Summer Reading: Spoiled

Here is the latest book is gobbled up on my Kindle. Spoiled is written by two of my favorites, the bloggers behind the hilariously snarky Go Fug Yourself. It is the perfect summer read, just begging to be taken poolside. Amazon describes the book as follows:  Sixteen-year-old Molly Dix has just discovered that her biological father is Brick Berlin, world-famous movie star and red-carpet regular. Intrigued (and a little terrified) by her Hollywood lineage, Molly moves to Los Angeles and plunges headfirst into the deep of Beverly Hills celebrity life. Just as Molly thinks her life couldn't get any stranger, she meets Brooke Berlin, her gorgeous, spoiled half sister, who welcomes Molly to la-la land with a smothering dose "sisterly love"...but in this town, nothing is ever what it seems. I say: Good characters, snappy plotlines, wit and sarcasm galore, and a drool-worthy cover. Sigh. I'm actually a little jealous. These girls are living my dream.

And speaking of, the more I read about the Fug Girls, the more I love them. In this article, they talk about their book and how it fits in the rise of YA popularity. And in this adorable interview, they get real about their jobs, families and each other. Heather, one half of the Girls, is a mom AND has curly hair just like me (we are obviously meant to be soul mates) and has a side gig writing insightful pieces on parenting her two twin toddlers, and I have been going a little stalker on her lately. I'll try to rein it in so you guys don't get concerned for my health or her safety.

Anyway, go get the book and judge for yourself.

Watermelon

Anyone want some wah-duh-melon?

DIY Kitchen

So I was stumbling around on my pal Natalie's blog, Natty Michelle, and came across the most adorable DIY kid's kitchen!

Tossed television unit recycled into a play kitchen via Design*Sponge

Can't you just picture Violet standing here, working away? Now I just need to find an old entertainment center, a workshop, and someone handy enough for this transformation! Any takers? Oh Hubby?!

Our Fourth

Ah, Fourth of July in Ohio. We looked so patriotic in our red, white and blues that I decided to attempt a family photo. Now, do you know how hard it is to snap three people all smiling at the camera at once when one said person is a squirmy 16-month-old? Yeah, here are our best takes.

Oh well, at least we all look happy! And Violet's dress earned many a compliment. Which is nice, because I rarely buy her clothes myself. We've gotten so many hand-me-downs, and the grandmas rarely show up without something cute for her, so I normally bypass the kids' clothing section. The few times I have picked something out, I haven't loved the results as much as I thought I would. Everyone else seems to have better taste than I do. But I got a winner with this one, if I do say so myself.

My little firecracker.

On the Farm

So Matt's dad's cousins (did you follow that?) fixed up the old family farmhouse and that's where the whole fam-damily gathered for the reunion. This crowd tries to get together every two years, in various locations across the country. We've gathered in Colorado, in Georgia, in Montana, and now here in Ohio. It's always a lot of fun, a non-stop laugh-food-beverage fest that everyone enjoys. The family farm is beautiful, on a picturesque plot of land with a small lake.

The farm. Loving the rustic flag made of painted tree branches.

Grandpa taking Violet for a walk... or is it the other way around? Besides wah-duh, Violet's other favorite word this trip was "papap" for Grandpa.

Violet made the family tree!

There was one point in the day when I got super frustrated that here I was, trying to reunite with some family (or let's face it, get to know them for the first time) and yet the only person I was interacting with was my wild child. After seeing about 87 new faces at once, Violet got super clingy and wouldn't let me out of her sight. And of course, everyone else was off having a merry ol' time, not worried about poor me (I had myself quite the bitter pity party - I even considered asking God to help me make an attitude adjustment, but I was feeling too martyred and whiny to even go there). But all that changed after the pig roast, when Matt's brother Greg and Lauren came to hang out with Violet and me as we ate watermelon in the grass. Violet was much more comfortable with a smaller group and eventually warmed up to Uncle Greg enough to give him a high-five. And I felt my spirits lift, just having someone take the time to seek me out for a visit, rather than forcing me to watch from the sidelines. Eventually I felt a little silly for being so irritated earlier in the day. What can I say? It's amazing what a little sunshine, some roasted pig, and your family can do for you.

Violet was so covered in drool and watermelon, we eventually just stripped her down and let her have the run of the place. Check out that belly!

Giggles with cousin Brooke.

Beautiful.

Sittin' on the dock of the bay...

Daddy gave into her plea for wah-duh.

Splish splash!

Ending the evening with family frisbee and long shadows.

Dusk at the farm.

Yeah, I'd say we had a pretty good time!

There and Back Again: A Violet's Tale

We're back! It feels like I've been gone forever, both from home and the bloggy world! But never fear, I have returned, and with a gazillion pictures to share with you. I'm going to have to break our trip up into several posts or I might melt our computer trying to get all the photos up, but that just means you'll get to check back often to see more!

For those of you who don't know, we spent the Fourth of July weekend in Columbus, Ohio for Matt's family reunion. While there, we spent time hanging out in our hotel, we met lots and lots of family (some for the first time), ate great food, went to the zoo and a baseball game, swam, played at the farm, survived the 12 hours in the car there and back, and lived to tell about it! Here are a few random highlights of what we did.

Violet points the way. She loved pushing and riding on the luggage carts at the hotel.

"Wah-duh" was another big highlight. From the moment she spotted the hotel's water feature, she didn't stop talking about it. If the "why?" phase is anything like "wah-duh," we are in for it big time.

Violet's first trip to the zoo! We hit the zoo first thing after we arrived. It was hot and Violet ended up passing out just a couple hours in. Oh well, at least we gave it a shot. She might be a little too young still.

Can you guess her favorite part of the zoo? Yep, the wah-duh!

We also took in the Columbus Clippers minor league baseball game.

One of the trip highlights was getting to visit Great-Grandma in her swanky nursing home. Here we are in the ice cream parlor where you can dish out as much delicious ice cream as you want, whenever! The buckeye ice cream was the best!

Taking a dip in Aunt Stephanie's pool.

And thanks to everyone who voted in the roadtrip poll. On the way there, we split the trip in two so we could arrive in Columbus fresh. Coming home, we trucked it through all in one day. Violet was actually an excellent traveler, especially on our journey home. With plenty of 'nacks and Elmo on the DVD, she was good to go. We made it home in just under 12 hours, and boy were we happy to see our own beds!

Your Table is Ready

So remember how yesterday I was complaining about when Violet wigged out at the dinner table on me and had to go to time out? Well, perhaps she was just trying to tell me she's ready to graduate to the big boys' table. After all, which looks like more fun? This scene, or a lame high chair sandwiched between mom and dad? Yeah, I think so too. The night after her meltdown Violet asked to sit with the boys, and she rocked it! Girlfriend didn't move out of her seat once, despite some serious distractions! And she cleaned her plate, including veggies, and even got seconds! I'm so proud!

Your table is ready.

All done!