A Plethora of Catching Up

I've been MIA for quite some time. Mostly because I took on a full time chauffeur job when school let out and have done nothing more than cart children to VBS, swimming lessons, the pool, ball games and the like. Not that I'm complaining. The pool is a nice change of pace from a classroom for the next few months. Nevertheless, our summer has been flying with very little regard for my opinion on wanting it to stick around for awhile. Here was our June in pictures.

Vacation Bible School

I finally finished the Harry Potter series. It was a sad day when it was finished.

I got to watch my niece Marley and my beautiful cousins as well as former students in their Robin's School of Dance recital. It's one of my favorite things to do every year. :)

Our good friend Missy had a lead role in the Sioux Center Community Theater performance of "Quilters". It was a great play!

The pool is one of our hot spots. We hit it up about 3-5 times a week depending on the weather. Dan takes his one hour lunch break with us most days. The kids love it!

Celebrating Aubree's birthday at the end of June with cake and a park play date!

Jae's first year playing with the Sioux Center girls. It was a ton of fun to watch her grow in her position as catcher. I can't wait to see her continue growing next year!

Carter had a successful year in 3rd and 4th grade ball this year. He loved playing with the bigger boys. He had a winning season, a few pop fly catches and a 2nd place finish at their last tournament.

Our traditional trip to Getting's Garden to pick  strawberries with friends

A class taken with friends/colleagues turned into an impromptu overnight with Mexican, a trip to the candy store, lots of laughter and deep discussions, and an unforgettable story about a "wet dog" and some stinky shoes. Love these ladies.

Sawyer had a great year as well. He's getting better at making contact with the ball and following directions from his coaches. He loves t-ball!

Our grand finale ending our busy, yet fulfilling June was our family vacation to Long Lake in Park Rapids, MN. This was the first long vacation we have taken as a family without anyone else in forever. After much discussion and a few shed tears, it was agreed that Bayside Resort on Potato Lake needed to be retired. It's not the right fit for our family anymore, and I wanted to make sure the memories that my family and I had were good ones, so we found another cabin in the same area on a different lake and were impressed with the space the cabin provided us. We brought along our nieces too, and it didn't seemed cramped or crowded at all with the seven of us. 

Despite a chilly start, warmer weather came around. We spent our days and evenings doing a lot of swimming, hydro biking, fishing, playing cards, reading, and enjoying each other's company. We even took the kids to the Minions movie at the oldest movie theater we've ever been in. It was quite something. I love going away. I love coming home. I love how refreshed I feel after I've spent a week doing nothing but reflecting and enjoying my family. Ready to tackle July!

Our sanity was spared by cranking up our tunes and listening to headphones so we didn't go crazy listening to Spongebob for 3 straight hours. Parenting #win

Card game of choice this week- SkipBo. I think we played at least 30 times. No joke.

Even 63 degree weather won't deter their plans to take out the tube.

After MUCH negotiating and begging and pleading and bribing, we got all 5 of them on the tube for a slow ride (read drift).  By the end of the week, we had Carter doing Jaedyn speeds, and even smiling about it!

Okay. This kid melts my heart. He randomly plants one on you when you least expect it. I love my little dude.

My biggest little and my smallest little setting the tone for fun. 

Taking a little break from tubing to eat some snacks and play king of the raft.

Flex break

Everyone took turns driving the boat, but she's the one that looks the most natural. Wah. 16 is too close for comfort. :(

Riding the front of the boat waiting for the big waves is totally her thing. The squeals of laughter were to die for.

Their masterpiece.

Can I just say how awesome these hydrobikes are? They are like a cross between a bike and a paddleboat. Heck of a workout. Kept my kids busy all week.

Another daily event was the Maui Mat. They were quite disappointed that the trampoline had a hole in it, but they made do by making up plenty new games on the make shift raft. 

Dad doesn't hold back when he plays King of the Raft. This game gets quite intense.

Two peas in a pod

See what I mean? Heart snatcher.

Have to have at least one selfie on vacation.

Where we spent many hours of dock fishing last week. Hard to find a spot for 5 poles though. :/

After big brother caught his award winning bass....Little brother was super pumped about catching his own. While diseased and probably dying, he was on cloud 9.

Big brother's said catch. :) Making Grandpa Dave proud.

I have a lot of posts swirling around in my head. One in particular on depression and how it's kind of taken over my life this last year. I hope to be able to spill it onto a page in coherent fashion soon. Stay tuned. :)

Happy Monday!