4th of July 2012

 The fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays as it means we get to reconnect with friends and family. And lake time. We spent 5 days out of town (nice reprieve from apartment living!) traveling Northern Indiana and Wisconsin. Our first stop was in Culver at the Miller family's lake place. I'd never been to lake Maxinkuckee and was surprised to see how large it was...and it was beautiful, too! We had perfect weather for lake time.

 Daddy Mike entertaining the girls

 A view of the house, which was definitely not a cottage. This place is where I'd want to live if I were to live on a lake full time. Incredible.

 Watching (probably a princess) movie and snuggling. Maggie is quite the snuggler. If anyone sat down on the couch, she'd immediately curl up next to you. Love that.

 Back outside after naps. This little Explorer 200 offered us hours of entertainment. I'm laughing just recalling how hard Amy and I tried to get that little boat to motor just a few houses down. Wasn't pretty I tell you.

 And it wouldn't be a proper 4th of July celebration without a little watermelon eating contest...

 Daddy Jeff wanted in on the action, too

 Morning on the pier...again the snuggler Maggie moves in :)

 Not the greatest family picture...but we snapped this before we took off for our next stop

 Packed up the car and headed over to Lake Tippy to see the Tynans. After visiting for a bit and making lunch for the Littles, we suited up and headed out.

 Since we just see these little beauties once a year it always shocks me to see how much they grow since our last visit (and these kids grow...look how tall they are!). Laney, Grace, Luke, Maggie & Izzy.

 Love these girls

 And I especially love this girl. Bridget and I always catch up right where we left off. Like no time has passed. I treasure her friendship and am so happy we have been able to keep it going after all these years (and miles!). Miss her so much...

And then we were off to Wisconsin to visit Mike's family. We typically stay in Northern Indiana for the 4th, but this year things were a bit different; Mike's grandma Betty had a stroke a few weeks ago and is in the hospital recovering, which meant she and the rest of the family were staying in Wisconsin this year and not traveling to Indiana. Mike and I realized we were long overdue in a visit up north so off we headed to Janesville.

As soon as we arrived in town we went straight to the hospital to visit Grandma Great, Bob & Laura, and Dave & Deb. Of course Izzy put on quite the show, singing every song in her repertoire and showing off her dance and gymnastics moves. We all found it quite entertaining. After a few hours at the hospital we headed to Aunt Deb's house (Bob's sister) where we always stay when we are in town.

Mike's cousin Steve drove over with Amanda from Milwaukee to spend some quality time with us (and partake in our normal shenanigans).  

Fortunately we were also able to see Mike's cousins Michelle & Chris and his Uncle Jimmy. We had so much fun catching up with all of them and the trip wouldn't have been complete without seeing them. Was somewhat of a wild and crazy night, as it was Jimmy's high school reunion that we crashed.

Was a very fun and relaxing 5 days away from home the apartment. Friends, family and memories galore...I look forward to doing it all again next year. Happy Birthday, America (and Grandma Betty!).

A day in the life of June...

You may remember I participated in the March photo a day challenge a few months ago. I had so much fun taking pictures on a daily basis, I figured I'd try it again. I feel as if it's a photo scavenger hunt...and who doesn't like a good old fashioned scavenger hunt?!

 Day 1: Morning. This was day 1 of moving out of our old house. Started the morning out right - with a DC baby.

Day 2: Empty. This was day 2 of moving. Pretty difficult day and pretty sure my throat had a huge lump in it walking through the house, taking these pictures.

Day 3: On your plate. The was the first day the girls returned to our new apartment. We were tired from a long weekend of moving and therefore my dinner was oatmeal and a beer. Don't judge.

Day 4: Up close. Our CrossFit gym equipment. Bar bell. Med ball. Kettle bell. Weight plates.

Day 5: A sign. Our new neighborhood sign and notes/signs left by our contractor to his subcontractors inside our house.

Day 6: Hat. Izzy Lou trying on a fedora at Target.

Day 7: Drink. After a long day of road tripping, we celebrate in Madison with a tall drink. Well deserved.

Day 8: 6 o'clock. Not sure if this was taken exactly at 6pm or not...but it was pretty close. The lions were a'roaring, that's for sure.

Day 9: Your view today. Lake Michigan 6 miler. Beautiful.

