Summer Nights (and Days)

Summer is always a fun time because I get to have my girls home with me!! This summer was a bit harder than usual because I was in the throes of morning sickness and fatigue. The heat only exacerbated all of that, so unless we were going swimming, we played inside all summer long. And the kids watched a lot of TV. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Luckily I have a handy husband who helped with indoor boredom. First he made these marshmallow guns out of PVC. The accuracy, speed and number of "bullets" depend on your lung capacity-- so Charlotte could only make shots from a short distance away one at a time. Matt could shoot up to 5 marshmallows at a time across the room. In close range, it actually stung a little! But the problem is that if you use the marshmallows too many times they get a little sticky and get stuck in the "guns" so you have to take the guns apart.

Then he made PVC swords and shields. He also made a scythe and a staff. We still have a lot of fun with these!

We captured chickens.

Read lots of books.

And of course we went to the beach. That was basically the only outdoor place to feel cool besides the pool.

We also took Odin to the vet and introduced him to the guinea pigs and he was verrrry interested.

Lookalikes

Matt's sister at 2. It's hard to see, but Nathalie and Emily looked like this.

Matt's sister around 5 or 6. This is the most amazing picture to me because Nathalie looks exactly like that, except with light hair. When I saw this picture I was blown away by the resemblance. It's so crazy!

While we were with family this year, the girls and I had the chance to see some old pictures. They're so funny. Some of them are downright uncanny in terms of looking like my girls! See for yourself-- the picture above is Matt's dad (far right), Matt's older bro (middle) and Matt. Matt looks to be 10-12 yrs old.

This is a picture of Matt's Gramps. He died while Matt was on his mission. My girls don't look like him, but Matt's sister is his clone!

This picture is of me and my siblings in the summer of 1997. We're so cute!

This is me around 3 yrs old (and so is the picture underneath. I loved that tutu....)

This is me as a baby. Charlotte looked a lot like this picture.

Another one of me as a baby.

Lydia looks like this sometimes (me in the Norwegian dress, above)

This is me and my sister on our first day of school. I think I might have been in 2nd or 3rd grade. Emily looks a lot like me right now.

This is Matt about 16 months with his mom. Does that look like Lydia as a baby or what?!

Matt around 4 yrs old, which is basically Charlotte 25 yrs earlier. She looks so much like this.

I think Matt was about 5 in this picture....and Charlotte looks like that. Also Nathalie.

Matt in 1st grade, which bears resemblance to Nathalie.

Matt with his cousin. All my girls looked like this, but most especially Charlotte!

End of School

Summer Adventures: The Rest of the Trip and More Partying

 After Indiana, we headed up to Michigan to be with Matt's family as we celebrated our oldest niece graduating high school. We had a grand old time and it was SO NICE to be able to play outside during the day time in the month of June!

 Char and the cousin closest to her age, J, adored each other and played the whole time together. This is the first time she and he have had a great time together, but we hope for lots more fun!

 We had lots of grandkids, lots of craziness and lots of love.

 We found a park on our way up which was amazing. It really helped give the kids a break from the car.

 Lydia and I cuddling.

 I got my hair cut super short. It was great until I got home and then I found that in the humidity, this hair cut doesn't work! I look like the lady with triangle hair from the Dilbert comics. Oh well, it was a good experiment I guess.

 The view in Michigan. Oh, how beautiful it is. We love it there.

 The drive home. Our favorite part of the journey is driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains. They are so, so beautiful.

 We left Emily in OH for an extra week to go to the "Cousin's Camp" my mother-in-law does. She had a good time. And a big thanks to my sisters-in-law who took care of and sent me pictures too!

 We played at a fun creek in Indiana.

We had a grand time on our Midwest trip this summer. We love, love, love these places. We long for them. We are homesick for them. Maybe someday...

Summer Adventures: Indiana and the 60th Wedding Anniversary

 This summer the girls and I headed back for our annual Midwest trip. Specifically, we first headed to Indiana for my grandparent's 60th Wedding Anniversary!!! That is something to celebrate, that's for sure! 60 years! For the first time in over a decade, all of the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren were there. (Well, almost all. There were a two that couldn't come for unavoidable reasons).

 We took really nice family photos. Not that you can tell from my grandpa's face.

 Older cousins taught younger cousins about the guitar. Actually, both are proficient on the guitar but the older one is teaching more complicated techniques to the younger one.

 My grandma, looking radiant.

 My bro and my daughter. We had about 1 1/2 hours to kill after family pictures before the party began and we passed it by eating Goldfish.

 My dad and my cousin. My dad is 6'4". How tall do you think my cousin is? He's slouching in this picture, but he is 6'8". Seriously.

 Some cousins were playing cards while we were waiting.

 We took Lydia outside to do bubbles since thats what was keeping her happy.

 Tall cousin and Emily practicing their dancing.

 My dad and his older brother.

  More goldfish and some twitter checking.

 Other than the party, we just spent time together as a family. It was awesome! This is the childhood I remember-- so many cousins, so much playing outside and experiencing things.

 I love this picture because it shows Nan's inquisitive personality.

 My bro had little girls all over him the whole time. Even Lydia who normally takes a long time to warm up to people, took to him right away and wanted to be with him.

 My grandparents have a great big front lawn so we spent most evenings playing Frisbee or soccer.

 My dad playing "walking up the mountain" with my girls.

 Nathalie adored one of my cousins. He was so good with her!

 Emily basically followed this cousin around. She was so patient and included Emily in everything.

 Aunties.

 We just have a lot of tall people-- here is a cousin who is my height and her husband is 6'4" at least as well.

 And the cousin who was AWESOME with Lydia.

 Dad and my bro-in-law.

 Like Father, like son.

These silly girlies. I love them.

I hope Matt and I are both still alive when we make it to our 60th!!! The chances of my grandparents being alive for their 70th are pretty slim and they've had some health problems lately. I will be making more frequent trips to see them. It was wonderful for me to be back with all the cousins, aunts and uncles I grew up with. We are all adults now and don't see each other anymore. It was an absolute blast!