Strawberries came late this year.  We picked them at the end of June and this time George was able to come with us.  We brought home quite a bit and added them to fresh squeezed lemonade, ice cream, and pretty much straight off the stem.  We did freeze a good batch to remember the beautiful summer morning we picked them. 

One foggy evening we walked down to the lake to play on the shore...

Signing up for the summer reading program at the library.

Playing with cousins at the park.

Celebrating Father's Day.  Magnolia made him a keychain out of Shrinky Dinks. 

George made him a card.

My own dad comes over with the cousins to visit on Father's Day.

We went to one of our ice cream socials in our village.

We saw friends, listened to music, and had root beer floats.

We made a car wash for our bikes.

We have been riding bikes and scooters and taking walks in the burley.

We have been playing in the Slip and Slide.

We had cousins over for a sleep over.

We joined a pool this summer and have been taking lots of swimming lessons.

Right before seeing Monster U. on a dreary day.

Summer is in full swing now and we're loving it!

Our little back porch has housed our grill and stroller for the past few years.  Last summer we put this chair out there and started to think it could be a good little spot to drink coffee and watch the kids play in the yard.  This summer I decided to give a more of a face lift.  Here it is before.

Here it is after.

The air conditioner bothered me the most.  Especially since it was right where you sit.  Not to mention it was big and rusty and sitting on an angle.  It really was an eyesore.  So, George built this little fence around it. (and Georgie and I painted it together)

I found this light fixture at Habitat ReStore for $12. It was silver so I painted it black which thankfully hangs high so you can't see what a disaster paint job it has.

The chair cushion got a new cover on it with outdoor fabric and I made the pillow out of a corner of an old white duvet and slapped the black monogram on it so I could have a new pillow for $0.

I found some new planters for a discount price and painted them with some matte black spray paint and put boxwoods in them.  They now flank the step up on the the porch.

My croquet set I bought at a garage sale and threw in a bucket we already had and we called this porch done.  It was done on a budget of next to nothing but is much improved and must more enjoyable to hang out on.

Oh, Happy Summer!