Mozzarella!

We bought a cheese making kit a while ago that had stellar reviews on amazon and tried it out last night. I was so pleased that it was as easy and fast as the directions promised and successful!

You start with a gallon of milk...

And a few things from the kit that you wouldn't have at home-rennet, citric acid, cheese salt, and a dairy thermometer 

After combining the rennet and acid with the hot milk-it does this! 

You separate the curds from they liquidy whey...

Heat it and knead in the salt...

Stretch it...

Put it in an ice bath for a few minutes...

And voila! Fresh mozzarella that tasted awesome!!

Kayaking and County fair (aka: we do summer days big!)

Thanks to an awesome groupon deal, Ella and I got to go on a kayaking adventure. I loved it. Ella liked it. Is totally go again on this particular tour-it was a gorgeous day and the tour guide was hilarious. So fun to step out of my routine and do something unusual.

A few hours after kayaking we met our POD friends at the county fair. I'm pretty sure we've been every year of Ella's life and it's one of my favorite summer traditions. We lie the pig races, corn pit, animals, and both girls did the huge Ferris wheel this year! Ella was scared but faced her fear and LOVED it. So proud of her. My most indulgent tradition is my annual partaking in the glories of the deep fried Oreo. Nothing like 'em. Deliciousness :-)

Sushi Night 2013

Dave and Julie gave a group of friends a sushi lesson and then we ate...a lot!! It was delicious food and and very good company :-)

The lesson

The Lerners 

They're not kidding when they call the rice sticky ;-)

Our kids LOVED being in on the action 

Savoring summer

Today is the first day in a couple weeks that we only had errands on the calendar and because of that its turned into a day where I can say "yes!" to the girls more than normal. And it feels GREAT! Instead of rushing or even moving calmly from one commitment to the next, we accomplished my couple necessary stops (and the girls were extraordinarily helpful in Target!) and then I was able to say yes when they asked to go to chipotle, yes to the carousel at the mall, yes to the playground and yes to the library. 

We've had a great day together! Their behavior has been Really Good, we've had Interesting conversations (Ella wanted to know how grapes become wine and why you have to be 21 to drink it), and they both have done things that made me so proud of them! On the carousel, Ella got in the spinning seats with 2 kids she didn't know and they were fast friends within the 3 minute ride. She can be shy and sometimes give up what she wants to do bc she's too nervous to interact with people she doesnt know. I was so proud of her for just getting in and having fun!

She also wanted to find a specific book at the library and after some coaching on what to ask the librarian, she took a deep breath and walked over and asked. She turned around and looked at me with a big proud smile as she followed the librarian to the right shelf. Melted my heart!

Ella's also turned into an amazing big sister (a lot of the time). Today she's helped Sadie learn to walk on the balance beam and excitedly cheered as she mastered it in a few tries! She can be soooo sweet to Sadie and genuinely is upset if she's hurt or sad. I'm feeling so blessed to watch their sister-bond grow.

Sadie's impressed me today too. She played for 30 minutes with a little boy at the library and after about 10 minutes told him, "you are so fun! I love playing with you!" Cue more heart melting! I'm so glad she is a confident and friendly little girl! 

So, add to this a couple good teachable moments about what God says about generosity and moderation and its been an awesome day. Trying to soak in every moment and be present to this joy. I know it's a fleeting season and I intend to savor it :-)

A fire pit night

S'mores in the backyard were on our summer bucket list and it was a lot of fun with Dave and Julie. Our neighbors even joined us for a little while (can I say how much I LOVE our neighborhood??). Lots of sugar and fun were had by all :-)