Thursday, July 26, 2012

Summer, Summer, Summer Time!

How is it already July 26th??  I can't believe I have not written a single blog post in 3 months!  I have probably lost all of my readers, but wanted to check in and jot down some summer time happenings for my own records!

We have been having such a fun and BUSY summer!  We haven't really been home for a weekend yet.  We ended the school year with John getting his first experience with pink eye, but he quickly recovered and we headed to Traverse City with Brad's whole family for my father-in-law's retirement.  We had such a great trip.  It was relaxing, we went to the beach, went wine tasting, ate great food, drank wine, saw the sand dunes, and drank some more wine :)

When we got home, my second niece, Josephine Nora made her entrance.  Good girl, she waited until I got home!  She was born at 1:21 am on June 26th, and is so beautiful.  Jenny had a pretty rough post labor experience and was readmitted to the hospital for a few days (which I know seemed like forever), but they are all doing well now and Libby is a great big sister too.  John is very interested in his new little cousin, and she has quickly been added to our nightly "John and Libby" bedtime stories.  :)

We attempted to go to the lake for the 4th of July weekend, but the heat and power outage sent us home with John and Libby at 1 am.  Thankfully we were able to go back for the day on Sunday and John swam and rode the jet skis, and had a blast!

The next weekend John and I headed down to Columbus, IN for a girls weekend.  I was able to catch up with some of my best friends from Colorado and we had such a great weekend catching up like old times.  My friend Lisa who lives in Indiana has an enormous family farm that is so impressive.  Her two girls Morgan and Taylor are so good with John and now the bedtime stories include John, Libby, Josie, Morgan, and Taylor.  The latest one (made up by John) is that John rides a blue motorcycle with Morgan on the back, and Libby rides a pink motorcycle with Taylor on the back and Josie watches.  Oh, and sometimes Papa Don rides a motorcycle with Aunt Lisa on the back, or sometimes Papa Joe.  This part changes nightly :)

Anyways, our Indiana reunion was so much fun and makes me so reminiscent of our weekly girl nights we had and the closeness we shared.  These girls are as good as it gets, and I am so lucky to have them as friends!

Last weekend, we went back to Indiana to South Bend where Brad was inducted into his high school's "Athlete of the Decade" program.  Very impressive, huh?  They had a nice breakfast and then we headed to the county fair where John's dreams came true...he rode a horse!  Well, a pony, but same thing.  John LOVES horses, but is very nervous usually when it comes to the real thing.  The weekend before in Indiana, he didn't want to even go near the horses, but he really wanted to ride one at the fair.  He has not stopped talking about it, it is so cute.

So that is a quick summary of our summer.  We have been super busy during the weeks too, spending time with Josie, Jenny, and Libby, a new swing set, swimming, taking gymnastics, catching up with friends, and a soccer camp!  John just finished up a 4 day "camp" with some of his little buddies and he did great! 

We have been having so much fun together being home this summer, but John has become pretty clingy and attached, which makes me think the fall will be hard on both of us when I go back to work.  I have some work to do in August, so hopefully a day here or there will help the transition.  He has been SO much fun, just talking up a storm and being such a goofball!  He loves to joke around and he thinks he is the funniest person alive.  He cracks himself up all of the time and I love his laughs. 

I will leave with some pictures of the summer, I have probably thousands, but here are a few. I hope my next post is sooner than this last one! Hope you are all enjoying your summers too!

Traverse City

At the Pier

Group shot at the Sleeping Bear Dunes...so pretty!

Chillin at the house with my little man!

Playing in the sand


 Sweet Josie
 Proud to be a big cousin

 Riding with Morgan on the Gator

My Colorado girls :)
 Finger/Body Painting while eating a blue sucker...

 First horse ride!

 Soccer camp with Coach Ryan, learning how to trap the ball.

 Ready to go!

John's new swingset given to us by our awesome neighbors

 One of many breakdowns this summer...usually over wanting a clif bar, sucker, or because he wants a different cup...oh, the things that make you upset when you're 2!

Best Friends :)