A Favorite Friend

Our neighboring town, Joliet, has a baseball team known as the Slammers. Each summer, their team brings in players from all across the country/world and those players need homes to stay in while they're here. My sister, being a homeowner with an extra room and a teacher with a summer full of freedom, decided to host one of the players this year. Little did we know, her "foster" child for the summer would win over the hearts of our kids. Originally from New York City, Jonathan has been a great temporary addition to the family and the kids love him. Leah has become borderline obsessed with him! Caleb has gone to see several of the games (free tickets are just one perk of hosting a player) and Leah even had the chance to see a game. We sure are glad that TiTi took this on for the summer because Jonathan has helped us make some very special memories. He will definitely be missed when he has to head home!

The Great Outdoors

This summer has been an abnormally cool one, which has meant that we've spent tons of time outside without sweating our tails off! I do love those super hot summer days, but with little kids, it sure is nice to be able to go out as often as possible without the fear of everyone sweating to death. Anyhow, with the gorgeous weather, we've made it a point to make up for the long winter months we suffer through here in Chicago. Every single day is spent with at least a little bit of time outside. I obviously don't have pictures to document it all, but here are some of our favorites:

From the pool dates with friends, to the strolls around the zoo, to the blueberry picking, and beyond....this has been one heck of a summer. Oh, and don't forget the smore making and backyard watermelon eatin'! Life is full of fun when you share it with the most wonderful 5, 3, and 1 year olds you've ever known!

The Lake

One of the best things about summer is that we get to go to the lake. It is, by far, my most favorite vacation....and the kiddos seem to have the same opinion. So far, we've been to the lake twice this summer. The first trip was just a quick one with Grandma Leslie, the kiddos, and myself. This past trip, however, was a wonderfully long and relaxing trip with the whole family. The first few days were spent with the Sturm side of the family and the last week was with the Lamonts. We had great weather the entire time and got to really enjoy our 10 days of family time. Of course, I had a billion pictures to choose from, but the following seem to sum it all up quite well....

Lots of fun with Aunt D (who we don't get to see nearly enough). We also got to spend some time with Jack and Grace (Uncle Dave and Aunt Nancy's grandkids).

 Quality time with Auntie Kalyn (another one that we don't see enough of).

 Grandpa Ron had fun on the dock with these two...and Grandma Sue was usually busy keeping Joel entertained upstairs.

 We found a really fun park for the kids to play at. For most of the trip, the weather was unseasonably cool, so we didn't always get a chance to swim first thing in the day. We made up for that by finding plenty of other things to do!

 Daddy managed to get lots of relaxation and fun in on the trip. For someone who works so hard, it's nice to have 10 days away from his job. This is the first time he's had a job where he really can leave it ALL behind when he goes on vacation!

 The kids took a liking to tubing. I'm not a huge fan, but I will definitely be excited when they learn to waterski!

 We had plenty of fun taking the paddle boat out....the only downside is that the adults are the ones that have to do all the work!

 We got to sneak away for a few hours to go on a date! It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 8th anniversary.

 The favorite hangout still seems to be at the "mushroom pool" (as the kids call it). The zero depth pool is great for the kids. Caleb is still brave and swimming sans floaties. Leah runs around like a wild woman (shocking, I know). And Joel loves just floating around by himself in the pool.

 Since we spent most of the afternoons down at the dock with the big kids, Joel got the kiddie pool all to himself on the deck. It was a win for us all.

 The kids both loved watching Daddy fish and they each got their own fishing poles....which supplied hours of entertainment.

 As usual, we ate yummy food all week and got extra special treats that we don't always have at home.

 The kids did tons of jumping and swimming off the dock. It was so much fun to watch! Unfortunately, all the splishing and splashing led to Caleb getting a horrible swimmer's ear infection at the end of the trip.

 Having a place we love to go to and getting the chance to make such sweet memories is such a blessing. I have thousands of precious memories of my childhood at the lake and now a new generation gets to experience that. This picture sums up just how marvelous our time together was.

And this final picture sums up just how much fun the kids truly have. So much fun that they wake up at the crack of dawn excited to start another day....but wearing themselves out by having so much fun that they nap like crazy (even sometimes the 5 year old gives in and takes a little snooze)!