Our family...Our Life: Summer Vacation Highlights

So, it's Labor Day and there is officially one more day left to the kids summer vacation, so I thought I would finally post an update.

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. I remembering being worried on Day 1 as I kept hearing how bored they were and what were we going to do.....at that point, we made a list of things we wanted to do this summer, so if we ever had a time when we didn't know what to do, we could look back and get some ideas. I'm happy to say, we got through pretty much everything.

July Highlights:

4th of July weekend there was a barbeque at the Klix/Allen cottage. It was a gorgeous day and Emily tried jet-skiing. Of course, she LOVED it!! There was also the annual party for our friend's daughter's birthday at Keuka Lake. Another gorgeous day, with swimming in the lake and lots of fun.

We did our 1st annual cousins camping trip. My family was going to have a picnic in Stoney Brook, so we decided to camp there for the weekend. Erin, Kory, Kris, Ryan, Donna and all the kids camped together. It started out a little rough - it was pouring rain on the way down and then when we were setting up the tents, Paul realized he didn't have poles for our (brand new, used once) tent. We had told Kris & Ryan they could use our other 4 person tent, but thank goodness Erin & Kory had an extra tent with them so that we were all able to have a a place to sleep. The rest of the weekend went much better. The seven of us had fun hanging out at the campfire after the kids were in bed - we even got a warning from the camp rangers - made this thirty something year old mom feel like a teenager again.

The girls did Vacation Bible School again this year and loved it. They were so disapppointed when it was over after just 1 week. The church really does a nice job putting it together.

Jen headed to Toledo for a scrapbooking weekend with some friends. We had lots of fun hanging out, shopping and of course, scrapbooking.

We headed to the Adirondacks with Paul's parents and his sister for a 3 day vacation. Our friend Chris was nice enough to let us use his cabin. The weather wasn't that great, but we did manage to rent a party boat one day and cruise up and down the Fulton Chain of Lakes and do some fishing. Paul and I also took the girls kayaking on this little secluded lake by the cabin. And of course, it wouldn't be a visit to Inlet without a visit to the bears for a picture.

Paul stayed an extra few days in the Adirondacks for a guys weekend at the cabin. Chris, Rob, Jason, Pete, Todd, Greg and John hung out for the weekend playing golf and kayaking.

My mom, sister and I went to the American Idol concert again this year. That has become a fun tradition. I loved seeing David Cook.

I had my first business trip in YEARS. I had to fly to Chicago for some training and was supposed to travel with someone from the office, but at the last minute he couldn't make it. I was so nervous - it had been quite a while since we'd flown anywhere as a family let alone traveled for work. It was a LONG day, but I made it through.

And of course...... lots of swimming

August Highlights

The girls did an art camp for a week. They love all things arts & crafts, so I knew this would be something they would enjoy and they really did. They got to do painting, make sculptures out of clay, did glass painting, made masks. At the end of every class they got to do face (body) painting. When I would get there, they would both be covered from head to toe with designs.

W had our annual visit to Faun Lake.

I had my 2nd business trip - this time to South Bend. I felt a little more comfortable now as I had that first trip under my belt.
Unfortunately, while I was away, I found out my Grandpa Farrell had passed away. He was the biggest Notre Dame fan I know, so I felt some comfort in being in South Bend when I heard the news. After getting back from training, Paul, the kids and I went down to Long Island for the wake and funeral.
One good thing from this time, was that my brother Brian and his family came from Wisconsin for the funeral and ended up staying at my parent's house for an extended visit for over a week. The kids had fun playing with their cousins. It was nice being able to visit with them - it had been quite a while.

We made a trip to the Rochester Museum & Science Center. The girls had both been there on field trips last year and wanted to go again. We had so much fun and didn't even get to see all of the museum, so we'll definitely being going back.

Seabreeze - summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to Seabreeze. This was Joey's first time and he loved all the rides. Emily was big enough now to go on all the rides and, of course, being the dare devil that she is, went on everything - roller coaster, upside down rides, you name it. Paul and I are trying to figure out where she comes from since neither of us were like that at her age (who am I kidding, I'm still not like that).

And we've been closing up our last weekend of summer with a trip to the zoo, a Red Wings game and a the Klix / Allen cottage for Uncle Charlie's Birthday.