It's the Little Things... like sand, rocks, and friends!

Bad news: I've gotten more than a little behind on my adventure blogging here lately! (Oops!)
Good news: It's with good reason- we've been pretty busy adventuring these days! (I will attempt to catch up in the next few days, anyway. :) )

So, here goes...

I do have to say that my little family has been blessed beyond measure with really awesome friends who have loved and supported us always (in all the ups and downs of life). When we packed up our belongings and moved to West TN in 2010, we were having major mountain and friend withdrawals. That summer, our good camp friends Kim & Jethro invited us to Kim's family lake house for a fun getaway just when we needed it most. That lake trip has been a tradition since (this was our FOURTH year in a row for this adventure)! It has been so fun to see the boys grow up and play with each other every year.

This year, there was...

...LOTS of splashing and swimming:

I do believe Adam is the king of the splashing! :)

....Relaxing boat rides:

Anchors away! 

...FUN in the sand:

...FISHING:

...BEAUTIFUL sunsets:

.... And of course, ROCK-THROWING (All little boys' favorite past time!)

Even though we don't get to see these friends near as much as we would like to, it's always great to have those friends that you can just "pick up right where you left off with."

Thanks for another great lake adventure, Soll (and Larsen) fam! :) Love you guys!!

"A friend is one who knows you and loves you just the same." -Elbert Hubbard

It's the Little Things.... like a splash of COLOR!

Well, color me HAPPY. That's what I am these days with summertime fun and my BOYS.

Happy, we are.
And color, we have...

Check out this fun colorful summer project: (Again), thanks, Pinterest!

I found a website that will convert any picture into a coloring sheet. (How fun is that?!)

Sounded like a good activity for a movie night... a movie, a snack, and an opportunity to color ourselves... HAPPY:

Welllllll, color us HAPPY!

Ready to release his inner artist!

Max & Daddy's artwork

Our masterpieces!!

 Next, colorful activity:

This was a Chelsea project. Rummaging through some old "junk," we came across a couple of these beauties:

 Boring, right?!

So, I splashed on a little color, threw on a few dots, anddddd VOILA:

 Happiness was BORN (via) plastic chairs.

Good news: This project was Max-approved. :)

 And what's a cute Max to do while his Mama is creating happy chairs?

Why, throw a few dots, splats, and splashes of color on the sidewalk, himself:

 Best sidewalk paint recipe evvvvva!! (1 cup of cornstarch, 1 cup of water, & the food coloring of your choice). We painted with this sidewalk paint a couple of times last summer. His artwork has definitely matured...

Happy paint, happy feet, happy people. :)

These two color my world, paint or no paint. So thankful for happy summer days:

Speaking of color and happiness, just you stay tuned, the Matamoros fam has LOTS of colorful good times coming up this week (We're pretty excited). Let the good times roll, and happy summer!

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." -Pablo Picasso

It's the Little Things like... Band-Aids & Trike Wheels!

Mac-n-cheese, the color green, and tricycle-riding...

These are a few of our Max's favorite things.

Of these three favorites, I would venture to say that riding his trike might be at the very top of that list. And when I say that Max loves riding his tricycle I mean... he loves riding his tricycle.

Max is one mean, lean, trike-riding machine. So much, in fact, that the front tire of his trike has completely split open (in only one year of riding around our little neighborhood). There has been some serious rubber meeting the road. (As in, there is little to no "rubber" meeting the road anymore on his front tire.) Wonder how many miles those little legs have put on those three wheels?

GOOD NEWS: Max is quite the handy-man these days. Equipped with his tool bench and a tool box that Santa brought him for Christmas, there's not a problem that he can't fix. So, when Max saw that his precious tricycle needed fixing, he grabbed his tool box and was off to the rescue...

"This looks like something that I can handle!"

He brought Daddy in to survey the damage, as well.

And the finishing touch... a band-aid, which can make everything better. How resourceful!

And that tricycle really needed fixing because Max had some serious ground to cover this weekend, participating in his second triathlon (Small Fry Tri, that is)! This is one of my favorite Jackson events. Not only does it benefit the American Cancer Society, but it is also a BLAST. (See below for evidence of the fun!)

Pre-Race Stretches

Pre-Race Cuddles

Ready to start!

Leg 1 of the race: RUNNING

Leg 2 of the race: BIKING (Glad that band-aid held things together!)

Last leg of the race (and SERIOUSLY the most fun): SWIMMING, errr... SPRINKLING! (Notice that the fire department sprays the water directly from their truck. Just about the coolest thing a 3 year old can imagine.)

... And he crosses the finish line!!!!!

Waiting for his trophy!!

Our big winner!!

The best part of it all was running back through the water after the race was over. (Max also ran back though the streamer "finish line" at least 3 more times.) We cheered each time, and I'm pretty sure Max felt like he was the king of the race. (He totally was!) After the third time, though, we tried to re-direct because I think the finish line ladies were on to us. ;)

Pure giddiness! :) 

This was our second year of participating in this event, and it is already something I am looking forward to again next year. (Think that band-aid will hold until next year?! :) )

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination." -Albert Einstein