{unwrapped}

{singles' summer carnival}

 
Oh what a fabulous day we had today! My BSFF (Best Single Friend Forever. LOL!) Sherri and I packed up our babies this morning and headed over to Wheeler Farm for 4 hours of BEAUTIFUL HOT WEATHER and a ridiculously fun day for the little ones at a Summer Carnival especially for Single Parents and their babies....on a budget that every single Mama (and Daddy) could afford.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks to the Salt Lake City Single Adults, we spent a good 4 hours playing COUNTLESS carnival games, enjoying firsts and even seconds of cotton candy, popcorn, sno cones & ice cream (all only 25 cents each), a lunch of hot dogs (50 cents) chips (25 cents) and soda (25 cents) and even a WAGON RIDE for only 75 cents a piece. For under $15, we were able to actually SPOIL our babies with TONS of activities at this amazingly awesome activity for single parents. What a blessing. I was almost teary seeing all of the sweet volunteers that were there to make this carnival possible for us.
 
 
 
Sherri's little ones get a long so well with mine and it was so fun to see them playing together...especially my sweet Seneca and Sherri's little Cassie. They are just about the exact same height. Funny thing about that? Seneca is 5....Cassie is 9. LOL! Hit it! They are such cute little friends. Oooh..LOVE THEM! The only surprise we had at the carnival today, was finding out that the FACE PAINTING had to be done by the MAMAS!! But I have to say, I don't think I did half bad. Sherri has some degree in Face Painting or something like that. (LOL JK..she did it as a job "once upon a time.") But I still think I did a pretty dang good job on my little princess....considering I had NEVER done it before. Oooh....I love my babies so much that I could just ******BURST!!!!!!!*****Look at these precious pics of my baby girl, Sherri's baby girl...and their Mamas, trying our hands at some "Do-It-Yourself Face Painting!" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This fun fun day was really all about our babies and being able to spend quality time together...with so very little expense. However, we did get to run into a few of our friends and visit for a sec here and there while we were there...as well as meet a few new friends too.
 
 
At the end of the day, Sherri and I took our babies for a WAGON RIDE. Since we are the amazing single mamas that we are, we arranged for a PRIVATE WAGON RIDE...a WAGON all to ourselves. The kids thought that was pretty awesome. Truth was, no one was else was in line. LOL! Oh well...another "coolest Mamas ever" moment...just for being in the right place at the right time. LOL..hit it! We'll TAKE IT!
 
 
(Thanks to Sherri for the pics from the wagon ride. I had JUST taken my camera to the car when we realized we totally should have kept it. LOL! Oops. SO FUN!)
 
I can't tell you how grateful I am for the wonderful people from Salt Lake City Single Adults, who sponsored this event. It's so challenging to find new and fun activities to do with my babies...on a very limited budget. An activity like this anywhere else (state fair, county fair or even city days) would have cost me upwards $50 for everything we did today - if not considerably more. I just don't have that. I spent $15 for a day that will always be a FUN memory for us. I love that. I know that God will shower down rich rich blessings for those who put so much work into this activity...because of the many lives that were blessed as a result.
 
At the end of the day, we had all been fed with delicious food and carnival treats, played countless games, won prizes, taken a wagon ride, had our faces painted and balloon animals blown up and made PRICELESS PRICELESS memories with our babies and dear friends in the beautiful hot sun....for only $15. And that makes for one (and likely MANY OTHERS) VERY VERY happy single Mama! Oh how I love my babies and Sherri and her babies...and EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS FREAKING AWESOME DAY!!!!

(P to the S...thank you Frankie, for taking the picture at the very top of this blog entry. Now currently my FAVORITE FAVORITE pic of me and my babies!!!!!! SO LOVE IT!)

{fireworks...our secret}

I am officially (at least for this moment) "the coolest Mama ever." And today is officially "the best day ever." Love that. But I have to admit...I can't take much credit for that...at least this time around. I am awesome, purely by the grace of God today. Ha ha! So tonight, we headed over to join some of my good friends and their kids to watch the RIVERTON CITY FIREWORKS. We drove into the Riverton Days/Carnival area and after 10 minutes of driving around looking for a parking spot, I decided...um..no. NIGHTMARE parking. Holy Hannah!!! Talked to the kiddies about the fact that we'd be there for 15 minutes of fireworks and then have an HOUR drive home (when we only live 5 minutes away) and that we were going to see fireworks with Oma and Opa again in a few days anyway. We decided we'd hit the grocery store and do some sparklers at home instead. Everyone was happy and we were leaving the crazy mobs of people and on our way home. UNTIL...we drove by a spot not even a mile down the road, completely out of the way of ANY crowded parking...and with a completely OPEN VIEW (even MORE open than RIGHT there in the park where the fireworks were being let off) and a HUGE lawn that only had TWO FAMILIES sitting on it at the time. Um....HELLO...my brakes would have completely screeched as I pulled into the parking lot, if I hadn't just had a ridiculously awesome brake job by my dear friend Tyler who gave me a STEAL of a DEAL for brake pads that are now smooth as buttah....a parking lot which happened to also be RIGHT next to a fast food restaurant. I went from being cool, to being the AWESOMEST MAMA EVER for finding the COOLEST FREAKING FIREWORKS SPOT EVER...all by accident. In the hour we had to wait, the place actually DID fill up...but we were front and center, eating dinner on our blanket, snugged up and FEELIN' FINE. (How SERIOUSLY AMAZING is the picture ABOVE of my babies watching the fireworks?! Rough quality....but seriously one of my VERY FAVORITE PICTURES EVER!!!)
 
