SUMMER HAIR




 I try to keep my beauty routine to a minimum most of the year, but especially during the summer. I spend most of my time at the beach, swimming with the kids & just running around all over the place, so my hair needs to be hassle free. I'm all about doing what is easy, moisturizing & protects from the sun for the summer. These are my favorite products & tips for summer beauty.


1. No heat! Or at least as little heat as possible. I still blow dry/ flat iron my bangs, cause if I didn't they would be horrible, but beyond that, no heat.

2. Use a dry/wet brush to avoid hair breakage & keep your hair healthy.

3. Eva NYC hair mask- this stuff is soooo so great, I love it. I use it as a hair mask at least once a week & use it as a conditioner couple times a week. I also like to put it in my hair before a long day of swimming so the chlorine doesn't dry my hair out.

4.  I like to switch off between Eva NYC & Sun Bum shampoo & conditioner. I love how both make my hair feel & smell, but I think switching off between different shampoos helps your hair hold moisture.

5. Space your hair washes as much as possible. This lets your natural oils soak in a little more & not dry your hair out. I try to go 2-3 days before each wash.

6. Braids, buns & sea salt spray are your friend for a heatless summer. I love Ouai wave spray & Not your Mothers.

7. Dry Shampoo is a must to get through not washing your hair, but use it sparingly since it does make hair a bit more dry. My favorite is by Dry Bar.

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, WE SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM



I have wanted to go to the Museum of Ice Cream since I first heard about it, about 6 months ago, so when I got an email saying tickets were going on sale I made sure to get some before they were gone! We went last week with my mom, sisters family & sister-in-law & two kids & it was really so fun. Each of the rooms had a different theme going on, there was a hollywood themed room, a pink room, the sprinkle pool, a mint room & gummy bear room, just to name a few. My favorite was the popsicle room, it was so fun with the gigantic popsicles! Throughout the rooms they offered different flavors & samples of ice cream, including a pink pancake ice cream sandwich. The kids definitely loved the museum, all the samples, the swings, the banana room (you're not supposed to touch them, but its sort of impossible for kids not to), the sprinkle pool & gummy bear room were all a huge hit.

CEDAR TURNED 4


This year was Cedar's golden birthday. He turned 4 on the 4th! I can't believe we have a 4 year old... it has gone by sooooooo fast! Actually, it's kind of scary how fast it has gone. He was so excited for his birthday this year. For months all he has talked about was having an Octonaut themed birthday party, I'm pretty sure he thought that an Octonaut party was where everyone brought you Octonaut toys, haha. Luckily he got a few of those from his friends & from us :).
We got back from Utah on June 1st, then June 2nd was our anniversary so it really left me the 3rd to prep & plan his party, so it wasn't exactly Octonaut themed because apparently you have to think ahead & order Octonaut party supplies ?! I figured the party store would have some, but I was totally wrong. There was literally nothing in the store! So his Octonaut party was more of an Under the Sea party with one wall of decorations, haha. Luckily for me he liked it & he doesn't really care about decorations in the first place, so it all worked out.
I made a water background in our backyard with some streamers & cut out fish to tape up, the kids jumped with balloons on the trampoline & went on an Octonaut themed treasure hunt to find their goodie treasure boxes with little animals, toys & candy. It turned out really cute & simple, Cedar only requested two of his friends so it was mostly a family party with a few added people & was perfect. He was happy which is all that matters.

Cedar is really the sweetest boy. I don't think I can say that enough. When anyone asks me about him I always start with the fact that he is so sweet because I think it's adorable. He loves Milo sooo much, always makes sure to give him hugs & kisses before bed, his favorite thing is to see Milo in the morning after he wakes up. He adores all babies, he loves to play with his baby cousins & his friends little siblings, always holding their hands & trying to help them. He is constantly making pictures for me, austin, my mom, austins parents, friends.. everyone & he puts so much thought & effort into it. He's also a pretty good helper, when he wants to be at least, hah.

