August Things

We are well into September, and school is in full swing.  But as the summer fades away, I wanted to record some of our memories from the month of August.

The month started off in a spectacular way...my 38th birthday.  And Tod had a wonderful surprise in store for me- a birthday trip to Chicago.  We have been wanting to do this for a long time, and it took a lot of work plus some fabulous baby sitters to make it happen.  It was well worth every ounce of effort and planning...and certainly a birthday to remember.

Being away alone together is such a rare, rare treat, and we were both pretty excited about our get away.  We stayed at a great hotel and rode the L train into the city.  We had a good laugh when after only 1 minute of sitting facing backwards, we had to jump to new seats so that we could both face forward...both of us have some motion sickness..and we are getting older!!!
Exploring the city was fantastic.  There was so much to see and so much to take in...so very different from our usual surroundings.

We walked through Millennial Park and to Navy Pier for an Italian food dinner.  It was absolutely perfect weather and a perfect evening with my best friend.

The next day we had planned to go to the temple, but we didn't know it was closed!  Not to worry, we enjoyed a trip to IKEA instead.  We came home a little earlier than planned since Luke was not feeling well and had a yucky bug.  I really have to again give a shout out to our awesome babysitters who not only took care of 5 kids but put up with a sick, fussy baby.

Of course, we still had to celebrate my birthday with the kids.  They were so excited!  We had a birthday barbecue with our good friends after church and it was a great day to turn 38!

 This picture makes me so happy...of all the things I had seen and done in my life, I count these 6 people as my most important priority.  I am so very blessed to be a wife and a mother.

August is a great month for "corn" pictures and of course, I had to snap a few of those.  It is just so beautiful.

Cole was so excited to get to go to a football clinic at our local high school.  He has always loved football, and he was so glad to finally be the one to do something sporty instead of watching!

We had a few hot days that were perfect for putting water on the tramp.  The kids all had a blast...I had a blast until we got the water bill!  It really is the perfect summer afternoon activity, though!

We had a back to school bowling party for my Activity Days church group.

Jordan had another session of her mini-school.  It was a big hit, and she had great success with it this summer.  

Cole and Regan watched an episode of Curious George where he made a car wash from household items.  They decided to do the same thing, and it was hours of fun. I enjoyed summer most this year when I just relaxed and enjoyed without trying to keep the house too clean or entertain too much.
This simple activity was very creative and everyone was happy!

Of course, baby Luke is not such a baby anymore.  He kept us all our toes this summer and has really missed being entertained with everyone going back to school.

All in all we had a really great summer.  We did some travelling, did some staying home and enjoyed a bit of a break from our normal hectic schedule.  And soon, school was just around the corner...