OK well, not so tiny, really. We got this great little gadget several weeks ago that makes enormous soap bubbles up to 10 feet long, and there’s something about the shimmery slimy fun of it all that somehow makes playing in 100-degree heat not so awful. A good part of our Independence Day weekend was spent bubbling, and the girls got pretty good with their technique.

Sophie was more of a sit-and-spin kinda girl…

…whereas Maddie preferred to go long with it down to the end of the drive. Somehow, I think I’ve ruined it for those little tiny bottles with the wands that always fall down into the bubble soup. I don’t think you can ever go back from making bubbles this big!

Saturday morning, Sophie also lent a helping hand cleaning out the weeds from the butterfly garden out back, which has been keeping the butterflies happy and fed all summer. It’s hard to believe that this mess came from a bunch of seeds only three months ago. Sophie preferred telling me where the mulch should go rather than pushing it around herself, but hey, at least she was out there sweating with me. What a good little trooper! Of course, it was about 7:30 AM in this picture and already sweltering. Even more reason to be proud of my cute, if mildly reluctant gardener!