Highlights of the Summer, 2011

I chaperoned a few field trips before school was out.  Went with Rebecca's class to a local bowling alley.

Someone convinced the management that we should have Cosmic Bowling.  I was pretty excited about that...I've never been in black lights before.

 Then it was the kids' last day of school--June 9.  We had big plans for that day...when they got off the bus we'd head for Pennsylvania to visit my Uncle Delmar.

 Travelling through Chicago it was a little bit rainy.  And lots of traffic...

 We packed pretty light.  I'm pleased to say I did most of the packing.  Not easy for a family of five, planning to be on the road for 10 days.

 We drove the turnpikes because they were the quickest.  Downside, they ate lots of dollars...about $42 or so just on the way out.

 Pennsylvania, we're finally there!

 We went all the way to the Atlantic Coast and swam in the ocean at Ocean City, New Jersey.

 Our family with Delmar

 We toured Philadelphia and stood in front of Betsy Ross's house on Flag Day.  We didn't even plan that...we're just cool like that.

 We stayed near the Lancaster area and toured a pretend Amish house.

 We drove over to Gettysburg and drove around there for a day.

 I loved the Gettysburg National Cemetery, where President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address.

 Realized we were very near Shanksville, the site of the plane crash in a field on September 11, 2001.

 We were only able to see the Memorial under construction, but it was still very sobering.

 Three days after we got home, the kids and I packed up again and headed to the airport to pick up Lee, and then drove down to our sister's home to celebrate niece Jaina's high school graduation.

 Five days later the kids and I got home, unpacked the van, came in the house and found a note that said John was waiting for us at a nearby campground.  So we packed again, got back in the van, and spent the week camping.

 We attended a family reunion, where the kids found puppies.

 We watched baby kitties being born, for an up-close biology lesson.

 We climbed around the rocks of Taylor's Falls, an annual summer tradition.

 Mom and Dad came to help us celebrate Clayton's 7th birthday, and we rode the light rail train to the Mall of America and Ikea just to say we had.

We traded kids for a week--Chet for Rebecca.  John and I took the boys to the County Fair one night.

When Brina came to pick up Chet, she and the girls had a surprise for him...a new puppy!

John and I drove out to Mike and Amanda's for a weekend.  Amanda took family pictures of us!

The kids had a great time playing together.

In the last couple weeks of Summer vacation, I took the kids to the Oliver Kelley Farm, where they could experience life on a farm in the 1860's.

We went fishing several times, once at this muddy river.

It was the first time I'd ever seen a worm run up the hook to avoid being swallowed.

We helped our sweet niece Leanne celebrate her 16th birthday...

 Another Family Reunion, this time at my Uncle Lorin's barn... check out http://www.theenchantedbarn.com/

The girls at breakfast on Monday morning, Labor Day

Tuesday, the day after Labor Day:  the kids started school.  It's the last year they'll all be in the same building.  The number of fingers they're holding up indicates the grades they're in.

Mom and Dad, Jerry and Brina, and our family went camping at Frontenac State Park.  I went for a walk one morning and saw this in the fog.

October 1 John and I took the kids camping again, this time at William O'Brien State Park.  Beautiful...just beautiful.

Then the next weekend the kids and I went out to Bob and Ruth's for a potluck, met Jerry and Brina and Rich and Carol there.  We got to ride horses.

That night, John and I drove to Jerry and Brina's house, where we celebrated Jerry and John's 44th birthdays.

After a huge lunch we took a walk with Quincy on a beautiful Autumn afternoon.

And that's all I've got for now.  I've spared you hundreds and hundreds of other photos...but hopefully you get a good idea of what we've been up to.  It was a crazy busy summer and the trend continues into Autumn.  We're often on the road, packing, unpacking, visiting...we've gotten to experience so much and I hope the kids appreciate it :)  I know they enjoy it.

Alright...I'm going to do it

As you may have noticed, I have not updated my blog since early June.  Not sure how I let it go this long, and of course the longer I go between posts, the harder it is to catch up.  But I decided that I don't have to post ALL the pictures, just the highlights.
So, here it goes.  If you've already seen the pictures on facebook, well, this is nothing new then.  Sorry.

time for pictures

I have posted most, if not all, of these pictures on facebook.  If you've seen them there, feel free to disregard these next few blog entries.  I have some family who doesn't have facebook, but looks for updates :)

I have two awesome models

And Jaina is a great photographer

I love taking pictures of Jaina and Leanne--they're fun and carefree. So of course, I always have several pictures of them whenever we're together :)

wagon ride