Ode to Summer

Oh summer, how I love thee...

Yes, it's hot and sweaty and yes, that can make one a bit uncomfortable, but that makes time at a lake that much more amazing!

I mean look at Kyle, doesn't he look refreshed? That look just spells out s-u-m-m-e-r b-l-i-s-s.

And Kelsey and Ben, what other time of year do they have the opportunity to try and drowned each other?

Without summer, I wouldn't be able to enjoy a good game of Marco Polo (which IS the best water game),



and Avery wouldn't be able to show off her cute swimsuit clad body.

Plus this is the only season my Mom can wear a T-shirt without being chilly.

If summertime didn't exist my Dad wouldn't own a boat. Which would mean he would never have the chance to look so austere while captaining a vessel.

Simply put, Summer is the most magical time of year.

Sure being pregnant ruined my chance to enjoy a good tubing ride,

and some knee boarding action

(check out the guys who can do 360's and jump the wake now!)

but it has not ruined my love for this glorious season!

I mean, I still get to give my little girl some summer lovin'

and Kyle too.

Be still my heart, I love summer!

Black Creek

What's a summer without a camping trip?

Kyle had a week off of his internship, so we headed up to Michigan Thursday night and went with my family to Black Creek Campgrounds Friday night.

We had 10 campers, 2 tents, and a complete blast!

Dad unloaded the car and set up camp.

Kyle started a "1 match fire."*

Avery was in heaven with all this dirt.

Andrew and Scott had a fascination with burning sticks.

I enjoyed sitting back in my chair, trying (unsuccessfully) to evade the smoke. Smoke follows beauty, right?

Ben refined his woodchopping skills.

My mom cared for Avery while Dad and I cooked hotdogs.

And really, after you finish hot dogs all you want to do is move right on into marshmallows!

Unfortunately, we learned that graham crackers can (and will) go rancid if you purchase them years in advance to going camping. :) Fortunately, we had s'more poptarts to sandwich our marshmallows and chocolate between and they were Hea-ven-ly!

Other activities were frisbee golf around the campsite, a rousing card game of presidents, bugs being smashed on the camping table by Andrew and Scott (much to Kimberly's dismay), a mix of baseball and football rolled up into one game, and watching Avery refine her knee-walk.

Yup, those jammies will never be the same. And although there was not a ton of sleeping that occurred (what can you expect when you are 31 weeks pregnant?) the trip was still deemed a success!

Talking and Peekabo

Apparently I'm in a video mood nowadays, so I will now grace all of you with Avery's talking.

Yes, our dishwasher is loud, but Avery is louder! :)

And Avery is in full swing with the Peekaboo game. (And you can see a little more of her knee walking action too.)

There you have it! My little Avery Dawn!

Walking

Remember me mentioning that Avery has taken her first steps? Well, she daily takes one or two steps at a time, but has yet to really take off with it.

Her latest trick is actually walking on her knees.

Yes, it is pretty darn cute. She can walk across an entire room that way, especially if she is holding something in both her hands that prevents her from crawling.

Here's the closest thing to walking we've been able to catch on video. It's with assistance, but I think it shows she COULD walk if she wanted to.

Kelsey and the Zoo

And is there any better way to end a trip to Indianapolis than by going to....the...ZOO!?!?

Of course not! And Kelsey had never been there, so we made sure to go TWICE that week. I know, she's a lucky lady!

We saw the dog show and their incredible tricks and flips.

And this bear was about the cutest little swimmer I've ever seen.

Complete sidenote: for anyone that is familiar with my husband's appearance, doesn't this bear's fluffy hair look just like Kyle's?

Two of Kelsey's favorite animals are giraffes

and zebras.

One of her least favorite animals are bats. Learning that there are bats that have a wider wingspan than her didn't help the matter any.

She also thought the warthog was pretty grotesque.

But she DID like the bamboo. Like I said earlier, she's a bit of an organic hippie.

I got to see my rhinoceros,

Avery got to see her baby elephant friend (who is now over a year old!)

 so we were all happy campers!

And this photo is in here just because I love both of these girls and though it looked cool.

We love and miss you Kelsey! Come back and visit anytime...like next week...yeah...that sounds about right to me. :)