Lately....

In the land of randomness, we have been quite busy lately.  

Check it out...

I have a future painter on my hands.  

This girls LOVES to paint. 

 She couldn't have been more excited and more happy to help paint her bathroom.

Ryan got in on the action and helped patch holes and hang the lights...

While I'd love to reveal what the new bathroom looks like, I put the cart before the horse.  I decided to paint the bathroom before I picked out a shower curtain or a new mirror.  So we are currently awaiting those things... more to come once I find what I like! Might be a while.  Ugh!

*****

One of Quinn's teachers gave her, along with her 200 teammates, one dollar each.  His assignment for the dollar was simple.... pay it forward and make a difference.  Quinn and her friend Maddie decided to pool their money together (along with a little of their own money) and buy treats for the dogs at the humane society.

*****

Doing a few arts and crafts this weekend, when the temperature was way too hot and humid to enjoy time outside. If I had it my way, we would say good bye to the summer heat and bring on the cool, fall weather!

*****

Sullivan was awarded a "dedicated gymnast" trophy this week for her 2+ year anniversary at the gymnastics studio.

Never mind the sweatiness and red checks all over Sullivan.  

When she's doing gymnastics, she is all in! 

*****

And finally, sometimes when something is SO good, it deserves to be eaten right out of the carton!

Phooey with the bowl!

Pitch In...

Ryan's friend from work recently gathered all his friends for the 2nd annual pig roast. They supplied the pig and everyone else "pitched in."  In South Dakota it's a potluck, in Indiana it's a pitch in.  Potato, patahto.  

One of Ryan's co-workers is in a band, so they supplied the entertainment.  

It was a wonderful (yet HOT) evening mingling with friends and co-workers. It was so hot that Sullivan had to take a dip in the resevoir.  

With LOTS of coaxing, Quinn joined in, although no pictures were taken.

A great time had by all!

Fort Fun with Friends...

Last weekend, Sullivan and Quinn spent the night with the neighbors.  

While Jack and Quinn had fun playing Fort Night together on the big projector screen....

Carly and Sullivan had fun vegging out in the fort they built together...

No hiding it, they had fun with their forts!

It's All Fair...

It is that time of the year again....

After some deliberation about whether to go this year or not, we decided that we just couldn't not go.  There was some food calling our names, some rabbits that needed visiting, and some sights to see. 

Somewhat surprising, the girls really did not want to ride any rides this year.  They did want to ride the sky tram that took them from one side of the fair and back, but that's it.

They did however want to play a few of the carnival games.  They first went to the water squirting game, and while the race was SUPER close, they were not winners. Bummer!

After walking around some, that water squirting game was just nagging at both Quinn and Sullivan.  They just had to give it one more try, because why not.  They agreed that if either of them won, they would share the prize.  That said, Sullivan came up victorious and together they picked out a stuffed goat. 

The only other carnival game that we played was the Skeetball, where on the very first game, Quinn came up a winner!  That meant that they each won a stuffed animal...and you would have thought they won the world.  Proud as peacock, and rightfully so!

The theme of the fair this year was the circus, which was right up the girls' alley since they are obsessed with the movie The Greatest Showman lately.  They had displays of circus memorabilia, like this cart that came from the Barnum and Bailey circus. 

The sign said it took a group of over 50 horses to pull the cart... isn't that crazy to think about?!

The girls even shot themselves out of a cannon.  Ha, ha!

And finally what is a fair without the food?!? We are suckers for some fried deliciousness! 

Oreos, Reese's, Milky Ways, and Chocolate Chip Cookie dough.  Yum!!!

The fair was a good time had by all... the girls are already waiting in anticipation for next year so that they can win a few more prizes! 

Grenada... The Final Installment

One last installment of random Grenada pictures...

This is the small village that we traveled through every day on the way to our house.  The picture doesn't do it justice, as there was usually quite a few people hanging out in the streets.  That said, it was quite a humbling experience.  Most of the houses didn't have running water so you would see children bathing in the street and people washing clothes at the community water station at the bottom of the hill. 

Fun fact about Grenada... because it is one of the most southern locations in the Lesser Antilles, and as such, historically less prone to hurricane activity, it is a very desirable spot to dock your boat during the summer hurricane season.  

One evening we went to a restaurant at a marina somewhat near our house.  To get to the marina, you have to pass through the boat yard full on boats that are docked.  This picture doesn't even really show the magnitude and size of these huge boats or just how cool it was to weave in between the boats to get to the restaurant.  

A picture from our table at the marina... just breath taking views.  

On our last day in Grenada, we decided to partake in what has become tradition.  We searched out the local fish market so that we (and when I say we, I really mean Scott) could grill it up for an amazing meal back at the house. 

Another fun fact about Grenada... there is no such thing as a sidewalk. The sidewalk is the road that you share with every car, van, or vehicle.  It's quite intimidating to have cars whip past you as you are walking down the street.

The road is barely big enough for two cars, let alone people too.

Inside the fish market, this women is fileting our fish for us...

Enjoying our amazing meal on the last night in Grenada...

We had such an incredible time in Grenada.  Not only did we truly enjoy the excursions we went on and the people that we met, but the best part was the company that we kept.  We value our friendship with Scott and Abatha more than words can express.  It takes an incredible set of friends to be able to spend 7 non-stop days and nights together and not run out of things to talk about or get sick of one another.  

We enjoyed each other so much that our vacation didn't end in Grenada.  We decided to spend a couple nights in Miami where we enjoyed a nice meal on South Beach and took in a Marlins baseball game.

Thanks for the amazing memories, Scott and Ab!  

I can't wait to see where we end up in 2020.  

Grenada... Part 2

As another great Grenadian adventure, the four of us chartered a catamaran to enjoy the ocean and do some snorkeling.  We had the boat to ourselves, with the exception of the captain and crew that took us out.  This adventure was probably one of the highlights for me!

Ryan got to play captain of the boat for awhile while the real captain and crew put up the sails. 

We spent a great deal of time just soaking up the sun and relaxing on the boat.  Peaceful doesn't even describe it.

We also did a lot of snorkeling, but sadly no pictures to document that.  While we were sailing for over 7 hours, the time flew by and before we knew it, we were back at the dock.  

Great memories from this adventure and high expectations to live up to for our next vacation!

On another day, we traveled to the interior of Grenada to an area that has several waterfalls that are nestled in the middle of a rain forest. We arrived at the entrance of Seven Sisters waterfall and was immediately met by a young local who said he was going to be our tour guide.  We politely declined, informing him we were going to tackle this adventure on our own.  Wide eyed and confused, this local said that first timers should definitely have a guide.  So with some hesitation, we set off on our journey with Wayne!  

Turns out Wayne was such an asset on our journey as we had to cross streams and climb some small boulders to get to the hidden, off the beaten trail waterfall called Honeymoon Falls.  

We also hiked to another area where we found a couple more waterfalls.  We had a nice picnic lunch and then took a dip in the pond.

We finished our hike and headed back to the car where we were going to part ways with Wayne, or so we thought!  Wayne asked if he could hitch a ride with us to his local village. So without a real reason to say no, Wayne hopped in the car and off we went!

Great times, great times!  Lots of amazing sights we saw and memories we made!

One final round of pictures yet to come!