Happy Fourth of July!

We had a fun and full day celebrating America's independence. Hope you did too!




A reluctant parade-goer...


...who eventually enjoyed the festivities


Community parade


Hockey Boy and friends


Post-parade fun


Dots and I made large and small versions of the Barefoot Contessa's Fourth of July cake


Finished cake!


Smaller cake for homebound neighbors


Evening fireworks provided the perfect ending to our day of celebration

The blessing of friends.

Anne-Murray, Cynthia and me in New York to celebrate Cynthia's birthday - 2003

Last week the kids and I drove to Mississippi to visit my dear friend Cynthia. As an added treat, my friend Anne-Murray (remember her from my Valentine Luncheon)?) came over from Alabama with her twins. We had such a fun visit!

Cynthia, Anne-Murray and I have been close friends for 20 years. We haven't lived in the same city for almost 15 years, but we still talk regularly and get together as often as we can.


Florida 1999 - left to right: Katie, Dorothy, Will, Drew, Graham, Frances and Mary Lant, with Vivian standing in the back and Lauren and Eloise in their car seats in front

When our kids were little, we used to rent a house at the beach in the summer. Every year we would line them up on the sofa for a picture. We recreated this scene last week. It's astonishing how much they've all grown!


Katie, Drew, Frances, Will, Dots, Lauren and Eloise (Graham and Mary Lant were working and couldn't make the trip and Vivian, shockingly, wouldn't cooperate and be in the picture)

I apologize again for the unexpected depletion of my camera's battery power. This was a real shame because I could have taken some great pictures of Cynthia's beautiful home and all the fabulous food she served while we were there.



Suffice it to say that we experienced Southern Hospitality at its finest. But best of all, I was able to spend time with two of my favorite people in the whole world.

Note: Yes, one of Anne-Murray's twins is named after me. I was so honored! She calls me "The Other Eloise."

Mistaken identity.

The kids and I have been in Mississippi this week visiting friends. More on that soon, although my camera battery was dead so I unfortunately don't have many pictures to share. But of course, there is always Vivian to blog about.

We stayed at the beautiful home of my good friend Cynthia. Her family has two precious Cavalier King Charles Spaniels whom Vivian adored. One of the dogs was a tricolor named Lexi who looked a lot like our next door neighbor's dog, Coco. Vivian kept calling Lexi Coco.

Will said to her, "That's not Coco, Vivian. Coco is in Dallas. That's Lexi."

Vivian walked around the house repeating, "Coco is in Dallas, Coco is in Dallas."

Shortly thereafter, Lexi ran into the room.

Vivian looked at Lexi and said, "Coco is back!"

Happy Birthday, Vivian!

Vivian's 1st birthday

Vivian is 15 today!

She is in Summer School this week so we celebrated by taking cookies to her class. She seemed to enjoy that.







In honor of her birthday, a funny Vivian story: At the swimming class last weekend that Vivian was completely not enjoying, I tried to distract/interest her by talking to a sweet little girl and her mom who were having a good time in the water. Vivian responded by pinching the sweet little girl. I was mortified and of course apologized profusely and then fussed at Vivian.

"I get out of the pool and go to time out?" was Vivian's response.

Nice try, Vivian.

Happy Birthday, my sometimes sweet girl!

A special anniversary.

Today Robert and I celebrate 22 years of marriage. I was 22 at the time of our wedding, so that means I've been married half my life - wow!

We are going to dinner tonight with some longtime friends who were at our wedding. I'm looking forward to that and to many more years of happy marriage.

Fun with friends in Fort Worth.

Yesterday Dots and I drove to the neighboring city of Fort Worth to visit my friend Kelly.

Kelly and I became friends when our oldest children were in a play group as babies. Neither of us can believe they're now almost 18! (Note to young mothers: it happens fast!) Kelly and I have stayed close friends even though her family moved to Fort Worth eight years ago.

I asked Kelly to take us to Fuzzy's Tacos where we'd eaten lunch on a girls' outing to Fort Worth last year. I knew Dots would love it there, and she did! Kelly's youngest child, Molly, who is Vivian's age, joined us. Dots really enjoyed visiting with her while Kelly and I caught up.



After lunch Kelly took us to a cute shop called Shoe Gypsy near TCU. Dots was in heaven with all the hip clothes and shoes! After seeking consultation and approval from Molly, we bought a t-shirt for Dots. She'd have come home with much more if I'd have let her.





Sadly, in a show of how far past hip we are, Kelly and I were much more excited about the matching Fourth of July wreaths that we found in another shop.



Aren't old friends the best, though?

My reluctant water baby.

Vivian is participating in a weekly Aquatic Therapy program at a local hospital's fitness center this summer. Today was her first session.

To say that Vivian was less than thrilled about going would be an understatement!


Upon arrival at the fitness center, Vivian threw herself on the floor. Robert cajoled her with a video on his iPhone and some colored pencils until she would let me pick her up


But there was no way Vivian was getting in the pool on her own!


Even seeing other children enjoying the water did not convince Vivian that this was a worthwhile venture


Her sweet teacher Miss Pat tried to interest Vivian in an aquatic barbell, but Vivian wasn't buying it

About 25 minutes into our 40 minute class, though, Vivian decided that maybe the pool wasn't such a bad place after all.


A red kickboard finally did the trick!


By the end of the session, Vivian was kicking around independently!

As we left the center and got in our car, Vivian commented, "That was fun!" For one of us anyway...

Orange is tasty.

We have a new frozen yogurt shop in our neighborhood called OrangeCup. It's one of those places that is suddenly "on the way" to wherever we happen to be going (i.e., "Why don't we stop by OrangeCup for some yogurt? It's on the way..."). Dots took my mom there on her recent visit, and I think we ended up returning three times in the five days my mom was here!


Dots and her friends try some samples before ordering

The shop sells three flavors of frozen yogurt: natural (plain but with a pleasant taste, not overly sour like plain yogurt), züm (similar to natural with an orange kick - this is my favorite) and açaiberry. There are lots of toppings to add to your yogurt if you so desire. After you place an order, the server prints a label for your cup with all of the nutritional information for your size and flavor of yogurt and toppings.


Dots selected züm with Fruity Pebbles, her friend chose açaiberry with kiwi and I enjoyed züm with strawberries


The shop promotes recycling


Vivian loves OrangeCup!

I think that right now OrangeCup only has locations in Dallas. But it's a very stylish concept with a great product, so hopefully it will catch on in your area soon too!