We're still here!

We haven't fallen off the planet; we've just had a fun, busy summer . . . topped off by a great gathering in Breckenridge, Colorado, with my family. (See picture attempts #4 and # 386 below.)

Now that school is back in session, hopefully I will get organized and blog about our summer adventures! Stay tuned!!

After the rain . . .

. . . comes the rainbow (and lots of splashy puddles!).

Summer Fun

It's been a busy, fun summer so far! Here is a peek at what we've been up to:

Abby and Katie took swimming lessons for three weeks and both did great! Abby learned to jump off the diving board with no one catching her, and Katie reported to me several times, "I went under the water and didn't drown!"

We had some of Abby's kindergarten classmates and their families over to celebrate their teacher, Mrs. Clark, winning the Teacher of the Year award. (She is awesome!)

We had a fun time, and the event gave us a deadline for whipping the yard into shape.

The girls (especially Abby) were SO excited about Father's Day! They waited on the front lawn in 95-degree weather (plus humidity), for a very long time on Sunday morning, until Daddy came home from his overnight shift. It was very cute! (They were holding their cards and a gift for him.) Abby was disappointed that she couldn't bring Daddy breakfast in bed, since he ate at the hospital . . . but there's always next year!

We've had many sightings of this shy baby bunny, who loves to munch on our backyard clover.

We've been reading LOTS of books and making trips to the library to get prizes from the summer reading program. The favorite prizes so far are giant beach balls (about as tall as Alex) that have kept everyone quite entertained. I'll have to get pictures of the kids with those.

We've also gone through about 10 bags of freezer pops already, trying to keep cool. (It's not so much the kids who are addicted to them . . . or me . . . guess who?) ;)

Taking My Zoo to the Zoo . . .

Yesterday was quite the sticky, sweaty adventure for our crew! Just picture me carting Alex and Katie all over the zoo trying to find Abby's kindergarten class (in 90-degree weather, probably 90% humidity), and you'll get the idea. Imagine my relief when my phone rang and a classmate's mom said, "We're over at the sting rays!" Abby had remembered my phone number . . . her amazing memory saved the day. (I guess it paid off that we've rehearsed what to do if she's ever lost . . . only this time, I was the lost one!)

Lesson learned by Mommy: Don't be late for a field trip!

Riding the train (for our first time, after MANY zoo visits!). We're usually just all about the free stuff. :)

Here's Abby with some of her friends (and Katie blending right in!).

We loved the butterfly house--another first on this zoo visit.

Mini-Triathlon

I'm so proud of my triathlete! On Saturday Luke competed in a mini-triathlon in St. Genevieve, Missouri--about an hour from here. He swam 200 yards, biked 9 miles, and ran 2 miles in 46 minutes, taking 2nd place in his age group and 4th overall! His friends Mike and George competed too, and our three families made a mini-road trip out of it. It was a fun day!

--The TOUGH GUYS with their race-day tattoos--