 Day 10: Best bit of your weekend. This. Just this. Girlfriends. Running. Dancing. Celebrating.

 Day 11: Door. Our over sized sliding glass door from our Great Room out onto our deck.

 Day 12: From a low angle. The girls loved jumping from stack to stack of our drywall before it was installed. We visit nightly, so they are constantly exploring and finding new ways to entertain themselves.

 Day 13: Art. Caleb and Izzy have been pen pals all summer. Here Caleb drew Iz a castle. So sweet. She keeps this in her craft bag that travels with her everywhere. Young love.

 Day 14: Time. Early wake up calls.

 Day 15: Yellow. My new fave summer drink...the Summer Shandy. Num, num.

 Day 16: In your bag. Rarely do I carry a purse. I can count on both hands the number of times I use a purse in a year. These days it's all about diaper bagging it. Revisions in the last few weeks to what is in my bag: no more fruit snacks (Iz has 7+ cavities, don't ask unless you want me to tell you how horrible I feel about it) and no more diapers (Lane is now in undies almost full time!).

 Day 17: Out and about. Our excursions, besides trips to the new house, mostly involve swimming these days. These girls looove to swim with their daddy.

 Day 18: Something we don't know about you. When I was 9 or 10 I traveled to Houston, Texas to be a part of Bela Karolyi's gymnastics camp. Went with my sister and other teammates of mine. We got to watch the big-time Olympians practice...like Phoebe Mills from the 1988 US Olympic team. Was an amazing experience.

 Day 19: Imperfect. My poor runner's feet have calluses, blisters, and broken toe nails. Don't look too close, that's for sure.

 Day 20: Favorite picture you've taken. I chose from pictures taken on my phone only. Sister love.

 Day 21: Where you slept. In an apartment. On queen mattresses on the floor. No headboard. 5 weeks until we move...but who's counting?

 Day 22: View from above. Bath time with my little mermaids.

 Day 23: Movement. One of my coaches took this of me during a WOD. It made my day. Heck, it made my month. Pretty proud...been working hard.

 Day 24: On your mind. Plantation shutters, dining room tables, paint colors and built-ins. So much to do yet.

 Day 25: Cute. Toddler toes.

 Day 26: Where I shop. This particular night was at the hardware store looking at appliances and paint swatches. Can you tell how thrilled the girls are to be there?

 Day 27: Bathroom. Locker room at work after a team speed workout. This was 8 weeks into our first training session and we had a 1 mile time trial to run...to gauge our improvement over our 1 mile we ran 8 weeks ago. I beat my 8 week prior PR (it was my PR because I had never timed a mile before and therefore had not time to beat!) by 15 seconds: 7:09 baby. Again, I'm proud. Hard work is paying off.

 Day 28: Shelf. Our apartment has a few built-ins and we store the girls' toys in them. 

 Day 29: Soft. Izzy lines up all of her loveys in a row every. Single. Day. If they get out of place she freaks her freak and goes to town until they are all back in order. Some nights we have to say good night to each and every one of them. Kisses, too. She has a touch of her daddy's OCD, no? I'll miss this one day, I'm sure of it.

 Day 30: A friend. Only the best. Not sure what I'd do without Jaime in my life...but I count my lucky stars she is. Muah!

Work in progress...

The last 2 weeks have shown huge progress at our new house. We had our final walk through before drywall went up to ensure all electrical and plumbing were in the right places. This was a particularly exciting day for us, as our contractor gave us our closing date. The house will be complete on August 2nd, we close on August 7th and we will move in on August 9th. Counting down the days, baby.

We're loving this view out our main family room/kitchen/dining room....trees!!!

Basement

All of our hearty plank siding is up and the brick is mortared. The last step will be the painting of the exterior. Right now it looks drab but all of the trim will be white and our colors are several shades of green. Will look completely different in a few weeks.

Drywall jumping before it went up

Drywall was primed last week and it's starting to look like a home instead of a construction site!

Master bedroom...more trees! This treeline view is particularly thrilling to us because at our last house we overlooked two very unattractive houses and their poorly maintained yards. The privacy and the beauty we'll get to experience makes us very happy.

This week all of the trim will be put up and cabinetry will start to be installed. We visit the house every night and get excited to see what changes have been made each day. Such a fun process!