Camping with the Courters

When our friends, the Courters invited us to go camping with them both Chris and I although eager were not exactly sure what to expect. Being the first time we have taken our family of six out into the woods, we don't own much camping gear and truthfully I was a little nervous. We ended up borrowing a ton of stuff from family and packing really simple food that didn't require much fancy prep.

We rolled into the campsite after dark on the first night and there was a burn ban on so no campfires allowed. We managed to get the tent set up in the dark and everyone asleep and after that first disappointment of the campfire we then were joined by the rain.

But by morning the sky had cleared some and the rain lifted the burn ban (yes!!!) so for the next three days we were all pretty happy campers exploring the beaches and lighthouses and getting really dirty of course. The kids rode bikes for hours on end, made some new friends and on the final morning we found a baby mouse right by our tent freezing to death. The boys all took turns warming him with leaves and things and the Courters decided to bring him home!

All in all it was a wonderful first experience. Next time I would prefer a bit more of a "glamping trip" if you know what I mean but we had a great time. When we loaded all of our incredibly dirty belongings back into the van on the way home Chris and I looked at each other and said "we did it"…and then we came home and turned it around in less than a day for the big Gough family vacation…it's been a fun few weeks, stay tuned for more!

Ten on Ten :: August 2014

Happy tenth all of you super sweet and faithful ten on teners…I am actually shocked it is time for the August installment already. Looking forward to seeing what you guys find today behind the lens, you can add your set to the linky below any time this week, I hope you have a blessed day! Find out more about the Ten on Ten project HERE.

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summer so far

(Instagrams)

Oh june and july you've gone so fast, you and your string of eighty degree days. Sweaty foreheads and late late nights, staying in swimsuits days on end and eating ice cream and outdoor gatherings and sparkling water to splash our toes in. Picking daisies from the garden and watching Josie dance in her first ballet recital, learning how to skateboard and riding bikes until the sun goes down. Top Pot donuts first thing saturday and painters tape and projects littering the dirty floors.

Summer you're almost over but I am not ready to let you go just yet. This is the only time when my kids will be at these exact ages and then they will grow bigger and things will shift and of course there will be more beauty to behold in the light in their eyes…but just go a little slower august, ok because I am not quite ready to let this summer go…what a sweet sweet season it is, such a gift I can't afford to take for granted. xoxo

pom pom hair clips

Josie got it into her head that she wanted to make pom pom hair clips after finding a big bag of pom pom's in the art closet the other day. I thought I would indulge her cute idea and broke out the glue gun for a bit of one on one time and let her design and pick out which colors she wanted for each clip. There are no secrets here it was pretty much glue gun + pom pom + hair clip but it was so fun to do this simple project with her.

After a few clips were made we decided they looked like caterpillars a little bit and so we hunted in the art closet again and found some giant goggly eyes and added those to the mix…

Then some little fabric hearts that were sitting in one of the bins turned into wings and she was so excited to make a little butterfly friend - adorable for sure!

Pretty soon Levi found us and he wanted in on the fun so we found him a clothespin and he made a caterpillar bookmark and a "quiet critter" as he called it (big pom pom with eyes) apparently his teacher used these last year - if you are holding it you are suppose to be a quiet critter…sounds good to me :)!

All in all it was a really fun little craft hour for a hot summer day - so many variations and so so simple so I thought I would share. What are some fun little projects you have done with your kids this summer so far?

project weekend

We spent the weekend working on lots of little things that will hopefully add up to some bright new spaces in the next few months…it felt good to get some projects started and a few things ticked off the list. Looking forward to the week at hand - hope you had a wonderful weekend friends, happy Monday!!

{happy friday}

We are in for a really hot weekend here in the pacific northwest - in the 90's! I kind of love the heat but we don't have A/C so we will be needing some Popsicles and ice cream for sure to keep us cool. I've got lots of projects planned around here too, there is nothing I like more than a project weekend (I am a weirdo) and after living in this rental for almost three years (what?!) I finally confessed to Chris that I feared our "forever dream home" was never going to happen again and we would probably never be able to buy a house…so we need to settle in and for me that means lots of paint, craigslist haunts and a honey-do list for him a mile long :). But he's an amazing sport and so I broke out some paint this afternoon and started in on a few things already and it feels good!

I've had so much fun looking through the Ten on Ten sets from yesterday if you haven't had a chance to take a look please do - hope you have a wonderful weekend friends, do you have anything fun planned?