Sunday. They are pretty yummy. Hoping more get ready!

A new family picture :)

Teatanic in action infusing fresh mint into my melon/citrus/mint tea. YUM!

Monday's should always involve Orange Leaf. We also went to lunch at Emil's, a movie, and did some craft shopping...I seem to be doing to much craft shopping lately, and not enough crafting!

Speaking of craft shopping, I went to Hobby Lobby while I was in Ames on Friday. I found 873 things that I wanted, but I settled for this sign and some scrapbooking stickers. I love, love this sign and it is a lovely addition to my bathroom. 

Happy Birthday Granny!

I headed back to Colo this weekend to celebrate my Granny's 70th birthday party. I also made some pit stops along the way at some of my favorite places.

First stop--Hickory Park. It had been probably almost a year since I'd been there. This is a LOT of food, and I ate every.single.bite. Yum!

Second stop, well, third, after my haircut--Starbucks for a raspberry/lemon twist cone. Yum^2.

Caught this sunset on my way. I don't get scenery like this much in Cedar Rapids.

Wind turbines at my parent's.

Final Friday night stop: Casey's pizza. So good.

A pre-party treat.

Desserts!

I (helped) made and ate a cream puff for the very first time. 

Mucho confetti. Sad I missed the flower in the picture--they were very pretty.

Dessert!

Not sure the name of this Renaud snack--crimp bread with cheese whiz and chips.

We threw away the 70 confetti after this party. Won't be needing it for awhile!

Granny and some of her brothers. This was take #439.

Me & Granny. This was only take #173.

Present! Moving into the year 2013 with a fancy wireless printer/copier. 

Lost Island Fun

On Wednesday we headed up to Lost Island, the water park in Waterloo. I had only been there once, so it was fun to go back. The weather ended up being pretty decent, though it was a bit chilly at times. We still had a super fun time.

We stopped at the World's Largest Frying Pan in Brandon on the way. However, it is no longer the world's largest--just Iowa's largest.

We ate cinnamon rolls in the car on the way. 

Lots of water park shots.

Have you met a cuter cat? I think not.

Played a lot of volleyball this week. It is quite hard on the feet.

This blister is from walking, however, not volleyball. It is quite painful. Should I pop it, or not? 

And a group shot from Lost Island. Love these girls!