Summertime Fun

I guess I'll try to give a quick rundown of our summer. But first I'm going to apologize if there are any typos. Our keyboard is on the fritz.

On a spontaneous whim we hopped in the car one weekend and drove to Portage, IN on the southern end of Lake Michigan. We had heard about the awesome sand dunes and beaches. Unfortunately the weather was awful when we got there, but we let the kids runs around on the beach for a bit until it got to windy and rainy. We decided to go eat lunch and come back. I'm so glad we did. It wasn't sunny, but by by then at least the wind and rain had stopped and the temperature was nice. This place was awesome! You never would have known you were on a lake instead of the ocean. Beautiful sandy beaches with forests just beyond them. We loved it so much that we decided it should be a regular family destination. We are heading back this weekend in fact and the forecast in sunny and 85 degrees! Anyway, here are a few pictures of the kids chasing seagulls and playing in the sand.That was the only family trip we took, besides Nauvoo (see previous post) this summer. Toward the end of July we decided we wanted to drive out to Utah for the last couple weeks before school, but as we were finalizing those plans I had some preterm labor issues. Nothing too serious, but the doctor nixed traveling for the rest of the pregnancy. It's not stopping me from driving to the lake this weekend though. :) (It's only 2 hours away)

Anyway, with our lack of travels, the kids and I spent A LOT of time at the pool. I had them all in swimming lessons for 4 weeks and it was a lot of fun to see how they advanced during that time. Especially the girls! Will has always been comfortable in the water, but I wondered if I would ever see a day when Kenzi would put her head under. She must have found the confidence somewhere this summer, and Sadie too, because they were both swimming like little fish. It was awesome! Here are a few pictures of them at the pool. I had a video of the girls going under the water at the same time to have a "under water tea party" but it probably won't make all of you as proud as it did me, so I didn't post it. But, YES, I am SO proud of all my kids' progress in the water this summer. I love the picture of Sadie with the wild goggles!Of course we celebrated the fourth of July with friends, fireworks and good food. Indiana certainly has some killer corn on the cob. Can't say as much for their melons. What is summer without good watermelon? Made me miss Green River Melon Days! Oh well. We made homemade rootbeer, an Independence Day tradition, but only because I happen to have a bottle of extract in my cupboard from the move. Before I discovered the bottle I had Joe D look at three different stores for it and no one knew what it even was. What the heck? We are in America, right? No one makes rootbeer here? So sad. Anyway, I had some lurking in the back of the cupboard and it was a super happy surprise because the fourth of July would NOT be the same without homemade rootbeer! Don't get me started on the lack of good Mexican cooking supplies out here either. Geez. It's just not the same as out west. By the way, the picture of the fireworks was taken by Sadie. Have to give credit where it is due.And the highlight of my summer at least, was that Joe D and I celebrated our ten year anniversary. I think that considering our extremely short courtship (20 days) and engagement (3 months) and how quickly a kid was added to the equation (15 months later) that we have been pretty darn successful, and have a HUGE reason to celebrate. We had an amazing plan originally. I'll tell you what they were, so you can imagine how cool it would have been if we really had celebrated that way, and then I'll tell you why we didn't go through with those plans, so you can commiserate with us.

We had plans to go to South Africa and dive with Great White Sharks. Well, Joe D was going to dive. I was going to stay behind the bars of a underwater cage and watch. And pray. If you know Joe D well, then you know he loves sharks and has always wanted to dive with great whites. Whatever. I was all about letting him fulfill his dream, cuz hey, it got me a trip to Africa! Well, then we found out that we were expecting number four and that is when those plans went out the window. Anyone who has been pregnant or loves someone that has been pregnant needs no further explanation why traveling to Africa while 7 months pregnant is not a good idea. So although we couldn't celebrate the way we had been planning, we did take a little trip together and it was HEAVEN!

My sweet and wonderful mom came and stayed with the kids for four days while Joe D and I went to Florida. Of course this was before the preterm labor problem, thank goodness!Anna Maria island is about 40 minutes outside Sarasota and it was a perfect getaway! I found us an awesome little bed and breakfast called Harrington House. Again, perfect. We opened the door to our private patio and there was the beach. I've seen the ocean several times, but it was the first time I've ever gone swimming in it. It was like swimming in a bath tub! So warm that it was a little strange. Beautiful white sandy beaches that were practically deserted. Just the kind of relaxing atmosphere that makes a perfect getaway vacation. We didn't do much of anything while we were there besides swimming, eating, reading, we did go kayaking for a bit, but mostly relaxing in the 90 degree heat and 90 percent humidity. Yikes. Forget about doing hair and makeup. That was pointless. But it wasn't always that hot. In fact most of the time it was cloudy and it rained every day, but just for a while. I'm a complete wimp while I'm pregnant, so laying around relaxing was just my kind of vacation. We found some good places to eat, got our fill of fresh seafood and fell in love with key lime pie in a whole new way. The one place we did go was to a local aquarium. It wasn't anything amazing, but it gave us something to do and we saw a few cool things. Here they are. The fish in the middle might have been the freakiest living thing I have ever seen.After four days we were missing our kids pretty bad and although part of me wanted to stay, another part of me needed to get home to my kiddos. They had a fabulous time with Grandma while we were gone. Thanks again Mom! And thanks to my wonderful husband. I laugh to think how the day I married him I thought I couldn't have loved him more than I did right then. Living life with someone gives you an appreciation for them that the word "love" doesn't quite cover. We have done a lot together in ten years and I can't wait to see what new adventures the coming years hold for us. Love you babe!