4th Annual 'S' Family Vacation

The past four years, each sibling/family has taken a turn in organizing a summer activity. This year's activity was camping at McCormick's Creek State Park in Indiana. Whew! It was hot! Hot! Hot! Hot! But we still had fun. Hiking to the falls. Swimming at the pool. Playing at the park FOR HOURS. Lots of roasted marshmallows and pudgie pies.Gallons and gallons of water! 

Since we had electrical sites, even though we stayed in tents/pop-up camper, the suggestion to bring an extension cord & fan was a LIFESAVER for the steamy nights. Alexander was too excited to sleep much the first night, but the second night he played himself rugged & zonked soon after settling into his sleeping bag. 

As time passes, my heart is more & more & more thankful for the gift of family and something I try not to take for granted. So many travel thru life without this blessing. While our times together are not always extraordinary, there is joy in knowing we are surrounded by circle of love -- and most of all, the knowledge that we not only share this life but life eternal, too!

Ty-Ger Comes To Visit

For months, Alexander has requested to visit the 'Dinosaur' Museum in the city; this translates to the Field Museum where 'Sue' is displayed in the lobby. Earlier this summer, he requested I 'get the trip on the schedule...' so I'd be sure not to forget. Knowing he'd probably enjoy the day with a friend, I invited my mom to join us for the day with Ty, our cousin/nephew. The 'scheduled' date was this past Monday. Perhaps in the next post when I figure out how to transfer pictures from my new phone to the computer, I will share more of our adventures (or more appropriately, our mis-adventures) of the day. For now, here are some pictures of the boys in the 'burbs, before our trip to the city.

Some BoyTime @ Cantigny

We met some cousins/nephews/friends at nearby Cantigny earlier today. Jonah, Jared, Alexander, Mason, Kadin & Trace. All boys. All seven & under. Three of them born within three weeks of one another. 

While the weather was quite steamy, the boys did not let that slow them down. The especially loved climbing on the 11 tanks/artillery  pieces which are all inoperable but available for the little ones to climb on/around/in/out of. Lots of imagination happening as they acted out battles. They also enjoyed the afternoon water-activities, especially creating a mural with spray bottles & painting with watercolors. The X-man noted that they were creating 'masterpieces' :)

Fourth of July Fun

We had a fun-filled, friend-filled day yesterday while celebrating the 4th. Wonderful weather! Curbside seats @ the parade! Lots of chatting & chasing of kids! Here are a couple of pics of our day which started with the parade & ended with fireworks, of course!