Rockstars make good builders!

I have no idea where these sunglasses jumped into our lives but Audrey absolutely loves them and refers to them as her "Rockstar Glasses." She has asked on at least one occasion if I would like to wear them play one of my shows. I'm certain that if I had taken her up on the offer I would be a multi-platinum artist by now.


The bulk of our summer this year has been all about the "sheds." We (not me) have two paid storage units that are a big ol' ball and chain and building some storage sheds to get us out of paying for this service has been high on the list of priorities. Time has been at a premium for what seems like an eternity, however, so this project is something that has sort of built itself up into epic proportions. Bill has been pretty clever in his masterminding of the space and money used and has opted for 5 smaller sheds rather than one big building in order to be able to better compartmentalize the contents as well as being able to build them himself versus hiring an expensive crew to handle a big building. Audrey LOVES to be able to go "help dad with the sheds." She likes to dress up special for it too!

When I can tear Audrey away from the shed project we have a long list of parks that we like to peruse. One of our favorite outings is to the park that is right next to the library. This one even has a fountain that Audrey has a love/hate relationship with so it makes it even more attractive in hot weather.
Having the library to spend more time in on rainy days helps too. Audrey is so hooked on books that it makes every single minute of our daily 30-60 minute reading time worth the investment. She truly has the vocabulary and speech skills of a child twice her age. It's likely her smarty little pants that have her so enamored with the possibility of being able to read rather than our indulgence in this ritual but we so enjoy sharing this time with her. It even makes her constant correction of our mistakes in her favorite books adorable.

It's was a really busy and fun summer all tolled. The days are getting shorter and the blankets thicker. The rocks are still mostly just where we stacked them around the new parking area - but I'm certain that any second now I'm just going to burst at the seams to get them done. In the meantime we're enjoying the new play-structure I built instead. Maybe we'll have the energy to take the air conditioners out of the upstairs windows soon...