What do you do in the Summertime?

scrap kit Bloomin' Beautiful by Mel Hains at Scrap That Idea
Here's a handy list of things you can do this summer. Well, things you WILL do, if you are in my family. Some of which, as you can see from the above scrap page, we already did on Memorial Day weekend.
1. Swim or run in the sprinklers. The girls will be in lessons this summer and the younger one is such a fish, I'm afraid she'll pass the class and move on before the older one.
2. Have a potluck or block party
3. Put the popcorn popper on a blanket without the lid and let the popcorn fly all over. If you have a oil popper and not an air popper, stand back, cuz those hot oily kernels really hurt!
4. Spend your days at the park
5. ROAD TRIP! We always go to Utah.
6. Drink horchata from the taco truck. I was so addicted last year.
7. Go biking a few times a week (this is why summer is losing weight season for me. I tote the kids around in a trailer behind it)
8. Visit the local library for story time. Kids loose 35% of what they learned during school over the summer. I didn't pay monthly preschool tuition every month so that she has to relearn it all again in kindergarten.
9. Learn to BBQ the right way. Especially if you are a chick, it's so hot. Try cooking veggies and fruit on the grill, too. Grilled pineapple-HELLO!
10. Make real lemonade: Peel three fat lemons. Cut them into smaller pieces. Drop the pieces into a blender with 1-1/2 cups of sugar and 1-1/2 cups of water. Use the blender to chop until coarse, then strain into a pitcher. Add ice cubes. Adjust as needed.
11. Visit the zoo. We are going next month to meet up with some friends and I'm so excited!
12. Sleep outside. I thought about setting up our tent last night since our A/C broke and it was SO hot in the house.
13. Horseback riding. Easy peasy for this family, there is no shortage of willing equine around.
14. County Fair: this will include entering items for judging (I get free admission this way, and sometimes MAKE money), watching the rodeo, eating fair food (here it's elephant ears) and partaking in the vomitfest that is the carnival.
15. Farmers Market. Local farmers' markets are overflowing with fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables. Go to localharvest.org or farmersmarket.com to find a farmers' market near you.
16. Tend your own garden. Mine is pathetic this year, but I'm sure I'll get something out of it.
17. Make those traditional summer treats like homemade ice cream, shaved ice, key lime pie, salads galore, and popsicles. You can get popsicle molds from the dollar store.
18. Play on the river. Maybe boating, maybe floating on tubes, maybe fishing, maybe cliff jumping. I don't know, but we will be dipping in the water this summer.
19. Nature Hike. Last year we hiked to a waterfall and found frogs and tadpoles and identified (or not) all sorts of other plants and animals. The girls loved this.
20. Movies. It gets so hot, find refuge in a dark air conditioned theater. I'm really looking forward to UP! and the new summer sequels.

Cutie Fruity is Growing

With my time off from studying I've been doing whatever I can think of to improve and grow my business. The past few days I've been making my blog look really cool and getting separated from John's accounts and such. I opened a separate email, bank, and paypal account today just for CutieFruity. I've been getting tons of email for the business mixed in with family stuff. It was also driving me nuts to share a paypal account with John when all my shipping labels I print from there say his name on them. Of course, to get a new paypal account, I had to open a new separate bank account. That will be good, too, so I stop inadvertently borrowing money for fabric out of the house account.
Tomorrow is the county fair parade and then next week is the fair. We all love the fair and rodeo here. I have yet to win a blue ribbon in sewing, but I have some GREAT stuff in my shop and my sewing has definately improved this year. I'm entering all of the items in the CutieFruity closet except the shirt that is on sale. If those old lady judges do not recognize all my hard work this year, I'm gunna go balistic. You don't want me to open up a can of pregnant lady whoopass, do you? I didn't think so. Okay, so I would probably just go sit in a corner and sulk, but I do sound intimidating, right? No? Okay.