wrapping up summer

Audrey is napping and I don't trust myself to make a coherent post with real words, so I'm just going to share some pictures of the things that have been happening in the last couple of weeks!

I had a rollerskating party!

We found a Batman bus.. ?!

We had a Troll 2 party and ate delicious key lime pie!

Audrey went crazy!  And got a ton of new teeth!

Ahh.. It's been busy.  Our calendar is clearing up and the weather is cooling down.  It's fantastic outside, and inside I'm trying to organize my brain and life!  There is a baby who controls my schedule and she won't let me slow down.

best weekend ever

Sometimes the unplanned things are the best things.  It's been ridiculously hot and humid this summer, so we took notice when we felt a cool breeze this past Saturday morning.  Our weekly trip to the farmer's market wasn't as uncomfortable as usual; in fact, it was gorgeous outside!  Robert was planning to grill all afternoon anyway, so I decided that Audrey and I would join him in the backyard.  

I grabbed her laundry basket (who needs a baby pool?), some towels, the sunscreen and the camera -- we were ready to party.  She actually got cold sitting in the water, so we mostly played on the towels and occasionally dabbled in the "pool".

These pictures make me ridiculously happy.  Robert snapped a few for me, and when I saw these I just thought they were the most perfect thing that's ever happened. We're going to need prints of these photos for sure... to be enlarged, framed, and mailed to grandparents!

I love our giant tree and how it shades most of our backyard.   It's nice to stand under and look up at during any season.  So many branches!

Robert was also working on tuning up his bike, and decided to take it for a little spin around the backyard.  It only added to the surreal quality of the afternoon!

It was so nice to just be outside.  I'm glad that the weather gave us a bit of a break!  I'm hoping that this bit of coolness will stick around and we can wallow in the end of the summer with plenty of walks and time spent in the back yard.  We don't get out there enough!

Stray observations: I need a haircut pretty badly.  This is getting ridiculous.  And Audrey has nearly outgrown this bathing suit, even though it's for 9 months!  She isn't quite there yet, but I could barely get it on her.  I don't think it will fit next time we need it.  Oh NO, I need to pick out another adorable baby swimsuit?  Absolute torture. :)

Epic July

It seems like this month has been super busy, but I'm kind of loving it! Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to.

On Friday the 13th, Robert and I got to see Fiona Apple perform at the Ryman Auditorium.  She was pretty amazing, but I think about 75% of the audience wanted a quiet, respectful concert while the other 25% was set on screaming out, "WE LOVE YOU FIONA" and "WELCOME TO NASHVILLE" during every quiet moment of the show.  It was a little bit infuriating, and I think she ended early because of it.  The first thing she said to the audience, right before the last song of the night, was, "Okay, pretend it's 2 minutes later and you've been cheering for me."  That was our encore!

This past week, I attended THIS fantastic little event with a couple of friends while Robert and his buddy watched Audrey.  (Go check out the pictures!  I'm the only one wearing stripes in the group photo.) 

Turbo Fruits, opening band for GBV - they were great!

The next night, right after my girl's night out, we went and saw Guided By Voices!  They are basically Robert's favorite band ever, and the only thing he's listened to for nearly 2 years now... Ha!  We had so much fun.  I have sort of declared for the last few years that I'm not a fan of crowds or going to shows where I have to stand up the whole time, but this was just awesome.  It made me feel like a 16 year old again, and we could have stood there all night!! 

Robert Pollard is an amazing performer.  The band and the crowd were just having such a good time.  If you want to get into them, I don't even know where to tell you to start... (Here are all the videos I shot.)  This guy has so many side projects and puts out so many albums a year, that my Robert seriously has a spreadsheet that I've caught him working on to catalog all of them and see which ones he needs to collect.  That's dedication!  We left after the second encore because we thought it was over, but I'm pretty sure they came back for a third.

And what have we been doing on the home front?

Lots of early morning snuggling with Audrey, while the sun rises.  Lots of visiting with family, since Robert's parents are Audrey's main babysitters.  Also... lots of watching old 21 Jump Street episodes, because that's how we roll.

How was your July?  I can't believe it's almost August!!

two cute gardeners

Yesterday morning Robert and Audrey were outside repotting our little basil plant, and I had to run out and take some pictures!  Aren't they the cutest?  Check out that SAD, wilted bush next to our shed.  It has been so hot and dry here.  We finally got some rain this evening, but it didn't feel like much.  

Things have been quiet over here because real life is NOISY right now!  So much going on.  Robert's parents came to visit us for the 4th of July, and his grandparents came over yesterday to meet Audrey for the first time.  We went out to dinner and she had her first high chair experience at a restaurant... It wasn't too bad!  We learned some lessons for next time. :) 

This week is looking to be pretty exciting as well.  A friend who hasn't seen Audrey for a few months is coming to dinner tomorrow night, and on Friday we're going to see Fiona Apple at the Ryman Auditorium!  I'm really looking forward to it!  If you haven't heard her new album, it's amazing.  It took a few listens to click for me, but then I became somewhat obsessive about it.  Current favorite music!!  And the Ryman is the best place for concerts - it's where we saw the Pixies and Arcade Fire a couple of years ago.  We're having a really nice summer so far!