We kicked off the summer with an awesome trip to Holiday World where we thoroughly enjoyed the water park, free sunscreen, free drinks, and loads of fun trying to scare our girls on the rides.
We had numerous playdates with our new IRL friends of Taming Insanity infamy. They love to play dress-up too, and KZ is awesome-sauce, so it was a perfect fit from the beginning.
Annika got to go to four different camps, and the final one she got to attend with her sister at the Children's Museum of Evansville.
Remember that trip to DC that I got to take without my kids? Well, I also got to see some amazing old friends such as my previous grad school office-mate Prisca. I seriously LOVE this lady!
Andy & his mother (aka Nana) had an adventure in gardening that did NOT turn out well due in part to these lovely fellows that we found on the tomato plants.
In case you were wondering, that is a horn worm. They were about 4-5 Inches long and at least the circumference of a nickel, fat and disgusting. They were REALLY well camouflaged and hard to find, but the girls really loved playing with them and then sending them into the lake for the fish to eat.
We went to the Zoo more times than I can count, and the girls had a great time every single time. Here they are playing in one of the misters on a very hot day.
I got to hang out with my BFF Theresa more this summer than in the past 7 years combined. That was so great! Here we are at her family's cabin by a gorgeous lake. We actually got to go without the girls and had a great time just sunning ourselves, eating way too much food, and jumping off the sun-deck into the lake water to wave at passing boats. I also got to go to see NKOTB with this girl, and we reminisced about our favorite new kids and all the paraphernalia we used to have. (My favorite was and will always be Jordan Knight, in case you were wondering.)
Speaking of Cabins, we also got to go the Melch family cabin weekend this year. We had so much fun tubing with the girls and cruising the lake with the whole family. We ate too much and slathered sunscreen on like it was our job. The kids had a blast collecting tiny frogs, and we all remembered how much fun we have together. Chad and Andy had so much fun that they passed out on the couch after dinner one night--normal for Chad, but unusual for Andy.
Our dear friends from Cleveland Meagen & her son Sean (Annika's previous boyfriend) came all the way down to visit us. Andy was kind enough to put all three kids to bed one night so that Meagen and I could drink some beers at our favorite local brewery and talk like the old friends we are now. My personal favorite topic we discussed: the definition of a hipster.
While Meagen & Sean were here, we kept our usual Taming Insanity playdate, and even managed to score ONE picture (out of at least 30 taken) with all the kids' faces in it. It isn't perfect, but it perfectly sums up the chaos that our lives are most of the time.
Did I mention that we went camping again with another family that we love and had a super-fun though mosquito infested weekend with them? Just typing all that out makes me exhausted, and that's not even counting all the trips to the pool, etc etc etc that we fit in too. It was the most amazing summer, and we intentionally made it so because we knew that it was the last one before both girls will be in school.
Tomorrow begins the school year for both our girls, and the fall will eventually show up full of sweaters and jeans. Mayzie will be attending preschool 3 half days a week, and Annika will be in Kindergarten full time. The morning routine rush out the door begins again, and I'll spend my evenings packing bags. Weekend time will fill up quickly, as it always does, and this next season is sure to fly by in a different wave of busy.
For now, I'm still living in my sun dresses and loving running before the heat of the day becomes completely oppressive. The highs are mostly in the lower 80s, which feels nice now. The nights are cooler now, and we know that this lovely season will fade sooner than we want it to. Don't get me wrong, I love the fall. It is my favorite season actually. This summer has just been so outrageously amazingly fun that I don't want it to end. Could I have fallen in love with summer again simply because we finally have central air for the first time in 8 years? I think there might be a connection. Whatever it is, I'm a little sad to see it go.