His imagination is currently off the charts. It's so much fun. He comes up with the funniest songs, stories, & games to play. He loves playing rodeo which I find hilarious, he is still super obsessed with dinosaur & animals & is always building them homes. Cedar is also really into putting his animals & dinosaurs to sleep which is pretty funny. Sometimes I wonder where Cedar came from because he & I are different on so many levels. He is fairly organized for a 4 year old, which is something I'm still not great at, & he looooooooves going to school, so much & I didn't like school until I was in college, so that is a huge difference! I think I have his dad to thank for both of those characteristics. Almost everyday he asks if he GETS to go to school not if he HAS to, which is something I really love about him & I hope the love for school continues!

Reading is one of his favorite things to do & he can have a book memorized after hearing it just a couple times read to him. He has an amazing memory, another trait not inherited from me, haha. Cedar has also become a little fish in the last couple of months, he has found a love for swimming & is getting pretty good at it too. It is so fun watching him in the pool being confident in himself & having so much fun while doing it. He also has really taken to rock climbing. He's only been a handful of times but always wants to go & is surprisingly good at it, I can see him thinking about his hand & food placements & figuring out how to get where he wants to go. It is so cool watching him thinking about it & figuring it out on his own.

4 years ago I was absolutely terrified of becoming a parent, but it has been the best thing in my entire life, & I've got Cedar to thank for that!

MAY

I took a little break from blogging the month of May & it was good. We spent the entire month in Utah (with a couple little trips up to Idaho & Montana) where did a lot & got a lot done. We spent the time with family, focusing on the littles & having so much fun.

We flew up to Boise, Idaho the first weekend of May for a family friends wedding that was absolutely gorgeous. I am so happy we decided to go up to her wedding so I could see it all in person & to catch up with our friends. From there we went to Utah where we packed in as many activities as possible. My mom came with us to Utah for a week so we were busy running all over Utah to different restaurants we have been wanting to try, seeing her side of the family & visiting friends. We celebrated Austin's birthday (which happened to land on Mother's day this year) & an early mothers day with dinner at Ruth's Chris, which is always sooo delicious! For his actual birthday & mother's day he woke up early & took Cedar to pick out flowers for me which was so sweet to wake up to, especially since it was his birthday, too. We then ventured up to Park City where we wandered around main street, let the boys run wild & had a delicious brunch. That night after we put the boys to bed we had a stay-at-home date with dinner & a movie, it was the best way to celebrate.

Cedar & Milo started their first round of swimming lessons while we were up there which was really fun! Cedar learned so much in his first month, Milo... not so much! He has a major case of stranger danger & I ended up having to take him in to the pool for every lesson, but he can float on his back by himself now which is so relieving (my mom's house in California has a pool & since we live there & Milo is SO attracted to the water I needed to make sure he could float if he ever happened to fall in, so he can & it is so great. The boys are currently in their second round of swimming lessons here in California & Milo is learning a lot). Austin & I kept ourselves busy for the month. While he worked the boys & I would go on playdates, to the park, the mall & to swimming & once Austin was finished with work we would try & meet up with friends or have them over for dinner & hot tubbing after the kids went to sleep. We also spent a lot of time with Austin's family which was so much fun. Both the boys adore their parents & I love being able to see them all together since they don't get as much time with them.

Austin & I had the opportunity to leave the boys with his parents for 5 days which is the longest we have ever left them! It was really cool/fun/exciting/worrisome/lonely, haha. I missed them so much, but it was good. We left them to go to our friends wedding in Moab where Austin & I camped, so it as really nice not having to worry about them while camping/at the wedding & from there we headed up to Bozeman, Montana for the weekend to go fly fishing with Austin's brother & sister-in-law. Bozeman was so much fun, we spent every day on a river fishing & even though I didn't catch anything (Austin did!), I loved being out on the boat, it was so relaxing. When we got back to Utah from Montana Austin's parents threw Cedar a little pre-birthday party since his birthday was coming up & they had a present for him. It was the cutest thing, they let him pick out the decorations, food & cake - which were all dinosaur themed.

The Month went by fast & was so much fun. Now for a total photo dump :)