5 Things I ♥ About Summer!

I was tagged by Kat over at Art's Chili and if you don't know her, you don't know what you are missing! She is such a sweet gal, raising and home schooling 7 children! She is one of my new bloggy friends and I am having so much fun getting to know her, so make sure you go and check her out!

For this tag I am supposed to choose 5 of my favorite things about summer. I had a hard time deciding, but I think I found a few...although I know there are many more!!

So here we go...

1. SUMMER VACATIONS...with Ryan and I both being school teachers, we have most of our summers off...so I love getting on a jet plane and soaring into the wild blue yonder!! This summer we took 2 vacations...Colorado and Michigan!

2. VBS...I love that the boys love to learn about Jesus and I love that our church puts on a fantastic vacation bible school!

3. SLEEPING IN...once again, with us being on a teacher schedule, we have the luxury of sleeping in during the summer! It may not happen as often as I want it to...but when I can sleep in, it is ssswwweeetttt!!!!

4. SWIMMING & HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS...since we put our pool in last summer, we have become the hostesses with the mostesses!! We love to have friends over for swimming, fun & food!

5. SUMMER FUN MOVIE TIME...this is the second summer that we have done this and it is great! Every Friday we load up and head to the movies with friends and lunch after! And the best part is is that we see 10 movies for $7 per person!

Thanks Kat for tagging me, I had lots of fun looking back through all of my summer fun! Now to choose 5 friends to tag. As many of you know, I usually DON'T do this part of tags, but this time I WILL!!!!

I tag...

MiMi @ He & Me + 3

Tarah @ Eyeglasses & Endzones

Channa @ Life of a Coaches Wife

Stacy @ The Crazy Cotheran's

Kimert @ Diaries of a Coach's Wife

Tag...You're it!

Where's Mom?! 23/52 Photos of ME!

Are YOU a mom? Are YOU missing from the pictures? Most moms I know are, but here is a fun meme that brings us moms out from behind the camera and puts us in the spotlight! Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans is the hostess of this year long picture project; and just think, after a year, you will have at least 52 pictures with you in them! It can be scary, but com'on, give it a try! It's easy, all you have to do is hand over the camera and smile (or not, it is completely up to you!!). And the best part is, you can jump in and start whenever; for me this will be my 23rd week!

The last few pictures of our Michigan vacation with me in them!
Here are the boys and me posing on the dock at Gramma & Papa's lake house. We had such a great weekend spending time with our cousins!!

Here we are resting on a park bench at The Toledo Zoo. We went here with the hang from He & Me + 3. Lots of fun this day too!
Once again posing at the zoo...with the fake animals!

And last but not least...on the plane flying west, back to HOT & sunny Arizona!


Now it's your turn to join the fun...hand the camera over, smile & say cheese!

WW~ There are Just NO Words...Are there?!

Michigan in a Post...

As I stated in my Colorado post...I am using my blog as my scrapbook and with that being the case, I decided to put our entire Michigan vacation into one post...please bear with me, it is long, but their are lots of pictures and very little words and I wanted to get it in before it was forgotten!

The boys and I (Ryan stayed home for football) left for Michigan, where we used to live, on Thursday August 9 to spend 9 nine days with family and friends. We arrived at the airport only to find that our flight had been delayed 2 hours. The boys were troopers though, watching movies on our DVD player and playing with things from their backpacks, while waiting until we boarded!
So 4 hours later, we were finally on our way!
Once there, we were picked up by my parents (who are snow birds which means they spend 6 months (summer) in MI and 6 months (winter) in AZ) and we headed to dinner.

With the time change (3 hrs), we were finally able to fall asleep and on Friday we headed to see Nannie before lunch. Nannie is 89 years old, but doesn't really remember us because of her Alzheimer's. She had lots of smiles for the boys though!

After hanging out with Nannie for a little while, he headed to Culver's for lunch with my cousin Trish and her kids!
And after lunch, we then headed back to her house so the kids could play and we could talk!

Friday night I was fortunate enough to meet up with MiMi and Tarah for fun & food! I had a great girls night out while the boys hung out with Grandma & Grandpa!
We woke up on Saturday and headed to my in-laws! Ryan's Grandma came over for dinner and then after dinner we headed to Gramma & Papa's (Ryan's parents) lake house for the rest of the weekend!We weren't there 5 minutes and the boys were down on the dock with Papa just chilaxin'!

And not long after that, the fishing poles were brought out and Papa was teaching Brendan & Colin how to fish!!And wouldn't ya know it...Brendan caught a fish!

Way to go Bren!

On Sunday we got up, took a boat ride around the lake and then anxiously awaited for the arrival of the cousins! Ryan's mom set up a one stop visit with 3 of Ryan's 5 siblings! The last time we saw the cousins was Christmas of 2007.

So when all of those cousins get together, what do you do at the lake house..well go swimming in the lake, of course!!!
After a little swim, we headed back to the house for some lunch!and then another boat ride!
Being at the lake house was so much fun and so very relaxing! We had the best time and wish we could have spent more time there!


We came back to my parent's house on Monday and that night, my mom did a one stop visit with my aunt and cousins! Lots of fun, I say! Last time we spent time with them was over 2 years ago!
On Tuesday morning we got up and went out for breakfast with my parents and then my mom took us to MiMi's house for the remainder of our time in Michigan.

