Oh How I Love Summer

Seriously love.  It is my absolute favorite time of year.  And what's not to love?  Sunshine, tan lines, sunscreen (oooooooooh I LOVE the smell of sunscreen!!), boating, swimming, barbecuing, late nights, sleeping in, walks in the middle of the day, time with my kids, time with my friends.  Man, I wish summer could go on forever!!  And just when summer can't get any better they throw in the Olympics which I cannot get enough of.  Ahhhhhhhhh!  I love it so much!!

This summer we have been going like crazy people and I have loved every second of it.  Between visiting my grandpa in Portland to camping for our TENTH anniversary, we've barley even slept in our own beds.  Oh and did I mention that in between all that we had two sets of house guests and spent almost 3 weeks at our lake cabin?  I'm telling you, we have been busy!

So here is a quick glimpse at what we have been doing.

Once our house guests left, I had a little incident with a pitch fork (don't even ask) and spent the next three days on the couch.  Which turned out okay because the weather was gloomy, we were all exhausted and the Olympics were on!!!  We cheered for our country "A-mer-i-ca  A-mer-i-ca!"  and learned about sports we had never seen before (they were particularly fascinated by water polo).  It was just what we needed to get rested up for two more weeks of fun in the sun.

Once I could walk again, we headed back to the lake for the hotest weekend of the summer.  Apparently it has been two years since we last saw 90 degrees and I couldn't have been happier to be sitting on the dock for those three days!  And we had so much fun!

We did a little rowing

 And some tubing (yes, they are a little big to have all three of us on there at the same time and no, I do not know why Ben is facing backward but he rode that way the whole time.)

 We did a little more skiing

 And spent HOURS jumping into the inner tubes

 and swimming in the lake.

 We did a little fishing

 and even caught 4 fish!!

 And I found out that she really is my girl.  When Grandma asked her if she wanted to go for a bike ride she said, "No.  I just want to stay here and sit in the sun with my mom."  I am so in love with her!

 All that jumping and swimming

 and boating and fishing

 made us REALLY tired!

 When we got home from the lake, we had 16 hours to do all the laundry and repack (oh and sleep too) before our first family camping trip.  We headed out to Lake Tanwax where the lake was brown (something that I never really got comfortable with) but pretty, none the less.

And we went back to doing what we do best.  Jumping and swimming and skiing.

 The kids both tried to ski by themselves and they did it!!

 Ben even got brave enough to ask to go faster!!  As soon as one was done, the other would request another turn.  All.  day.  long.

 And they couldn't get enough swimming either.

 And have you ever met cuter kids?!??

 Our trip wasn't all about the water.  We also did some biking

 And rock painting (thanks Mom and Dad for the supplies!)

 And of course, we did some mallow roasting!

 And once again, we slept well!!  (Don't laugh at the interior of our camper...it is older than us!)

 The next day, Abby went wake boarding with Robbie and loved it...

 until she felt like we were going too fast!

 But she recovered quickly...

 We spent our evenings by the campfire

 and playing "Ticket to Ride" which I have probably played 87 times this summer.  (Because it is so much fun!!)

And all of this to celebrate that we have been married a decade!!

 
While it feels like forever ago, I find it hard to believe that it has been 10 years.  3 houses, twins, a number of jobs and building our dream house...who would have guessed?  10 years from now, who knows where we'll be.   We'll have two teenagers (Lord help me) getting ready to drive (I can't even think about that!) and hopefully we will have gotten some things done in our yard by then (at least I'm hoping that the wood shed is finished).

Today, the kids each have a friend over and I am having the best time listening to them play together.  And while summer will be winding down in the next few weeks as the three of us get ready for our first days of kindergarten, we plan to play as much as we can.  In the yard, the pool and hopefully a couple more trips out on the boat.

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE summer?!!