The Strzinek boys of summer...

Misc. July

July was a fun month around these parts.

Our local high school baseball team puts on a great kid's baseball camp that Tate enjoyed.

And he also had a great time at Pine Cove's local base camp.

And we had a super fun time on a bizarrely "cool" evening on July at the Rangers game with friends.

Followed by another cool-ish evening at the Cats baseball game. July was a weird (not complaining) weather month.

Will discovered the selfie.

And these two had a pretty hysterical lunch date. :)

Since this is the only form of journal or scrapbook I've got going these days (and it's barely hanging on), I want to try to record some of the memorable news that happens. My memory is horrible these days, so I know I'll need some help in years to come. Some highlights to remember:

• The Royal Baby - I'll admit I was a little intrigued/obsessed with the arrival of Prince George. I loved watching their wedding. And yes spent more time than I probably care to admit watching Royal specials on TV. But they really are fascinating. And seriously Prince William scored HUGE points looking all first-time-dad as he put the baby carrier in the car and drove home on his own. Loved it!
• Kidd Kraddic - Some really sad news to remember. One of the first DJs that I ever "got to know" died in July at a really young age. What was kind of amazing about Kidd Kraddic was how many people my age grew up with him. I remember listening to him in 6th grade at night on The Eagle 97.1 listening to late-night love dedications. And his career seemed to evolve right alongside my demographic as the nationally syndicated show I still listened to (at 37) was a big hit with the suburban mom types. Very surreal and sad to know that he was gone. He had an incredible career with impressive contributions to wonderful causes. He will be missed. 

Parks Make Life Better

This summer was the second year we celebrated National Parks & Recreation Month. Woo-hoo! :) Tate completed our city's Park & Recreation Month Photo Scavenger Hunt. Thankfully it was MUCH easier than last year's. But they did add a new twist where this year there were clues that led you to where to take the picture. And then with each clue, you uncovered a word which led to a "secret" message.

With just a little bit of help, he was able to figure out each of the clues.

He always thinks this is a lot of fun and is already excited about next year. Plus we are becoming quite the City of Keller experts. :)

 The secret message revealed...

Cousins

One of our fun summer memories was spending a few days in Belton with Uncle Brad, Aunt Shannon, and the 3 Ms. And even more fun since they live on a college campus and it was summertime...the whole place to ourselves.

I have decided Belton has the best FREE public splash pad. We love going there anytime we're in town for the summer. The Bankheads' two other cousins happened to be in town as well, so all seven kids had a blast.

And somehow I forgot the swimsuit for Will that has a drawstring. SO he was a little saggy, but that didn't seem to stop him.

I love how these pics turned out! Think they had some fun?

 

I didn't bring the camera with me the next day, but more splashing at a local waterpark. Will found the perfect slide his size to go on at least 50 times in a row. :)

And before we left, we did a group shot with sisters and the kids. And also provided further proof that in some bizarre genetic wonder that we can't figure out, Morgan & Will are actually brother and sister somehow. :)

Such a fun couple of days with the Bankhead crew!  And just for my own memory's sake, the FB post after my drive home that night:

There are many, many absolutely exhausting moments that go into this parenting gig. Some we all wish we could forget. But something about the last three hours tonight makes me wish I could freeze time. A late-night drive home on I-35 by myself with the boys. With lots of traffic. Usually a recipe for disaster. But tonight, Tate was incredibly helpful and full of funny questions. Will happily sang, recited, or who knows what almost the entire drive. Reminding myself to be thankful and savor these moments.

4th of July

This year's 4th of July was a fun one. The summer seemed to be pretty busy, so we enjoyed the low-key day of just the four of us.

We had our first attempt of family miniature golf. It was fast & furious and pretty laughable at times, but we amazingly finished and had a fun time!

And then Will got to experience his first-ever fireworks. You can see he was clearly impressed.

Tate was a fan and liked to give a description (loudly) of each firework.  :) It was a fun day & night!