Oh dear! 3 months is much too long!

Oh dear!  Three months is MUCH too long to not write in your blog spot!  I suppose only the "die-hards" will ever bother checking my site again!  LOL!  Maybe that's good, though, and I've now shaken all the shallow folks.  HMMMMM....or maybe I'm one of them??  Who knows?

So, a catch up:

-ran a lot in April, May and June, until school ended....

-school ended, with all the hoopla that goes with that....you know..... teacher gifts, end of year presents, folks cramming in last minute parties and celebrations, graduation from 8th grade for one of my children, cleaning out lockers, looking for lost stuff, etc.

-went to the beach with family and relatives in June....wonderful!  (Can we do that again?)  There were 13 of us all together.  We biked, played games, made scrapbooks, took naps, sat on the beach for hours, and had ice cream almost every night!!  We were scrapping booking in "real time" as my sister-in-law had one of those "handy-dandy-print-your-pictures-right-from-the-camera" mini printers!!!  How fun is that!

-various camps and the preparations for those for my 4 children

-dental appointments and check-ups and making the ones still needed, as well as quick trips to the pharmacy to make sure every child I sent anywhere had whatever he/she might need

-a "quickie" trip to DUCK!!  What fun!  Duck is on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, and although I lived in North Carolina for 17 years, I had never yet visited the Outer Banks.....I was so excited.  I took just my 2 girls when my 2 boys were at a basketball camp.  We visited some friends who were staying there and got to stay in their condo which was steps from the beach and a their pool as well.  We ate a lovely dinner one night over looking the sound side to watch the sun set.  It was beautiful.  Got a nice run in there, by the way....it was pretty hot, but I was determined to run on the Outer banks.....sounds like the "Outer Limits" doesn't it??  Oh, and we went up to the top of a really old LIGHTHOUSE, too!

-talked with one of my brothers for over an hour on the ride home-----I thought of him after passing basically nothing for miles, except signs like "Beware!  Bear next 25 miles" ...wouldn't want to break down there.  Anyway, I called him because I was certainly out in the BOONDOCKS!!  Is that how you spell that?  Anyway when I was 11 we moved from Palm Springs to San Jose and my brother said that we were moving to the "Boondocks".....what he really meant, I think that it was at least a 30 minute drive to his girlfriend's house.  They meant when they were like 12 and 13, got married when they were like 18 and 19....and have been married for over 30 years now.  Back to the story----so he was driving home from work when I called him and we just kept talking and talking....my ear hurt.  I think he was nervous for me being out in the middle of nowhere.

-a trip to Washington, D.C. to visit one of my sisters---again just me and the girls.  That was fun....we went to the National Zoo.  But the most exciting part of that trip was that my sister and I saw a black bobcat on one of our walks!!!  Well, it may have been a lynx or a panther, but it was BIG!

-endured my washing machine being broken and waiting for DAYS before the SEARS repairman could come

-dropping in at our neighborhood pool for swimming, tennis, relaxing, popsicles, games poolside

-had a fun Fourth of July celebration.....which was also one of my best friend's birthday parties.....the girls made red, white, and blue stars that we hung everywhere, I hung out our American Flag, and stuck several small ones around the back yardand even had a big pot of red, white, and blue flowers by the front door. My daughter wrote some patriotic messages in red, white and blue chalk on the sidewalk, and my other daughter decorated her scooter for our neighborhood parade!  After dinner we played croquet, had homemade chocolate cake for dessert, and had firewaorks in the street 'til about 11 pm.  It was grand!

-took my kids to a water park with some friends---WOW!! that was really fun!

-games, games, games----YES!  I'm still on my GAMES kick!  I've played at least one game every day this year!!  My oldest son was so HAPPY the other day when I brought home the adult version of Apples to Apples.....he really loves that game and we only had the two "junior" versions.  We also had a "Scrabble" kick going on a round here for about a month.  My oldest really got into it....he even got us online playing TIMED games with no dictionary! 

-prepared for and taught at Vacation Bible School---painted a huge mural on four 4 x 8 foot panels.  It was a stadium scene.  I was so proud of myself this year, as I puposefully tried to limit the amount of time I spent on VBS preparations.  I think I only went ot the church 4 times, and I didn't make my boys help me 3 out 4 times!  In many years past, my kids have really tired of how long we have spent decorating and preparing for VBS.  Our room was supposed to be SAS stadium. home of the NEW Carolina Railhawks!  This is their inaugural season.  So to boot, the Friday before VBS we gathered up some friends and went to a RAILHAWKS game!!  I even caught a freebee mini soccer ball that was thrown into the crowd!

-took the boat out several times this summer.....yesterday we went straight from church and were on the water just after 1 pm after a quick lunch at Subway.  We tubed and fished (and I even napped on the tube floating next to the boat!). 

-bought the new Harry Potter on DAY 1 -- my oldest son finished the book in about 6 or 7 hours.  My #2 son is in the middle of it and he's taken it off to camp.  We borrowed another copy though so my oldest daughter can read it this week.

-snuck in a couple of runs a week---nothing longer than 9 miles, and quite a few 3's....whew!  Summer in the South is hot and humid....although today is GORGEOUS!  I think it may only be 80 degrees out

-several s'more feasts with family, friends and neighbors over our mini Habachi in our back yard.....nothing fancy, but everything gooey and delicious!

-we got a PET!!! A Lovebird named Oiseau (we say "Wazoo")..........it means bird in French, so I'm told.  Wow!  My daughter and I just figured out that his name has all the vowels in the English language! A lady I see running on the trail was asking if anybody wanted a bird....she'd had it for 8 years.....we took her up on it......The first two days he was sooooooooooooooooo loud, I wasn't sure it was going to work out.  His only saving grace was that he was quiet at night.....he's calmed down now, and we're all getting used to each other.  :)

-got my boys off to church camp this morning, then came home and all of us girls snoozed on the couch.  The girls were readin while I caught a few more ZZZZZ's!

Are you still with me?????

So what's left of summer?

*Hanging out this week with the girls----who knows?? We may sneak off some where for an overnight trip!

*A trip to Washington, D.C. to visit my sister and her family---we're planning on taking the boat and riding upthe Potomac River to have lunch in downtown D.C.----how cool is that?

*A church camping trip -- fans and all!

*Sports tryouts for the boys (V & JV soccer)....which starts long before school starts

*More time at the pool

*Preparations for school

*Relatives coming from England!!! (HopefullY!)

*And hopefully more games, naps, and time spent with family and friends.....come on over!!