Summer Adventures

Indeed, Alicia - 311 day is over. But, 311 day lasts all year long for me, so ... ;) You're definitely right, though - this blog is in dire need of updating.

Well, we've been getting around this summer. Hawaii, Canada, you name it. Well, I just did. But, that's a pretty big deal when you have three little kids.

The bulk of the pictures will be uploaded to Facebook because it's just so much easier. But, you can't make enough sense of the pictures without a good narrative, so I guess I'll do that here on the blog.

And off we go ...

I'll do a separate blog post for Hawaii and Canada, but here are some highlights from our summer goings-on:

- going to Hawaii in May for our 10th anniversary (technically not until August 5th, but the whole going-in-May thing was part of the surprise).

- seeing Nick Hexum in a wife-beater (oh, baby!!!). We saw 311 at Usana in June. (Paul and Sam were there, too.) I can't get enough of watching Nick do a sexy dance with the microphone stand while singing "Amber." Man, oh man!!

- watching the kids delight about the fireworks display put on by Mike in our circle on the 4th of July. (Well, Travis looks bored in this picture, but usually all three of them looked like Charlotte in this picture.)

- traveling with three kids ages 4 and under in a minivan for 12 hours. They actually did a great job, and there was much less whining than I expected. And so starts the lifetime of summer family road trips!!!

- observing, and sometimes attempting to help, as Mike expertly assembled the kids' new swingset in the back yard.

- lying on the grass with Mikey, looking up at the sky, and discussing how the wind moves the clouds, and which clouds looked like dragons and elephants.

-witnessing Mikey and Travis calling out, "Brother!!" and then hugging tightly after their first night sleeping in their new rooms. (They'd shared a room since Travis was born, and now they each have their own room.)

- hearing Charlotte's ever-growing vocabulary (which, thanks to Travis, now includes "poopy diaper" followed by giggles).

- watching Mike smile as he read and followed the trail of clues on his birthday treasure hunt to find his presents (the treasure hunt was Mikey's awesome idea - he often starts sentences with, "Hey, I have a great idea!").

Life is good. Sure, there are always ups and downs - but every day we try to savor the good moments. What an adventure!