"Our" Pool

We are so lucky to have moved into a house that has the neighborhood pool essentially in our backyard. I have to say we DID take full advantage of that this summer. It was nice to be able to look out the window and see if the pool was crowded or empty (which it often was), or see if any of our friends were swimming, or if our favorite lifegaurds were working, or just to watch for fun. Lauren and Ellie really improved their swimming this summer. Ellie can now swim the entire length of the pool. It's really amazing. The resulting bonus is that Ellie is no longer worried about getting water in her ears while in the tub (a problem that has been driving me crazy for years now).
Richard likes to point out that we were there for the closing this year. Yes, indeed, our family (and only our family) was swimming up to the very last possible moment before the close of the season. We'll see you again next year New Friend.

A Day at the Morton Arboretum

On a couple of our last days in Plainfield we decided to try to take advantage of our membership at the Morton Arboretum. It truly is a wonderful place to enjoy nature. There are children's play areas, hiking trails, picnic areas, paved walking paths, and a guided tour via shuttle bus which we took. I wish we had gone there more. But I seem to be the only one who feels that way as you can tell by the overenthusiatic expressions on the lovely faces of my children.

Summer of Family

Summer

Here are a few of the things we did this summer.
To be brief, we enjoyed:
*seeing all of our relatives
*hanging out with cousins for a long time
*playing with snakes
*boating and water-skiing (BTW-my bruise healed nicely after about 2 weeks)
*playing at the water park with cousins
*quick trip to Sacramento
*biking around Monterey Bay with Ellie
*lodging steps away from the Pacific shore (I recommend the Best Western Beach Resort)
*eating at Macaroni Grill while being entertained by my opera singing friend
*4-wheeling with Grandpa
*eating food from the garden

Did I miss anything? Probably. Please leave it in the comment section if you remember something I didn't. It was great to see most of you.

My family

I'll try to catch up on our summer activities now.

About 4 days after our move, we loaded up whatever belongings we had been able to find so far, left a house full of unpacked boxes, and headed to Utah for our much anticipated family reunion/50th anniversary for my parents.
Highlights included:
-yummy food
-singing with my family
-rope making (thank you Royce)
-candy launcher (thank you Logan)
-horseback riding (thank you Charlie)
-playing with cousins
-being all together since I don't know when

I wish we could do it again soon.

P.S. my photos are limited to whatever I could grab from other's blogs, facebook, etc. I was without camera the entire trip, but found it carefully packed in the backpack I was going to take, but decided at the last minute not to, along with my phone charger and a few other things that would have been nice to have. Darn.

Ellie's Place

A while ago a friend of mine blogged about her kids playing "getting-accepted-to-college" which included things like excitement upon receiving the acceptance letter, thinking about the school mascot, packing for college, etc. I thought that was so hilarious and totally unique play for children all under the age of 7.
Well, about one week later Ellie made this poster and a couple of menus too. She was playing "opening-her-own-business" which included a grand opening complete with ribbon cutting, thanking everyone for coming, talking to the newspapers, and making sure everyone was happy. On the menu was spaghetti, pizza, breadsticks, sandwiches, and a few other main dish items. There were also desserts like milkshakes, cookies, and cake. All items were available to order that evening thanks to Richard who couldn't let this type of play go unnoticed or unsatisfied in any way.
Thanks Ellie for the delicious meal. I'll return anytime.

8th Grade Grad

Congrats Maddie!
Maddie was the recipient of the Presidential Academic Excellence Award. She was voted by her peers "Best Female Musician" and "Best Actress". She was a member of Student Council this year and Band. She has 4 poems published in the school literary magazine. She has seen great success this year and will really miss her friends and teachers. But, she has proven that she is capable of great things. I'm totally proud of this gorgeous girl.