Whew. This summer is going by fast and I have a lot to catch up on. On the 4th we had all the Haslams over to experience the 100+ degree heat. Here is the slip 'n slide: a photo essay.

That last one is Luke and Ben in the deflated bouncy castle.

Since I knew it would be so hot, I found a game that I thought might cool everyone off. I got a bunch of T shirts wet (there was some amazement at how many T shirts Ryan has), wrung them out, and then folded them up and froze them overnight. Everybody got a shirt and the first person to get their shirt unfolded and put it on was the winner.

And the winner is . . . . . Sam! Mandy was a close second. I guess some of the shirts were a little too frozen. Next year I'll know better.

A couple of weeks ago I visited Descanso Gardens near Pasadena. Charlie came with me. It was nice, but I'll definitely have to go back in the Spring when something is actually in bloom. We did see a lot of wildlife (a toad, dragonflies, butterflies, big huge fish, turtles).

Can you find the toad in that picture (above)?And the turtle in that one?

This one of Charlie walking across the grass reminded us of something from Calvin and Hobbes.

Cutest baby ever.

Weirdest picture of me ever. Charlie is still cute, though. This was in the parking lot right by our car, but the yellow flowers were the most colorful we saw the whole time. Ryan wants to make sure I explain why I look so uncomfortable. I wanted to make sure we got the flowers in the shot, and both of us, and I was trying to keep Charlie from grabbing the camera. This was my best attempt.