Relaxed... finally...

As excited as I get to read my friends' blogs and see their pictures of their kids, you would think that I'd blog a lot. You'd think that I would keep up with my end of the bargain and share all of the little details of what's going on in our lives and pictures of the kids enjoying the summer. I'm using the excuse that we've been so busy enjoying life that I haven't had time to write about it. Of course, part of that is true, but the biggest part of it is that I just have been in a slump where I don't want to sit down and write any more than I have to for work!

So, lots of time has passed and I'm sure I'm going to miss lots of details about what's been going on. I'm not promising anything, but I'm going to try to blog a few times this week to get somewhat caught up. You know me though...

We had our vacation last week... and it was wonderful. No beach trip this year, unfortunately. However, we were really happy to just relax. You see, the past three or four months has been extremely busy between t-ball practices and games (usually somewhere between 3 and 4 nights per week), fixing up the house (we recently listed it for sale - I'll post a link below), and working on work. We did a lot of work on the house in the past two months, including replacing our carpet with hardwood in the downstairs living room, tiling two bathrooms and the foyer, painting two bathrooms and the office, painting trim, and painting our deck. It has been one project after another. Then, Bailey's ball team was great and went all the way to the championship in the t-ball tournament, which meant that we played the most games of any team in the t-ball league. And, we practiced as much as we could too. It all paid off when they won the championship. They were adorable with their trophies and dance moves at the closing ceremonies, but I'll tell more about that later. Needless to say, it's been hectic... and we were in desparate need of a break.

So, Bailey's championship game was on Father's Day (June 21st), we listed our house for sale on the following Tuesday (June 23rd), and we had our vacation from the 22nd through the 26th. All of our hectic schedules and projects ended at the perfect time and really left us with a great week. We traveled to the Cincinnati Zoo and King's Island for a couple of days during our vacation. The kids had a blast (so did we). I can't even tell you how cute it was to see them get so excited about seeing Scooby-Doo, Dora, Diego, Sponge Bob SquarePants, and the Fairly Odd Parents' fairies. Their faces would light up and they'd take off in a dead sprint to get to them. Jake even kissed each of them. He was so impressed. They really enjoyed the rides - Jake loved the small version of the Whip (which I think was something to do with Swiper the Fox from Dora). He would hold his little arms up and laugh so hard when it whipped him around the curve. Brad took Bailey on the Fairly Odd Parents Roller Coaster (which I think used to be the Beastie, but I'm not sure). She LOVED it. Brad said it was so cute when they were riding to the top of the hill on the coaster. They put their hands up in the air and were laughing and having fun. Then, when they started coming down the hill, he could feel her little hands reaching for his face, just trying to find something to hang on to. He held her hand the way down. When she walked off the ride, she looked at me and said, "That was SO awesome." Thrill-seeker in training.

I have a ton of pictures from King's Island and the Zoo, but Bailey thought it would be a good idea to bite the end of our USB cord for the camera one day and now it won't work. So, I'm in search of a cord that will fit. Hopefully, I'll be able to post them later.

The rest of the week was equally as great. We spent it on the boat at the lake and then spending time with our family and friends over the weekend. It was wonderful. We have tans!!! Finally!!! The weather was so hot, but it was perfect for boating and swimming. And the best part of the entire week... I cooked breakfast twice! That was all... the rest of the week we ate out or fixed sandwiches or had someone else cooking for us (thanks Bret & Cilla!).

Oh... and here is a link to our house for sale. Please send anyone looking for a place our way!