Lazy days at the pool

This past summer we bought pool passes again like we have for the past 5 or so summers. The summer started out pretty cool so it didn't seem like we went very much for the first part of the summer. We still got our money's worth for sure and spent plenty of lazy days out there. I remember going to the pool being stressful trying to keep track of little ones and keep everyone entertained. The most stressful thing about it now is only the constant begging for snacks...every year has gotten easier and easier! I used to see ladies with books and think "boy that must be the life" and now i am that person, and yea it's kinda nice! :) 

I'm not very often found with a book though, i would rather chat with my sisters than sit and read but i could if i wanted to!

The kids waiting in line so that Mom can get some good chairs :)

What would pool time be like if they didn't sell nachos?!? I'm sure my kids and their cousins wouldn't even know what to do!

Ethan and Eli...two characters!

Swimming isn't the only thing you can do at the pool...Malia and Avery

Meredith, Avery, Malia and Maggie

Since it is a high of 18 degrees today as i put these pictures on i am getting anxious for next summer and out pool days!!

Ethan's Baptism

This past 4th of July was special! Ethan had asked if he could be baptized during Camp Gramma. The only problem was that Daddy wasn't going to be able to be down there because of work. After we talked about it for awhile he decided that he would wait till a time when Daddy could be there too. 

Daddy ended up surprising us and coming down for just the day so Ethan was able to get baptized after all! We were very proud of him for wanting to show his profession of faith by being baptized!

Daddy was able to pray for him after he got baptized...

We are proud of you buddy and pray that you continue to want to please Jesus throughout your life!

Camp Gramma 2013

Each year my parents put on "Camp Gramma"! It is an organized 3 days of fun at Grandpa and Grandma's house in the back yard, along with a lot of planned activities! The boys and older girls stayed in tents and Gramma and the little girls got the air conditioned play house! My parents always have t-shirts made for all the "campers" with their names on them...

Meal time is usually outdoors. There are tables for every size!

The four older girls...

It has been a tradition for years that we got to the bridge that goes over the highway and the kids love to get the semis honking at them. This year there was a brand new bridge as the old one was torn down.

This year was also the first annual "Camp Gramma Fun Run" Complete with medals for all the kids! The kids all did so great! Some were a little more competitive than others...

I ran with Raegan and in spite of her begging to be carried the last half mile or so she finished without me picking her up. She was pretty happy to get her medal!

Ethan loved it too!

A family that goes to my parents church had us out to their land for an afternoon. They had scavenger hunt games, a huge wonderful meal and lesson and a bonfire with smores! All these city slicker kids had a great time running around on the farm and this was the first year i didn't have one of my kids having major allergy problems while they were doing it so i was very thankful for that!!

Avery and Maggie

The kids could take their turn sleeping in the high treehouse with one of the older cousins each night. The kids love this hangout spot!!

Thank you once again Grandpa and Grandma for making another memorable summer for the kids at "Camp Gramma!"

*Trey was not in any pictures because he was not there, not because i neglected to take pictures of him. He was spending some quality time on vacation to Florida with another cousin and Grandpa and Grandma Seaba!

Delayed training

While we were in Mexico my 18 week training program for the planned Chicago Marathon started. So, coming home i was already a week behind schedule. Not a huge deal but i do like to follow the schedule fairly closely so i needed to get right on my running when i got home. One of the first runs that i took when i got home, as i jumped a curb and ran across the grass to get to the sidewalk i stepped in a hole of some kind and turned my ankle. No big deal, i was able to run home everything was fine. 

We went to church and when i got up after church the ankle wasn't feeling so great and i noticed that i was starting to limp. When we got home i iced it for a long time. I was scheduled to work (serving) so when i got up from icing my foot and couldn't put any pressure on it at all i freaked out. I kept trying to walk around the house but was unable to bear weight without a whole lot of pain! 

Needless to say i called in to work and we went to urgent care. Thankfully the ankle was not broken but they were not ruling out a stress fracture so he put me in a remove able cast. He thought the whole healing process would be much quicker without the ankle moving. I was very good about leaving my cast on unless i was showering and i healed up quickly and was back to running within a couple of weeks. (i started a bit earlier than i was supposed to) but Johnny made me hop on one foot to prove to him that my ankle was strong enough to go for a run. So, a few weeks behind i finally got to start my marathon training! Thankful it wasn't a lot longer! 

Now...just 20 more posts to catch up! My kids have been nagging me that i never update the blog anymore. I thought life was busy when  the kids were younger, but my goodness...i feel like i am running in all directions now days and rarely find time to sit down and blog! We will see if i  can catch up!

Mexico 2013

Avery was checking the blog the other day and said "are you ever going to do another blog post, your last one was in July and that was a long time ago!" Soo, i decided to get my rear in gear and get a blog post up. 

Back at the beginning of the summer John and i went back to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico to celebrate 18 years. We went to the same resort that we went to a couple of years ago because we love it there!

This is the courtyard of the building that we stayed in...

We had amazing weather! No rain which made us very happy since we had a couple days of rain last time!

One of my favorite parts is going out to fancy dinners every night! Just chill all day long on the beach and in the pool and then everyone gets dressed up for the evenings. John decided to follow my lead this year in what to order since he ordered some doozies last year. I just order anything that i recognize some of the words in the description...that's is the safest option! The food was amazing every night!

We did our little shopping night to Playa again this year to shop for souvenirs for the kids

Since we ate a lot it was good that we walked a lot too. Didn't make us feel quite so guilty. This was the walkway to the main buffet that we ate breakfast at and lunch. We finally wore my garmin one day to see how far it was...it felt like much longer but it was only .4 mile.

our home away from home for the week... 

This year we decided to do an excursion so we went ATV riding through the jungle and then went snorkeling. Absolute blast! I would lie if i didn't say i was terrified on the atvs while in the jungle...driving over some of the rocks we did i was sure i was going to flip mine! 

This was our snorkeling destination. I have never snorkeled and am very claustrophobic so was very nervous for this but ended up loving it. As long as i stayed under the water i didn't panic but when i came up and then went back under i would have a slight feeling of panic...so i just stayed under most of the time!

We also had a little tour of the caves while we were in the jungle...pretty cool!

This part was my favorite since it was very level ground and you could fly! And so beautiful!!

It was such and amazing trip! I was ready to see my kids though,5 days was just the right amount of time! Can't wait to do it again some day!!