By Royal Proclamation

Hear ye, hear ye!

I can hardly believe that my baby girl turned 7 last week. We thought we'd enjoy the chance to celebrate in high style while we have the room, so we threw a "royal ball" and invited guests to come dressed in their majestic best. What an awesome day it turned out to be. Lots of wonderful family and friends attended and the little princess just had a royally good time, surrounded my most of her favorite people! Here are some shots I captured and was able to upload this week:

The Princess Herself

The Royal Family

Heir to the Throne

Fairy Godmothers

Men in Capes

Ladies in Red

Sunny & Cory

Mindy & Wes

Tie dye all across the land

Cape training

A Cupcake Feast!

Lucky number seven

In the Kingdom of Yum

The Royal Taste Test

The Royal Paige and her Pot of Potatoes

The Belles of the Ball

It's Good to Be King (of the barbeque)

So Sweet

Wheeeeeeeee!

That's all for now...

My camera went missing before the wrapping paper started flying, and all those photos are on my phone, still waiting to be downloaded. She made out like a real princess, spoiled with everything a little princess could ever wish for, including her very own chariot (courtesy of Grandpa George and Jack), a Princess-adorned battery-operated FJ cruiser.

Obviously not Kenna, but the stock photo will have to do.  She and Caleb ride ALL over the ranch in this thing, going about their business, and I'm pretty impressed with how well it handles the hills and rocky pathways around here.  She's lucky it's hot pink, or Daddy might turn it into a utility vehicle for ranch chores!  :)  She also has her days (and hands) full with the Easy Bake Oven, Paper-roni, Littlest Pet Shop, dress-up clothes, stick-on tattoos, makeup, and more.  She scored enough cash and gift cards to clear out the toy department at Walmart, most of which has gone to acquiring the entire cast of Toy Story for her collection.  She was so grateful for the gifts, but mostly excited for the awesome day she had, complete with a sleepover with friends.  I'm glad she enjoyed it so much, 'cuz there goes her sweet 16! ;)

Trying not to suffocate...

The heat has arrived at The Ranch ... and it hasn't come gently, either.

I've been spending most days waiting impatiently for about 7 p.m., when the breeze picks up a little and it's cool enough to hang out on the porch, where I steal a few moments on my patio daybed, staring up at the birds and the top of those majestic trees... soaking it all in, and trying desperately to swat away the mosquitos and other teensy winged creatures.  The rest of the time, I'm cursing the stillness of the heat and the heavy air that seems to suffocate, willing the living room fan to spin faster, as the blades seem to simply cut through the heat, unable to move the stubborn air -- no breeze to be found.  It's an amazingly beautiful time of year to be here -- the brightness mixed up periodically with summer lightning storms zig-zagging across the landscape.  On those stormy days, the sunsets are simply unbeatable -- pink and purple ribbons jutting through the thunderheads, painting an expanse of playful hues. 

We're still making progress around here, even in the heat, little by little.  Got the lodge reorganized a little better with regard to all the furniture making its home here (we refer to this room often as "the place old furniture goes to die", simply because there's not really anywhere else to store it all).  I spent a few hours, too, revamping the guest bedroom ("Kenna's room") into a breezy, cottagey space strewn with white accents to take the focus off the wood paneling in there.  After all, no one likes sleeping in a pine box -- right?

Without further ado... a couple more photos (for some reason, the blog is cutting all the pictures off, so click on each to enlarge to the full photo).  The lodge photos are as best as I can get them -- the lighting in the room is so bad that my lil' camera can't do much better without looking like a wood washout.  Hopefully this is better than nothing.



































That's all for now. Stay cool out there, wherever you are!