Living, Loving, Learning

Helllllooooo lovelies. Just wanted to pop into to tell you it will be quiet around here. We leave for our summer holiday at 4 AM!! We are headed first to Lancaster, PA and then onto the Cape. I can't wait. All the sisters will be there with their husbands/boyfriend/children and of course the MOMS! We will be gone until August....so I will be regaling you with my travelouges once we get home and situated. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we have 22 hours on the road each way with 2 adults, 2 children and 1 puppy in our station wagon. Take care. Enjoy these hot summer days, soak it up in your bones, make many memories to comfort you in those long dreary frigid February days! Big Love to you Friends!

This talk is AMAZING. I felt like she was talking directly to me, answering questions I had just posed. LOVE IT!!

We had an awesome time last Friday at the finale of the summer reading program. First, there was a concert by Rick Rayburn that the kids LOVED!! He played lots of fun songs and really go them up and dancing. Griffin and Lucy were so happy to have all their good friends their too! Griffin was totally in his element with his best buddy Jacob, and his two new best girl friends Madeline and Jenna. Lucy, Gabe and Carli joined right in too! Afterwards, Ms. Angel started handing out prizes and Griffin won, TWICE! He was so excited to get tickets to Holiday World (a local amusement park/water park) and a ball/catch toy that will be great to take to the beach. The topper for the evening was definitely when Ms. Angel got slimed ...the kids thought that was AWESOME! Afterward we were able to chat with some friends and go to dinner with another family, overall a great night for everyone!

"We need to save the old growth forests as a matter of national defense."

I think we MAYBE have had 10 days this whole summer without some planned activity ...and that doesn't include the necessary errands that make the world go round. This week has been no exception! This week is the finale to the summer reading program through our public library. We are even double dipping, seeing as I have two, each enrolled into different programs, they are both attending each other's events. On Monday we attended a water crafts event where Griffin made his own bubbles, a contained tornado, and some bizarre substance that is sometimes solid sometimes liquid. I think the Goo part was his favorite. On Tuesday we skipped library activities because the theatre was showing one of our favorite movies, Curious George, for free so we HAD to go! On Wednesday we attended a Pirate Party to celebrate for the 1-4 yrs olds . Of course, Griffin got in on that action. I pulled from some random miss match of dress up clothes and old Halloween costumes and we came up with this....

We started out our Independence Day celebration with a daybreak visit to the bison and elk conservation area. We saw a ton of bison...no elk though. Guess that is for another time. This guy was so close to the car I could have stuck my hand out the window and touched him! The kids were SUPER excited about this close examination opportunity. After breakfast we headed out to the Mossy Creek area of Kentucky Lake and all went for a swim together, even Lottie. We had such a great time...although, see that gravel in the parking lot, that went all the way into the lake bottom, so tough on tender feet. Everyone got good and tired. We went back to our campsite and had lunch and played games and then took a little drive into town again to give everyone a little relief from the heat. All in all, it was a fantastic family weekend. Bruce and I ended our last night there by having a ceremonial burning of my cast. It felt good to let go of the pain, worry and anxiety that my accident caused us. ...

We had a really great weekend. We were in dire need of some family fun, just the four of us. We have a had an amazing summer thus far, filled with friends and family but once in a while it is good for just the 4 of us to get back to basics and check in with one another. We headed out to Energy Lake campground in LBTL, site B 4. It was a GREAT spot. Private and quiet yet an easy walk to the well and the bathroom....I totally recommend it! The only downfall was the gravel, but all the sites at that campground had the same thing. This photo, the one where they are clean and being helpful, that was taken a few minutes after we arrived. The wee ones were surprisingly gung ho about helping set up camp. It was around 5 when we got there on Friday, so the evening was consumed with starting a fire, cooking dinner on said fire, and setting up camp. Y'all know I like to keep things organized and there had to be a place for everything...even when camping. The next morning, the kids actually ...

We just had an amazing visit from Sara and Leo. We enjoyed plenty of adult time at night, but during the day the kids took full advantage. I was so impressed and thankful for the way Sara and Leo put the time and attention and love into really connecting with our kids. Griffin recruited Uncle Leo into MANY sessions of Star Wars on the wii. When not playing wii, Griffin thought Uncle Leo was his personal jungle gym! He could not get enough of having his Auntie and Uncle around and started crying on Wednesday and the IDEA of them leaving the next day. Lucy kept ASKING (I know, amazing, right?!?!) Auntie Sara to play in her room with her. In fact, when they left yesterday she was so tore up about it. She wouldn't look at them or hug them when they were getting in the car. As they pulled out she started crying so hard she couldn't breathe, she totally fell apart. She really LOVES them. It is sweet to see! Now I am trying to throw things together for a four day camping trip. W...