Long Time, No Post

It's been a while. We've had a bit going on over the past few weeks. Ike has been traveling quite a bit, and Natalie & I made a trip up to IL/IN/MI for my grandma's funeral and to visit family. After we got back from vacation, we got back into our normal routine. That following weekend we enjoyed a live band at a local pizza place. We went with our friends Jen, Brian, and Rescie, and the kids had a good time dancing. Natalie has some moves - we'll have to watch her when she gets older! Owen & Rescie are buddies and seem to really enjoy each other's company. Also that weekend we went to the Museum of Science. I took Natalie and Owen to their first IMAX movie - about the Grand Canyon. The movie was in 3D and Nat & Owen enjoyed their giant glasses. Ike & Henry strolled through other exhibits while we were at the movie. We also went to the butterfly pyramid and Nat wanted more than anything to have one land on her. No such luck, though several fluttered all around her. Henry started clapping and waving & saying "hi" that weekend. It's now his favorite thing to do. He waves & says hi to our reflections each morning when I brush his teeth. Ike was out of town most of the following week and we were glad to stay around the house the next weekend. We had a fountain installed in the front yard area and we are working on landscaping around that. We had news of my grandma that weekend and after Ike's quick NY trip last Monday, Natalie and I headed up to Whiting for the wake & funeral. We visited Whiting Park for Natalie to play at the playground and it was neat since my mom and Karen & I have all played there over the years. We had a luncheon at the church where Mom & Dad got married (38 years ago!) and I got their photo on the steps there. After the funeral, we headed to South Bend to see Judy, and Natalie & I visited with Lindsey & Abigail, and met Addison for the first time. Natalie had a great time with Abigail and did not want to leave. We also went to Michigan to visit my other grandma and my Aunt Judy and cousin Laura. The weather cleared up while we were at the lake and Natalie enjoyed the hummingbirds, flowers, and even played with the may flies. We headed back last weekend and made it into town just in time to go to Rescie's birthday party. This past week Ike was out of town a couple days again, and the kids have all been moving up to their new classes at school and we are adjusting to new pick up/drop off routines (everyone is in a different building than before - three different spots!). So it has been busy around here and now we are getting ready for the boys' birthdays. Hopefully Gustav & Hanna won't interfere!!

Summer Vacation

We're back from our big summer vacation road trip. We all had a lot of fun, saw some cool stuff, and enjoyed visiting with family, and now we're settling back into our normal routine. We are all pretty worn out - it was a lot of driving! First we drove to Memphis and stayed there a couple days. It was pretty hot, but we had fun. We stayed at the Peabody Hotel where the "famous Peabody Ducks" live. We got to watch their evening "march" from the fountain to the elevator and up to their duck palace on the roof one night. While we waited for the big exit, we enjoyed some cocktails and Natalie & Owen were pretty excited to get their own kiddie cocktails. (I just hope Natalie isn't telling everyone at school that she had cocktails on vacation!) Of course we went to Beale St for live blues both nights, and Nat & Owen were able to show off their dance moves (and even scored some beads from one of the girls there). We walked over to Mud Island on part of the river and checked out the neat replica of the Mississippi River there. It's very detailed and produced to scale, so that was really cool. It was a good time, and I think we'll probably go back to Memphis to visit again some time. From there we headed across Tennessee to NC to Grandma & Grandpa Gibbs' house. We saw most of the family over the course of the weekend (we missed seeing Anne & Scott - we're looking forward to seeing some pics of the Hawaii trip!). We spent time with Jennifer, Eric, and Carrie almost every day and Natalie, Owen, and Henry all enjoyed playing with Carrie. On Friday, we all went to the Children's Museum and it was hard to get the kids to leave! There were a lot of cool exhibits, including a post office, fire truck, airplane, little cars (Carrie had the most fun getting pushed by her dad!), a camping spot, and even a Nascar car that Owen enjoyed gassing up. There was even a play area for the littlest kids, and Henry and Carrie had fun in there. Friday night, Grandma & Grandpa had babysitting duty while Ike & I went out for dinner. I think Nat, Owen, & Henry all cooperated. Saturday we tried to feed the hummingbirds with Grandma, but Ike kept coming by on the lawnmower, and Owen was a bit fidgety. Later, the kids enjoyed swim time outside in the shark pool and sprinkler with Carrie, and later we all went to Gram's. We met baby Maddie for the first time - she's a cutie! Natalie & Owen spent a good part of that visit entertaining with their improvised dramatic-dying-princess-needs-a-kiss scenes - they love an audience! Sunday was a family reunion and we all ate a lot and Natalie & Owen had fun dancing (until Owen lost his lunch - too much jostling!). Henry met Memaw & Grandad for the first time there. By Sunday night we were pooped!! We left early Monday morning to head to Savannah, and after 4 hours of driving - only an hour from Savannah - we heard about Tropical Storm Edouard, supposedly headed to Houston. So we scrapped the last stop and headed home. 23 hours of driving later, we made it home for a rain storm. We were exhausted!!! But it's good to be back and we'll spend this weekend resting.