Life After I "Dew"

This post is part of a compensated campaign with Mom It Forward Blogger Network and H2OGO! but all my opinions are my own.

Summa summa summa time, summa time.

That's the first thing that pops into my head on the first 80 degree day we have here in Ohio.  I love summer, I live for summer.  My kids are spoiled rotten with activities from about May-September and I make no apologies for that.  I want them outside all the time.  I want all the vitamin D.  I love the warm sun on my face.  I love the early mornings and the late nights.  Summer is my favorite.

Last summer we were flooded with things to do and while it was exhausting at times, I wouldn't change it for the world.  We made so many fun memories last year and I can only hope this summer can measure up.  We camped, we boated, we vacationed with friends, we hit up the beach, we ate too many s'mores but most of all we had fun.

One thing I want to do differently this summer is to have more backyard fun.  Going to the zoo and pool and splash pads {oh my!} are fun but so is playing right in our backyard.  The best part of backyard fun is it's far less stress.  Need to go to the potty?  Go right inside.  Need a snack? Let me grab one from the kitchen.  Ready for a nap?  Your room is right down the hall.  There's no packing a bag and snacks and change of clothes and enough water, we have everything right at our fingertips at home.  Plus, we have a pretty amazing yard.


Yesterday we had our first 80 degree, blue skies, sun shinning day so I told the kids we could finally set up the water slide they've been eye-balling since it arrived in the mail last week.  Day one of backyard fun commenced.  It was amazing.  They played on that thing from lunch until bedtime yesterday only to break for snacks, potty and nap {for James}.  They loved jumping on the "pillow".  Bear puppy was so confused, he thought the sprayers were a drinking fountain for him.

Last night, once we settled down for the night, Kendall said to me, "Mom, we have the best house.  We have the water slide, a sand table, a swing set, the bounce house, soccer balls, bubbles, chalk, jump ropes. We  have everything!".  And she's right, we do. We have it all right here in our backyard {here's a snap from our yard last night}.


Gorgeous right?  I mean we need a whole team of landscapers to come out and maintain it BUT it's so pretty in the summer.  It's shaded but gets sun in all the right spots {like right where I was standing/laying out yesterday}.  We have one acre but lucky for us it's all farmland behind/to the side of us so it seems like it's much bigger.

We live in the country, if you couldn't tell, so we spend a lot of time driving places.  Anything "fun" takes us at least 20-30 minutes to get to and while it's worth it some days other days it would be nice to just stick around here.  As Kendall mentions, we have more than enough to keep us busy here.  I am notorious for thinking the grass is greener when it comes to doing things outside of the home.  I always think everyone else has a better house, the kids have more fun here/there, and I have no real reason for thinking that way.  So this year I am determined to have an amazing summer right here in our very own backyard. Who knows, maybe I'll even get crazy and host a weekly family dinner under the string lights like The Bravermans.

Does this sound like a tradition you'd like to adopt too?  H2OGO! wants to help!  One lucky reader will be chosen to win the three person water slide that's pictured above.  To be entered to win leave me a comment telling me what YOUR favorite outdoor summer activity is. Good luck!

Everyone loves a post with pictures, right?  I mean back in the day it was taboo to write a post and NOT include pictures.  But times are a changing so maybe it's cool NOT to put pictures in a post.  What do I know?

I still love pictures and I wanted to share a few of my favorites from this summer because we had a pretty great one!

As I sit here and type this post I'm greeted by the cool autumn breeze blowing through my kitchen window, which has been closed for far too long due to the summers heat.  I'm wearing fleece pants, a hoodie, and "at home" socks-you know the super-thick, cozy ones with the grippy things on the bottom?

Tuesday night we went to the pool as a family.  It was a spur of the moment idea but something I want to do more often.  We ate dinner early and I remembered thinking to myself, "Oh sure eat this HUGE dinner right before you put on a bathing suit and head to the PUBLIC pool."  But such is life and we went and had the time of our lives.  And even better it made for a very easy bedtime.  I'm thinking we should go to the pool every night now.

As we were winding down to leave, I was feeding James his bottle and Jimmy was playing with Kendall for the last 15 minutes before the pool closed.  I sat in that pool chair and looked around at the few people who were still left and it was mostly dads.  It was cute to see all the dads huddled around the little, double slide watching their pride and joy come swooshing down into the water, happy as a lark.  They all had smiles on their faces and you could see the pride radiating from their bodies.  It was adorable.

I also noticed how confident they all looked.  None of them were standing in an awkward position, as to not expose their "problem areas".  They weren't afraid to bend over and have their belly hang over their trunks a little bit.  They didn't have their hands placed over their stomachs.  Nothing.  They were just standing their, all exposed, and owning it.  And I thought, I wish women would embrace this.

I looked around at the moms who were there.  One had a brand new, I mean fresh out of the oven, baby and she was rocking her bikini.  And she looked great, I could only wish I looked that good that soon after giving birth.  She looked confident and happy.  As a matter of fact, the first time I saw her she was eating a massive cheese burger and her husband was chowing down on a salad and I kind of had a chuckle.  But besides this one mom it seemed like the others were all self conscious, it made me sad.

Why can't moms be more confident like the dads.  Some of these dads were in great shape and others had a little belly and it didn't matter.  None of them even wore a t-shirt to cover up.  The moms on the other hand were quick to grab a towel or their cover-up as soon as they were out of the water. Even the ones with rocking bodies.

I know that everyone has their hang ups when it comes to their bodies.  Even the ones who seem to have the most perfect physique can find some kind of flaw.  I've been working my butt off and I still could give you a laundry list of things I'd like to improve on.  But why?  Why can't we be more like the dads.  Their bodies were far from perfect but I doubt they eat themselves up over it when they are putting on their trunks.  They were just having fun with their kids and not worrying about their flaws.

I learned a lot about myself in that short period of time while feeding my son.  I am going to let go of my insecurities, not worry about my silly belly pooch when I bend over, and just HAVE FUN with my kids.  We only have this one, precious life and it's far to short to worry about things like cellulite.  Besides, I have that pooch and those stretchmarks because of them and they are worth everything.