Project 365: Day 196-210

July 15- They're starting a band.  It's called 'White Noise.'

July 16- A play-date with baby M.  This was the best shot I could get of these on-the-move kids.

 July 17- Newport Beach.  Happy kids.

 July 18- We had a fish die and Garrett talked about it too much, so I told him we could go pick a new fish.  We ended up with a guppy and a little frog to add to the tank with Mr. Fishie.  The guppy is Go Fish, and the frog is High Jump.

 July 19- It took a minute to even tell that this guy was real.  His owner was playing the violin at the Uptown Farmer's Market.  I love finding little places that have a small-town/country feel.

July 20- Bounce house at a community car wash/bbq.

 July 21- I dropped these two off at the airport this morning.  He's spending a week getting spoiled by his Utah grandparents.

 July 22- Ya know those flip flops that you wear all the time even if they don't match?  My old ones wore out, and these are quickly becoming the new ones.  Sketchers for $14.00.

 July 23- Garrett turns three in two months, and my nephew turns one a couple weeks later, so I'm throwing a combines party for them in St. George in September.  Construction site theme!  I'm trying to get it all planned while Garrett's gone this week.  So we headed to Harbor Freight to pick up a couple things.  Addie was bored.

 July 24- Busy baking this week!  I made three dozen today for a cake walk fundraiser.  It's for an organization that donates pet food to senior living centers for residents who want to have a pet, but can't afford the food.  Who thinks of this stuff?  What a great organization!

 July 25- So many succulents centerpieces!  Party planning night!

July 26- Food truck dinner.  Supporting the local boys and girls club.

 July 27- One last swing with Mimi and Papa in Vegas before we had to say good-bye.  He had a great week!

 July 28- We had friends over for dinner tonight.  So fun!  Four kids, two and under makes it challenging to get a good picture.  Boys picking their noses, girls are over it.

 July 29- I made these truck shirts for the kids today.  Addie loves hers.  Garrett's is "Too big. Take it off."

Where fish go to die...

My thought after the fish-tastrophe of 2013, was, "Not so good with plants, terrible with fish, doing alright with kids, I'll stick with the kids."

Our longest living fish died last week.  We were down to one.  I kinda thought we were good with one.  But then Garrett kept telling me his fish died and got flushed down the toilet.  I heard about it one too many times, so I told him we could go pick out a new fish.

We picked out a guppy, and while the fish lady was fishing him out, the kids were obsessed with watching the frogs.  I told them our tank was too little for a frog.  The fish lady said, "You can have one of these frogs."  She pointed to these little nickel-sized African guppy frog things.  They were only $3.50, so we got one of those too.  I had to sign a paper that said we wouldn't sue them if one of us touched the frog and got sick.  And when we had the frog out and ready to go she informed me that he needed different food.  So it cost a little more than $3.50, but whatever.

Night one of guppy/frog/old fish bonding seemed to go ok.  The next morning though, the guppy, Go Fish, was dead.  Our old fish is Mr. Fishie, Guppy was Go Fish, and the frog was, notice I said was, High Jump.

After Go Fish died, we decided to clean the tank and change the water.  We put High Jump and Mr. Fishie in a glass vase.  We decided to leave them in the vase overnight to let the new water purify.  Before I went to bed I noticed Mr. Fishie was kinda bugging High Jump.  He's kind of a chubby lazy fish and he lays on the bottom a lot.  He kept laying on High Jump.  Paul took him out and put him in a different vase.  Then he put Saran wrap over all of the top except for about a half an inch space.  I didn't think that was necessary because the fish lady said he would not jump out unless there were rocks or a plant leading right to the exit of the tank.  There was a good four inches from the top of the water to the top of the vase, and nothing in there with him.  We left the vases on the stove top and went to bed.

The next morning when I got up I checked on Mr. Fishie first because he seemed to be resting more than usual.  He seemed fine.  So I looked in the other vase.  High Jump was gone!  At least he lived up to his name in his short life.  He was gone gone.  I looked everywhere.  I woke Paul and he got a flash light.  We pulled the oven out and took as much of it apart as we could.  We cleared and washed the counter and moved everything.  No sign of him.

So we did what anyone would do.  Turned the oven on for a while.  We still have yet to find the poor little guy.

Paul went and bought a couple 10 cent feeder fish the next day.  The tank is still in his bathroom and I haven't even seen the new ones or Mr. Fishie in days.  I'm kinda over the fish.  We'll see how I feel when Garrett gets back.  He still doesn't know about High Jump.

He was here when Go Fish died.  He walked out of his room with a droopy lip and sadly said, "Go Fish died."  I said, "I'm sorry bud, are you sad?"  He cheered right up and said, "No."  I said, "Oh...good...did you not know him long enough to be sad that he died?"  He again cheerfully said, "Yeah!"  Maybe he'll forget while he's gone that we even had a frog.

July Photo Dump (Part 1)

I feel like if the "extra" photos from the month that don't get their own blog post need more than just a Part 1, it may be a sign that I take too many pictures...

Oh well... Skip it if you want to.

At the Dr. We found out earlier this month that Garrett may have seasonal allergies.

 At the Lion's Club firework stand.

 Little cutie loves carrying her purse from Mimi.

 Garrett discovered a new way to ride in the cart.

 Breakfast with dad.

We went on a long walk, played at the park, and had breakfast at Mimo's Cafe in Uptown.

Leaf crunching.

We took Paul's cousin, Jake, to sing karaoke.

 Free slurpee day. 7-11

Wandering around downtown LA.

 Famous Taquitos on Olvera Street.

 The kids think it's so funny to pretend to be asleep in the car.  (Addie was naked here because she jumped in a fountain at a cathedral in LA.)

beach, beach, beach...

I'm doing good this summer on my goal of taking the kids to the beach more.  And they love it more and more every time.

Little Corona with Mom and friends.

Little Corona with Paul's family

Newport Pier with friends. (maybe my new fave beach)

 Addie loved this beach.  She took off running into the ocean several times, and it totally surprised me!  She mostly still hates the sand, (at least until we've been there a while and she gets used to the idea), and she's scared of crashing waves.  But this is a child friendly beach with shallow water and small waves and both kids absolutely loved it.

The sand by the water has what looks like flakes of gold in it.  Addie was very amazed, she's looking at her hands covered in gold in this picture.

 We're taking a beach break this week while Garrett's gone, but next week we'll be back at it.