Maeve likes to tell me that Ira is a cutie pie. I agree!

And he drools a lot.

E's favorite game right now in all its versions and variations. Sometimes he just turns his head away for a quick second and then looks at us with a clever grin, eyes lit up, and says, "eh," expecting and knowing we will laugh. Hey little man, you're our Joy Boy!

Another hot day, another day in the water! On this day, we went to Liberty Lake when Holly was done with school for the day. We invited our best friends and loaded up the paddle boards and played in the water! The day was record-breaking hot and so being in the cool lake water felt so good. Maeve ran around in her own little world playing on the dock and swimming where she couldn't touch (all while wearing her life jacket of course). E loved being thrown in the air and caught in the water and having his body swished in the water. Ira fell asleep in Amorette's arms with his feet in the water. Snapping a photo of our girl gang kicking off another summer of fun was really wonderful. SO many happy memories with these dear friends of ours!

On our way home, we stopped at Cafe Rio, picked up take out and had a picnic and late night at our house. It was one of those magical summer afternoons into evenings that was just right!

Whew, we're experiencing a heat wave and it is hot! Lucky for us, we had already planned a trip to Fish Lake with Maeve's preschool friends. Because Conor isn't working right now, he came too and brought a paddle board. I had purchased two paddle boards back in February when I was feeling a little down about summer and wondering if it would be fun. Where I'm at in raising a family and motherhood and children is a juggling act and I'm so grateful for my supportive community. We loved playing in the water. Conor is at a lake with the kids this afternoon and I think we'll go again tomorrow!

Name one thing better than squishy baby thighs. Exactly. Nothing better.