A Summer Week

As Luke is in the middle of a 16-day stretch without a single day off, Abby informed me tonight that when she grows up, she does not want to marry a doctor. She wants to marry a writer, because "they're always home."

Yes, we miss him, but we're plugging along and have had some fun this week:

We ventured out to the Starlite drive-in theater to see "Monsters University" . . . the kids loved sitting on a blanket in the grass and watching the big screen! (The movie was hilarious too.) It reminded me of my first drive-in movie--"E.T."--when I was 9 and my family was on vacation in Maine. Good times! (And yes, it required huge amounts of self-control for Luke to drive away before "Man of Steel" started!) 

Katie had a great time at a three-day Girl Scout camp (5 hours/day) at a nearby park. She was brave about going without knowing a soul and had fun making crafts, learning songs, and being in nature. 

Park day today . . . it's cool, breezy, and rainy here -- my apologies to everyone melting in the West!

More gardening/craft projects . . . I know you care about my plants. Who wouldn't care about my plants? Don't worry, I'll keep posting pictures of my plants. 

Bunny Watching & Chik-Fil-A

Summer's Here!

Swimming

Katie's Girl Scout closing ceremony

Gardening

My feeble attempt to hide The Ugliest Bush in the Entire State of Ohio with a cute flag  :)

Katie checking on the baby bunnies in our backyard nest (before the neighborhood cat discovered them)

A Sunday evening family walk to the school playground

Daily chores ~ at least somebody's excited about them!

Zoo Day!

Sarah was thrilled about petting the tortoise. 

Baby giraffe, "Lulu," with her parents.

"Uh . . . help, guys! The baby goats are bigger than I am!" (Don't worry; Luke was standing a few inches away from her in the pen.)

Baby rhino, "Suci"

Snapshots of Life . . .

Katie's mini-makeover for her half of the room yesterday:

As an entirely unrelated side note, today at breakfast I overheard Alex telling Sarah, "Eat! Who ever heard of a skinny Sarah?" and realized he was quoting Mrs. Claus in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" when she tells Santa, "Eat! Who ever heard of a skinny Santa?" It cracked me up. 

Butterfly Exhibit

We had a fun afternoon visiting the Butterflies of Morocco at the conservatory in Eden Park. The flowers and butterflies were amazing! 

It's hard to see it, but Alex is looking down at a little black, fuzzy caterpillar that he befriended.  :)

New York Road Trip

We had a great time last week traveling to upstate New York to visit our friends the Daytons. 

Starting out on the 9-hour drive

Kayaking on the lake near Merril Dayton's home, where we stayed

Carrie and Sarah at Lake Erie

Sarah, Abby, Katie, and Alex at Lake Erie

Luke and Sarah at Lake Erie

Sarah at Niagara Falls (she kept patting the spot next her and saying "sit" so I would sit by her)

Abby catching a large-mouth bass at Spaulding Lake

Luke teaching Taylor Dayton to fish

The fam at Niagara Falls

My friend Dipti (from Toronto) and me at Niagara Falls