Summer. Where did it go???2q

Seriously. Where did the time go?? It feels like Jessalyn just barely got out of school and we are getting ready to go school shopping again! I know I have said it many times in my blog but this summer has been a complete whirlwind...of fun stuff. I know my blog entries have been a bit tedious lately..basically a "we did this.." or "we did that.." type of post with tons of pictures. I promise that I will get back to telling more interesting stories as I have more time to sit at the computer and formulate my thoughts.

In the meantime...just more of the same...

Last Friday was our final Pulpit in my Kitchen gathering. We spent a beautiful morning at the beach with our families and had a lovely picnic.











I left there just in time to bring Ethan (along with all the other kids) to the docs for his 5 year (a little late) check up. He needed two shots and did considerably well handling that. He was pretty nervous but he did well. He has pretty much stayed consistent topping the charts at a whopping 15% for weight and never more than 25% for height his entire life. Never a concern...he has stayed consistent and thats what matters. At this appt. he was 12% for weight and he jumped to 50% in height! The doc said that he is still fine..just long and lean. I was excited. I mean, he's definitely still not tall for his age but I'm just glad to see this growth spurt with him! He thought it was kind of cool too.

Right after that appt. we headed home to pick up Josh and Jake to head to Maine to work on the cottage at Mc. Falls. We stayed at Heath and Karole-Ann's house on Friday night and then went straight to the campground in the morning. The men worked..while we hung out at the pool with the kids. It was tons of fun! On Friday night we brought all the kids to see The Clone Wars. They loved it. Its awesome that our kids are getting older and are able to really enjoy each other. Daniel, Andrew, Ethan and Luke loved it! Sam and Owen did well..but obviously weren't into the movie quite as much. Jessalyn tolerated it..but she's not really into Star Wars.

On Saturday I had so much fun swimming with Jessalyn. Cindy, Sarah, Melody, Melissa and Mark came for the day to hang out as well. It was a mini family camp that got us all excited about Labor Day weekend when we get to do it again with everybody! Jessalyn is now swimming in the deep end and working on diving. She had many belly/face flops but she kept going. She is doing really well and it is really fun to be able to swim with her!





I don't think she was trying to dive in this one..









Luke headed back to the van to get himself dressed after swimming. I was a bit too late with the camera because moments before this he was standing there reaching into the van completely naked. All you could see was his pasty white tushy sticking out of the van door. It was cute...



The cottage is all jacked up and safe thanks to many hands who helped with this work! It was a beautiful day for working and literally as they were packing up tools the skies started looking like this...



We all made it to our cars just as the rain started. (Well...actually, I shouldn't say "all" because I hear that there was one person who didn't quite make it to the car before getting soaked..and before realizing that her husband packed their suitcases in someone else's van...we won't mention any names:) )

This is what the cottage looks like now. Unfortunately I don't have before pictures so these might not do it justice to people who aren't familiar. This is 100% better!!!





We headed home Saturday night...led worship in Church on Sunday morning then headed to the park to play some beach volleyball with friends. The kids had fun playing with Mark and Cindy at the park. I need to bring the camera to our next volleyball game.

Monday night was our last softball game of the season. I am glad for the season to be over...its very fun, but by the time the end of August rolls around I am ready to have those two nights a week to do other things (or maybe to do nothing?).

We are preparing for and looking forward to this weekend when we have our homecoming weekend at church to celebrate our 100th anniversary! We have a weekend packed full of services and events...and the so far the weather is looking great!