We love summer!!

I was very excited for Anna's last day of school. Summer is our time to enjoy long, fun days outdoors. Most of our time is spent in the backyard. We're blessed with some sweet neighborhood kids who love to come over and play. And sometimes we're blessed with a break when our kids decide to go to their houses. Summertime also calls for swimming at Warrior's Path, friends' homes, or the lake, sleepovers, lightning bugs, Hawaiian ice, the Lakeside Cinema, and sleeping in our tent. Caroline is becoming one of the kids rather than the baby. She enjoys the fun right along with everyone. For us all, it's just a great time of year.

LOST

We had fellow LOST fans over to enjoy the season finale and mourn the loss of our favorite show for another 9 months.

Not So Sweet

I've been painting banners for Ryan's week of camp. I must have had a moment of insanity last night when I left baby and paint in the house alone.

Sweet Caroline

This has been a big month for Caroline.
She learned to crawl forward (she'd been scooting backward for a few months) and is so happy with her new found mobility.
She learned to pull up to a standing position.
She drinks big girl milk from a big girl cup.
She has started talking a little.
"tie du" = "thank you"
"Da" = "dad" or "dog" whichever is within sight
"eee" = "wee" on the swing
"Mama" makes me smile as I trick myself into believing she's referring to me.
She can give kisses.
She can wave hello and good bye.
She can laugh when we say "no." Bad news.
Really, though, Caroline is super. She's happy and pleasant most always and brings out the best in her siblings. Here's to our 11 month old sweetie.

Country Music Video

I had several short-lived part time jobs as a high school student. The most memorable, by far, was when I held the position of stall cleaner outer at a local horse farm. It was my job to stop by after school several days a week and scoop poop. Sounds like drudgery, but I actually loved it for a time. I was never a huge country music fan, but I did like a few of the hits, namely Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine." I embraced the role of southern belle on a horse farm while scooping the poop and belting out Shania's truths. However, tragedy struck one day when I was cleaning the stall of a massive stallion that was worth about 10 zillion bucks. Evidentially, I left the stall door open a little too far. When he noticed this he bolted, nearly killing me in the process. He ran fast. He ran far. I ran fast to the owner's home for some help. After some yelling, cussing, and whipping on the part of the owner, the horse was safely returned to his stall. I was in tears. They never called me to come back. I've been scared of horses ever since.
All these fond memories came rushing back when we took our youth group to a local horse farm a couple weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. We had to stay inside to ride because of the nasty weather, but everyone enjoyed the beautiful horses anyway. Anna and Luke had a great time. Honestly, though, the minute they brought out a huge stallion, my heart started pounding a mile a minute and I was so relieved when it was time to leave.

VEGAS

For the past ten years, a group of girlfriends and I have been going on trips together each year. When we were in college, we always went camping for two reasons. 1. We like camping. 2. We had no money. So, when we graduated and stared making some bucks, we began alternating camping with more elaborate trips. We've been on a cruise to the Bahamas and on a beach trip to St. Augustine. But this year was the biggest yet. We've all either just turned 30 or will be turning 30 soon (please note that I am still 29 :) , so we decided this year we'd do something big. Our destination? Fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada!! What a blast we had! We stayed at the Venetian which was gorgeous and wonderful in every way. We had dinner at the Eiffel Tower which was probably the nicest meal I've ever had. We walked the strip, watched many Bellagio fountain shows, played the slot machines, ate some really good food, attended a Cirque du Soleil performance (my favorite part of the trip), laughed, talked, relaxed, and had an amazing trip.

And, oh, to the kind people of Las Vegas, I would like to extend my sincere apologies for thinking you an immoral group of crazies. I actually left my wallet in a cab one evening. Yes, in Las Vegas of all places, my wallet fell out of my purse unbeknownst to me. I was prepared to never see my wallet or its contents ever again. But the next day, the kind people at the lost and found office for Checker Cab Service returned my wallet which contained every dime I had in it, credit cards, etc.

Thank you, Joy, for all the hard work you put into planning the trip. Thank you, Ryan, for being a great single dad while I was gone. And thank you girls for your friendship. I loved all our long chats. What a refreshing, fun time.