Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sweet Sweet Summertime


Well, it looks like summer is coming to a close for us.  School starts back next week and with that there will be a few new additions to our already busy schedule.  Ryan is running cross country this year and has already been in training the past month or so.  Emma is moving up to level 3 in gymnastics which means an additional 3 hour practice each week and that she will be participating in meets.  Of course as luck would have it, Ryan's meets are on Saturdays which is the same day as Emma's second practice.  I joked on facebook the other night that we will be "meeting" ourselves coming and going. haha!

So, we'll be busy these next few days trying to get in as many of the 'sweet sweet summertime' fun things that we enjoy so. 

For the girls, that just so happens to be watermelon.

Happy Thursday!

Monday, August 1, 2011

A Laid Back Vacation


Vacations are important to our family, seems like whether it's a year of feast or famine we get in one kind of vacation or another. A few years ago Ryan had set a goal of visiting all 50 state capitols and so we started trying to schedule our vacations in different areas so we could fit in a few visits. Prior to that we had pretty much just always gone to the beach, but we had gotten a little tired of the same ol' thing so the state capitol tour was a good diversion. However, my family let me know this past year that they were tired of these 'on the go' vacations and went so far as to accuse me of 'force marching' them. Now that's what every mother wants to be known for - 'force marching'. Ryan lobbied very hard for the beach and so the beach it was.

So our vacation this year did not include a single trip to a state capitol - although I did try to get one in while heading down there, but it wasn't open on Saturdays. But our vacation did consist of:
  • Sleeping in
  • Swimming in the ocean
  • Playing in the sand
  • Staring at the colorful beach umbrellas
  • Taking a nap or two out by the ocean
  • Drinking coffee and watching the dolphins swim by
  • Swimming in the pool
  • Back to the beach
  • Back to the pool
  • A trip to Lambert's where they throw these huge rolls to you - lots of fun!
  • Ryan spent quite a bit of time just swinging in a porch swing that overlooked the ocean - and making new friends.
  • A requisite trip to drive go karts
  • And last but not least, eating our fill of seafood
All in all ... it was pretty darn relaxing!  We just might have to do this again next year.