Summer snapshots

 I take A LOT of photos with my phone and also put quite a few photos on Instagram.  I heart Instagram.  I feel like they are little snapshots of our life.  The true thing.  The real deal.  Our summer days feel like they have been flying by, but here are a few snippets of what we've done so far.

We happened to be in Omaha for our niece's baptism and the Hawkeye baseball team just happened to make it to the Big 10 championship.  What are the odds?!  We had to go cheer on the Hawkeyes.  Obviously, Bowen wasn't excited.

We were surprised with kites in the mail!  They are big and sturdy and super cool.  We love them!

We recently had a bad wind storm sweep through.  A couple neighbors lost big branches.  Bowen drove around with me taking storm photos for the paper, hopped out of the mini van and got to work at our neighbor, Jon's. 

 You all know we love our baseball/softball.  Many an hour are spent doing toss drill or with the mom pitching some BP.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  LOVE it.

 This summer I'm trying to notice the little things - sunrises, sunsets, puffy clouds, pretty flowers, etc.  I've kind of become obsessed with all things related to the sky.  I captured this while taking pictures at a softball game.  The lady next to me turned around in her chair because she couldn't figure out what I was doing.  She was like, "Wow.  Those are really pretty!"

 A couple friends of mine and I have a garden!  Growing my groceries makes me happy.  Fresh is best!

 Jenna and I take our girl time whenever we can get it!  We try to sneak away for groceries or errands when we get the chance.

 We love our small town farmer's market.  They added giant games, including Jenga.  It's so fun!

One day I was at work and Aaron texted me a picture of Blake with a mohawk asking if he could keep it when he was cutting his hair.  I said sure.  Well, he literally let him keep it.  I actually really ended up liking it!  It fit his ornery personality and when Aaron shaved it off I was sad.

 Nature walks are a must at our house.  It wears them down and we get to be outside and we love the scenery.

 This was an adventure.  We did family photos and when we were leaving Blake got stung by a bee right under his nose.  After an hour drive home (nobody said a word on the way) I turned around and freaked out when I saw the left side of Blake's face.  This picture doesn't do it justice.  It was like something out of a movie.  Jenna and I headed to Ames, Aaron was trying to make calls, I was talking to first nurse while relaying questions for Jenna to check on Blake.  We were concerned his airway would close up.  Anyway, long story short, we were able to turn around and watch Brody's baseball game.  Whew!!

A trip to Minnesota for McCoy's birthday!  Aaron and Justin, the grill masters, were hard at work smoking meat.  It was so yummy!

 Lots of reading this summer.  Kudos to our local library for their summer reading program!  The kids always get excited to go and cross off their reading minutes.  Me?  I'm just a self-proclaimed book nerd and proud of it!

Sunset chasing?  Yep, the twins and I did that a couple of nights ago.  I love the silhouettes of the windmills. 

Ahhhh summer.  You need to slow down.  I actually broke down and let the kids buy a couple of things off their school supply list.  I know.  I know. I need more 80 degree days with a little breeze and low humidity.  THAT is my summer love language.