We made one quick stop though, before getting to MiMi's house and that was stopping by the house where we used to live. Man is it small!!! I was kinda sad thoug... it is so overgrown. I used to have all kinds of blooming plants and flowers planted in the front and hanging baskets from the porch. I found out from a neighbor that it is now a renter house. This was Ryan and my first house where we lived from September 1997-July 2004.So after our ride down memory lane, we finally got to MiMi's! We sat and talked for awhile and then headed out to do some shopping! And this is when I talked her into stopping by one of our favorite ice cream joints!That night after dinner, we left the kids with Agent and went to get pedicures! It was fun to be kidless and just talk and be pampered, at least for a little while! This was my birthday present to MiMi for her birthday!
All 3 nights, the kids would get their Pjs on and watch movies while munching on popcorn! So much fun...like they have not even been apart! Once upon a time... MiMi and I met at Gymboree where we took Brendan & Actress for weekly classes. We met when they were about 9 months old or so and have been friends ever since...through it all...kids, jobs, moving...She is one of my bestest friends!

On Wednesday, we got up and headed to the zoo. My boys have been asking to go to the zoo, but when you live in Arizona, the zoo is a winter time activity! We had lots of fun!

Wednesday night, MiMi & Agent went to buy a new laptop and left me at the spa! I felt so glamorous!
Thursday we headed to the park for pictures, play and a picnic!
After the park, we headed to the pool!
After a sun-fun filled day at the park and pool, we headed back to the house for pizza and packing! Sadly we were leaving the next day and we needed to get ready! Agent was dropping us off at 7 am for our 9am flight!

Waiting to board!

Once on the plane, we waited and waited and waited. It was raining, heavily, so all the take-offs were sitting on the runway waiting to do just that...take-off!

40 minutes later and we were finally in the air and on our way home!
These are the planes waiting to take-off behind us!

So thanks for hanging in there with me! We had such a good time and I can't wait to go back next summer! Ryan's other grandma will be turning 100 so we will be going back for a HUGE family reunion and I have already told him that I would like to stay for at least 3 weeks!

Hanging Out with Cousins While in Michingan!!

Just a few more days of our Michigan trip and I will finally be caught up....ffffeeewwww!!!! On Friday, our first full day in Michigan, we met up with my cousin Trish and her kids and my cousin Sue's daughter at Culver's for lunch. It was good food and fun...what could be better than that!

Sydney, the little one in purple, didn't want to stop, so I had to do what I had to do, and that was just take a picture as she walked away!!! The others in the picture from L to R are

Brendan, Brooke, Bradley, & Colin

After lunch, the kids just couldn't get enough of each other, so Trish invited us over to her house where the kids could swim & play while we talked! I haven't seen my cousins in over 2 years, so it was great fun to catch up!

I couldn't get enough of this little girl! She is the cutest thing ever and I must have taken over 100 pictures of her between the 2 times that we were together!! They have a bigger pool, but it was kinda cool, so the kids took to running around the yard and spraying each other with the hose and water guns and playing in Sydney's kiddie pool! Love the laugh on Colin's face in the picture below!
Then on Monday evening, my mom set up a family dinner where my Aunt Judy, Cousin Trish & her kids and my Cousin Sue & Brooke came over for dinner! One stop visit is what I like to call this!! My mom made a yummy dinner of sloppy joes, beans, chips and potato salad!! And for dessert Aunt Judy brought over ice cream cake from Culver's!

YUMMY!

We got the kids to stop and smile for a nano-second to take a picture!

Bradley (7), Brooke (8), Brendan (9), Colin (8) & Syndey (2)

After dinner, we headed outside into the backyard for play and talk!

The trip wouldn't be a success without a little football, now would it!??!

My Mom & Aunt Judy

Thanks for setting up a fun-filled night of cousins & kids mom!

We had a great time!

Until next time....

Another Your Gonna Miss This Moment

Each Saturday, Pam over at Your Gonna Miss This, hosts this meme. I really like this meme, because it really makes me look at the little things in life, the moments that are usually taken for granted and capture them to be remembered for always!

While back in Michigan, we were fortunate enough to visit with 2 of the boys' 3 great grandmas! Here is Ryan's grandma (his mom's mom) with the boys and Gramma (Ryan's mom!). She lives in Florida for the winter, but summers up in Michigan. The boys and I were able to have dinner with her while we were at Ryan's parents house. We don't see her that often, so when we do, it is very special!


We were also very fortunate to be able to visit with my Nannie. I have posted about her before; she is 89 years old and lives in an assisted living center close to my parents in Michigan due to Alzheimer's and Dementia. Her mind is not that great, but she holds her own and is able to get around in her wheel chair with the best of them! She enjoys eating with the other residents in the dining room, playing Bingo 3 times a week, and going to the church service every Sunday.

My Mom, Nannie & Me

The boys, me and Nannie.

While home in Michigan I think it is very important that the boys were able to see and interact with their grandparents and great grandmas. I want them to be able to remember and talk about them. I want them to be able to remember when they laughed and had fun with them. I will make sure they will have every opportunity to be able to visit with them when we visit Michigan. They are very fortunate to have 3 great grandmas; we weren't able to visit with Ryan's other grandma while we were there, but next June she will be 100 years old and a huge family reunion is in the works!!

I am gonna miss the day that the boys will only be able to look at pictures to remember and talk about their Nannie and Great Grandma's, so for now, I will make sure that they have the opportunity to see and interact with them when we visit Michigan.

For more Your Gonna Miss This moments, visit Pam.