At BlogHer, Kim and I made slightly tipsy plans to get together in real life as soon as possible. Amazingly, we actually DID and our kids are new BFF’s. We’re doing it again in a week, this time at her place.

Home again, home again jiggity jig – although life isn’t going to REALLY settle down until I get back from BlogHer in August.

Sunday:

Why do I look so happy to be awake at 5 am?

So happy to be home he fell asleep

Making up for vacation with C25K at the track

Monday:

She missed the pool so I let her play in the sink

Squishing Caroline. At least it was GENTLE squishing.

I don’t need no stinkin’ clothes

Tuesday:

MOMARAZZI ATTACK

Checking out North Lake

Have you heard of these things Mom? They’re called cucumbers. I need more, immediately.

Wednesday:

FIRE TRUCKS THAT THROW CANDY OMG WUT HEADSPLOSION

Cousins rented a water slide. Evan was on it for LITERALLY 8 hours. At least.

Happy Birthday ‘Merika!

Thursday:

Motorboatin’

Still exhausted from the waterslide

C25K again – This is the local high school

Friday:

Arrrrgggghhhh

Stroller Strides. HOT AS BALLS.

Ginger boy makes friends with stray ginger kitty – head explodes with gingery awesomeness.

Saturday:

Graham cracker thief looks guilty

The garden store is my happy place

Target is my even happier place

It’s amazing how fast the summer days go even when all we’re really doing is hanging out trying to stay cool. I think we’ll spend the rest of the weekend THINKING of things to go do and then doing none of them.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

In college I drank so much water I used to plan my classes around bathroom locations. I carried an ugly reusable water bottle I got for free from a credit card company and I had to remind myself CONSTANTLY to keep drinking. It was never easy, never automatic and I never learned to like water. But I was also really thin and my skin looked really good.

Since then I’ve gone from drinking at least 100 oz a day to drinking almost none. It’s terrible, and not just in a “oh yeah, I should probably remember to drink more water” way, but in a “sick in the hospital for days plus two surgical procedures to deal with kidney stones which MIGHT have been prevented if I just drank more water” sort of way. On https://customwater.com/ you can easily find a place where you can order as much bottle water as you need.

But I have FINALLY found the key to drinking water: STRAW CUP.

There is just something about drinking from a straw that makes water more appealing. It’s easy to throw in some lemon or cucumber slices. I can sip it while keeping an eye on whatever is going on around me – the kid, the road, the TV, the Twitters – and it’s sort of a mindless action. It’s why I drink a can of soda happily with lunch, but if I get a fountain drink I need the super hugemongeous size or it’s gone in 90 seconds. Even though I STILL don’t really like water, I’m drinking at least 5 of these cups a day.

That pink one above is from Target’s seasonal section, $5.99. It’s got some sort of freezable insulated layer in it, so you can keep your water cold while carrying it around all day. I’ve also seen them in dishes section at Target for $9.99 (still cheaper than only drinking bottled water) but the best deal I’ve found is this one:

True fact: I actually had four Creamcicle Oreos but I hid 2 for the picture because it seemed like too many.

That cup is BPA-free and dishwasher safe. I got it at JoAnn’s Fabric, where it was priced at $5.99 but I used a 50% off coupon (They have a free coupon app for iPhone, you can sign up online for the mailers or just walk into the store – usually there is a rack in the front with the circular which has the coupons on the back) so it ended up being $2.99. I needed the second one because someone had commandeered my pink cup.

Turns out EVERYONE drinks more water from a straw.

I made myself a rule that ONLY water goes in the cups – because otherwise I’m sucking down 60 oz of sweet tea without even noticing – but I can still drink Diet Coke or lemonade or whatever from cans or regular cups. But really, I’m so full of water I’m barely drinking anything else.

It’s a really simple idea but one I wish someone had suggested to me ages ago. But now YOU know! So go! Find a straw cup! Be healthy!

This is basically a Wordless Wednesday post wasted on a Tuesday, but I feel like I used up all the words in my head yesterday. Speaking of words, my friend Amy and I share a hive mind (or maybe a love of stalking snarky blog criticism sites) because she posted a letter to her son about why she blogs yesterday too that you should check out too. Or if you’re in the mood for adorable ginger children in a hotel pool pictures, stick around.

Someone learned to hold his breath!

Is that suit the cutest or what?

OK, the baby's pretty cute too.

Bish, please is her specialty

Warning: Epic number of pictures below.