Those final mama mornings

Our last "mama morning" together before Big started second grade & Little headed off to full-time preschool.
The symbolism of them riding off ahead of me that morning definitely wasn't lost on me.

"West Coast Wednesdays" have been an enormous blessing to your family and to my job. It's a win-win really. I get to spend every Wednesday morning with the girls, and then my work day overlaps more with my team in Seattle for the afternoon.  The girls have always called them "Mama Mornings" and we treat them with a pretty high degree of reverence around here.  It seemed pretty appropriate to spend our final two "Mama Mornings" outside together.  While our last two mama mornings weighed pretty heavily on my heart, we sure did have fun!

We spent both of our last Wednesdays outside and on bikes! Our second to last morning together was at Lunken Airfield and park. It ended up being one of those things that could've ended pretty badly since we took the "the loop" without knowing exactly what we were getting into. As it turns out, we were getting into several miles of bike riding (with a very freshly minted two-wheeled-rider) and several miles of tricycle pushing. Thank goodness for the view! It was a really special morning!

We had just enough time to squeeze in some fun on the playground!

For our final mama morning, we headed over the Armleder Park and Bike Trail.  It was the perfect morning - sunny & in the seventies. We left really early so we had a good three hours to spend together. We rode our bikes, hung out at the pond, talked about our favorite parts of summer, jumped over rocks, played on the playground and imagined that we ran a magic ice cream shop that changes mulch into ice cream and sprays customers with a giant whipped cream hose.  It really was the absolutely perfect morning together! (Locals - this is a great little gem that we've learned few people in our circle know about. Check it out!)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Walking into her first "back to school" open house

Gone Phishin'

Cars, Trucks, Buses, Trains, Planes & Tractors -
but this was our first Water Taxi ride to a show

This summer, my daddy-o and I snuck away to Chicago for a three-day Phishy weekend at Northerly Island. It was pretty much everything we both needed and more. Pretty amazing to channel the inner 20 year old versions of ourselves and spend the weekend dancing our buns off, staying up until all hours of the morning, sleeping until all hours of the afternoon and did I mention dancing?  Between the two of us, we have about 100 shows under our belts. I became a Phish "Senior Citizen" this weekend by hitting shows 65, 66 & 67 since my first show in 1995. Dad and I have had a string of Phish adventures together that involves a big cast of characters made up of some of the best people we know. And, even though the two of us were flying solo this weekend, there was a lot of conversation kicked off with sentences that started "Remember that show at X..."!  Really, there just aren't the words to describe how great of a weekend this was. I mean, I got to spend three whole days with my dad! At three whole nights at Phish shows!  Definitely a summer highlight, and honestly a lifetime highlight, that I'll never forget.

This kid works grounds really got into the Hood glowstick war.
Love when the staff "surrenders to the flow."

Score! Our spot - three nights running.

Best Seat in The House (in more ways than one)!

Special MVP of the trip goes to one Amanda Austin who welcomed the two of us crazy kids to crash their otherwise normal weekend! The Austins kept us rested, fed and hydrated so we could actually pull this marathon off. And, get this, my sista even acted as a personal chauffeur into the city each night! Driving into the city twice in one evening is ground for thanks enough BUT factor into the return trip that picking us up meant waiting on the side of the highway for us and fending off the cops for an hour with promises that the two of us would be there "any minute, really, I swear."  Seriously sissy, this weekend was a dream come true and it wouldn't have been possible at all without you. NEXT YEAR YOU ARE COMING WITH US!!!!

Curious to see what the fun is all about? Here ya go!

Family Fourth!

The Fourth of July is big business for the Schneider/Austin/Johnson clan.  This summer midpoint is always one of the highlights of the year.  After the great holiday rainout of 2013, we deserved the gift from Mother Nature that was this PERFECT fourth of July long weekend. Taking a page from the Four Austins playbook, here's the holiday in pictures - sans descriptions, because honestly they sort of speak for themselves anyway.  These are all straight off the 'ole iphone, but that's just gonna half to suffice ha. (See HERE and HERE for my sista's pics off her big girl camera.)