Summer + Family

Summer is here! 

To give this blog a little lovin' and also some delicious eye-candy, we wanted to post the latest cover of LOCAL houston magazine which features one of the hottest moms we know! Lesli Pendergraft is not only a beautiful model & mother of four, she is also carefree, cool, and super funny. A rather HOT combination if you ask us! So here is to you Lesli P, our girl crush forever, you make our blog and LOCAL magazine look DAMN good! 

You can check out the issue HERE

Both Lesli and the owner's of Local houston magazine are family friends and you know how the Salinas' roll...

...we keep it all in the family! Even if you're not family, we treat you like family. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's a bad thing (like when we invite a newbie over for a 'small' gathering and there's 40 screaming people that they've never met before). It's hectic and at times overwhelming, but we like it that way because eventually everyone feels right at home. 

I think that's one reason summer is so special to us. While we were growing up, our parents did an amazing job at keeping us busy all summer long and they surrounded us with positive people who are still our friends to this day.  From two-a-day swim practices, to cheerleading, dance, and swim camps to family road trips to Utah to visit our grandparents, summer was a truly special time of the year for the Salinas family.

To us, summer means family. Whether we're spending a day at the beach or sitting in the backyard with our feet in the kiddie pool while drinking hot beer and waving off pissed-off, mosquito-bitten toddlers ...we still keep the summer family tradition alive. 

CHEERS TO SUMMER!!! 

Wading in the surf with Grandma Big Mar

Celebrating some good catches during a beach party in
Galveston

Drunk Sarah & Julie giving hugs on the Guadalupe

At our good friend's bay house in Galveston. Looks to me like everyone is laughing at a joke that Sarah didn't find as funny...

Driscoe giving his mama dirty looks at his GG and Papa's bay house in Galveston.

Jim Bob hitting the surf in Hawaii!

Dax and Grandpa Jim Bob hanging out, talking about wade fishing.

Ol preggers a couple weekends ago in Galveston... I need a tan on that baby bump. Geez!

Mo is a true water baby, you can't pull him out of the surf.

Surfside beach with the Bertillions!

Dax and his best friend Paz learning how to boogie board (they call it surfing)

Best buds hanging out in the Galveston bay marshes

Beach babes!

Jason and his noodles on Lake Austin. He really needs to figure out how to relax.

Aunt Sarah and the boys having fun crabbing!

Grandpa Jimbob teaching the boys how to fish!

Driscoe in the kiddie pool at Aunt Loretta's in Milford, Utah

Beach family for life.

May you all continue or begin your own family traditions this year!

Peace, love & summertime :-) 

bohoGrace 

Please read.....

This article has been circulating around and I wanted to share it with you all, because I think most people that read this blog have precious cargo in their lives, i.e. babies, and this is great information for summer pool safety. 

Back in my prime I was a lifeguard and swim instructor at River Oaks Country Club, and man I had a killer tan. But besides that, I saw what a drowning child looks like and have often told Daron that it's not what you would think. All you see are eyeballs. No arms flailing about, no screams, no splashing, just big eyeballs, barely above water, and its scary as hell. Fortunately, this one-time occurrence had a happy ending, and the 2 year old was quickly rescued by one of our lifeguards, and though his mom blamed us, I'm sure she thought twice the next time she decided to leave him unattended while ordering a cocktail. 

But this is really no laughing matter, and I'd be naive to say mistakes like the story above couldn't happen to all of us,  and all too often the end result isn't as good.
So please read the article and learn what drowning really looks like, because if you are expecting a scene out of Baywatch, like I always did, because I used to watch it everyday after school with Grace, then you should know:

Well, technically someone can be flailing about, but that is an active drowning victim, or someone in aquatic distress; the article explains all of this. I know it may sound like I am taking this lightly, but I can assure you I understand how serious this is, especially for all the small children in our lives right now. The fear I have is very real, which is why I feel so inclined to share this with you. This summer I am busy keeping my eye on this one: 

 He has ZERO fear of the water & it's very frightening.

 

Yes he is attempting to jump in from that far away. 

We keep him in this life jacket majority of the time. You can purchase it here.

Hope I scared everyone just enough to keep an extra eye on the most important people in the world, our children.  And if you are out at the pool, lets help each other out by keeping a close eye on any child that happens to be swimming around you. You never know who's life you might be able to save. In case you missed the link to the article above,  click here to view it.

Have a lovely day, and cheers to Summer!

Love, Julie