(OMGOSH...really? Look at those babies. I might be partial...but are they not two of THE most RIDICULOUSLY CUTE kids you have ever seen? Oooh...squeeze the CRUD of them. Love them so much, my heart just might explode!!!!)
 
Best part? Other than my kids being so completely ENTHRALLED by one of the best fireworks displays I have ever seen in my life (kid you not) -- after the show was over, we pulled out of the parking lot, right onto a BARON street and were home in 4.5 minutes. HIT IT WITH YOUR FLUTE. So where was this AMAZINGLY RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME HEAVENLY "Secret Spot?" Not telling. Then it wouldn't be a secret. So there. Love you to the moon...but I'm still not telling. :-) Best...fireworks...night...ever.

{first day of summer...and another first}

 
SUMMER IS FINALLY HERE...and my babies are blessed with ONE whole MONTH of summer before school is back in. Hit it! What the crud...such a short summer. No bueno. Oh well..just means that we are going to have pack a WHOLE lot of fun into a short amount of time. NO PROBLEM! We started off the first day of summer with a BANG by having a KFC picnic and playing for hours on end at the splash park. Just me and my little ones playing, giggling, eating and getting SOAKED together. SO MUCH FUN!
 
 
 
Oh how I love playing with my kids at the splash park. Love their PERMA-GRINS and giggles and hearing little Seneca squeal as I chase her under very WET and very COLD fountains. So much fun, I could scream. LOVE IT!!!!! What a NOVEL idea these fun SPLASH PARKS were. Kudos to whoever came up with that. SO MUCH FUN...for $FREE.99!!
 
 
Right when I thought we couldn't have more fun than we were already having, my friend Frank showed up to bring me a check for a photo shoot I did of his fam and ended up staying there with us at the park for a few hours!
 
 
 
 
Oh my goodness...not only is Frank one of the kindest and most wonderful men I have ever met (and one of my very very dearest friends), but to say my babies really like Frank is the ultimate understatement of the Century. They ran him ragged. Bless his heart. FOOTBALL, pony rides, piggy backs around the entire park, wrestling, stunts, etc. They had an absolute blast! They giggled so hard, they almost wet their pants (my kids, not Frank. LOL!). I can't TELL you what that does to a Mama's heart. SO awesome. The awesome thing is...Frank loves my babies too. He told me later that he seriously loves them both...but that his heart has a soft spot for little Seneca! Love that. She definitely has wiggled her way into his heart...and has him kinda wrapped around her finger. She says "FROW ME UP IN THE AIR" (Throw me up...LOL) and he says "HOW HIGH?" LOL! Kidding..he usually answers with "Tell your Mama not to look." (Which means she is going to go "WEally weally HIGH!" LOL!). LOL! So fun.
 
I *HEART* this picture below of Seneca with her arms around Frank's neck....mostly because the memory of that moment is so funny. Frank was right in the middle of telling me a story and Seneca wanted him to be a horsey. I asked her to please be soft and wait patiently until he was done talking. Every now and again, she would pat him on the chest and whisper (politely..lol) "Giddyup. Giddyup." LOL! So funny!
 
 
 
 
 
This was kind of a big deal for the three of us...having my dear friend Frank join us. I have been dating, as I mentioned, but my kids have only ever met 2 of the gentlemen that I have gone out with...and even then, only very brief introductions. This is the first time (after being divorced for over a year) that one of my dear friends actually spent an afternoon with us. So grateful for Frank...he is such a safe place for me...and safe enough that I felt comfortable enough to have him join us for what could have been a difficult transition...a "new situation" for my babies. That is NO small thing. Frank..I love you so much. Also, so grateful that they took to him SO QUICKLY (no surprise really). Love that. This is new for all three of us...and am so grateful that we made it through yet another FIRST that could have been a little scary...and was SO MUCH FUN..for ALL of us!!YAY!
 
Frank is such a champ. Those who know me well, know that I simply canNOT resist squeezing just about ANYONE....especially their CHEEKS!!! Oooh...so love em! Seneca laid down on my lap and I couldn't resist squeezing the crud out of her entire face. LOL! Look how ridiculously cute she is. LOVE IT! Kaden wanted to be next and stepped right up have his entire face squished.  LOL! OMGOSH..these pics are PRICELESS! The funny thing is, my babies are starting to look so much alike...and now also have Mama's cute freckles...HIT IT (love that!)...it's hard to tell who is who. LOL! Seneca is the FIRST ONE on the left. Kaden is on the RIGHT. So funny.
 
When we told Frank that he was up next, and he politely said, "No thanks," Kaden looked him right in the eye, made chicken wings out of his arms and said, "Bwock bock bock, bkawk!!" ROFL! How could Frank say no now...when he was called a CHICKEN by a 9 year old. LOL! Hit it! SO FRANK WAS UP NEXT! And to this day, I think this is one of my most favorite pictures EVER! ROFLPIMP!!! I almost die every time I see these three pictures....especially Frank's. It always makes me smile. Bless his heart...he is SUCH a good sport!
 
 
We could not have started our summer vacation in a better way! Me and my babies, KFC, the HOT SUN, cool water at the splash park, play time with a new friend and even some snuggle time with my little ones after hours of play in the sun! LOVE my sweet babies more than I could ever describe, LOVE my dear friend Frank that I trust with my life and LOVED this utterly fabulous FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!!!!