Where is the time going???

Well, I apparently took a much needed yet totally unplanned break from my blog this summer!  We have been having a great summer so far and I guess I've just been enjoying it too much to even write about it.  Here is a quick recap and some pictures of what we've done in July and the first week in August. 

Marina enjoyed a day-long horse camp at the barn where she takes lessons.  At the end of their day they did a mini show.  These pictures are of her riding Bru, a 30 year old horse.  He is pretty slow and can't jump high, but a big, sweet horse.  She does not ride Bru for her lessons, but the pony she usually rides, Boogie, was with another girl at a horse show.  I'm so proud of how well she is doing with her riding.....and she loves it more than ever! 

 We finally visited the air show in Battle Creek on July 4th.  The highlight of the day was watching hte Blue Angels fly.  Amazing!  I didn't get any pictures of them, but here are a few of the balloons that were there.  It was incredibly hot, but really quite fun! 

 We did our first camping trip in 3 years and had a great weekend.  It was just our family and we stayed at a campground just an hour away from home.  I love how much the kids loooove camping! 

The kids enjoyed a week of VBS at our church and Mike and I enjoyed helping.  I was the leader for Xavier's group and we had a lot of fun.  We are all still singing those great VBS songs! 

We took a little impromptu mini family vacation and went to Chicago for a couple of days.  We visited the Field Museum, shopped at the American Girl store, the Lego store and the Disney Store, we visited Millenium Park and played in the fountains and visited the "bean," and we spent an afternoon at Navy Pier and the Chicago Children's Museum.  It was an awesome couple of days and the kids enjoyed a taste of big city life.  Xavier LOVED riding in the taxi!  We all had a great time and can't wait to go back. 

 My sister and her family stayed with my parents for a week at the end of July and it was great to see them while they were here.  My kids loved swimming and playing with their cousin!  Wish we got to do that a whole lot more!

Last week we spent 2 days in Muskegon.  We visited Lake Michigan one day and Michigan's Adventure the next.  Great fun!  All 3 of our kids really loved the rides and keep asking when we can go back. 

We just got home today from a weekend camping trip with our church friends.  It was a great weekend and fun to spend that amount of time with them.  The kids all do so well together and mine came home totally exhausted today.  A sign of a great time!  

This weekend my big kids will be going on a road trip with my parents down to Ohio.  They will get the chance to visit another amusement park and I know they are excited about it.  And my little one will be spending the weekend with Mike's parents.  And Mike and I.....well, we haven't decided yet what we will do but you can bet we'll enjoy our time but miss our kids, too! 

School starts in 4 weeks.  I'm not ready.  Having my kids home this summer has been SO fun and I'm not anxious for it to end.  I guess that's not my decision to make though, so I'll just have to deal with it!  :O) 

That's the abbreviated version of our past 5 weeks.  There's plenty more fun to come!  Thanks for checking in on us.  I'll try not to let time slip away from me again before my next update! 

Happy summer!

Love,

Kristen