"Do what we can, summer will have its flies." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A perfect summer evening...


Gia and her daddy waiting for darkness to set, so the firefly chase can begin.

It is probably close to 10 pm and we still have light, but this little four year old has been waiting all summer to catch some lightning bugs.


So excited...

and proud of her catch.


Good bye to the lazy, casual summer night, We loved every minute we had with you....now 177 schools days left till we meet again.

Courtney

School days...

Wow, I say it every year, where did the summer go?  It is back to the daily grind.  Part of me excited, part of me sad.  This mom is tired of the fighting and bickering of 3 siblings, but I am not so sure I am ready to trade it in for the nightly homework/bedtime fight.

Despite what the kids say, I do think they are ready to see their friends and meet their teachers.

So here you have it, the Crew of children keeps dwindling year after year.  Five years ago seven kids were at that bus stop and 6 siblings were watching.  13 kids made for quite a crowed picture.

This year  6 kids were riding the bus with 1 lonely sibling watching.  The road now officially has 2 high school freshman, 1 junior high student, 4 intermediate school students and 7 elementary.  Little G, is patiently waiting for preschool to begin after Labor Day.  She is the lone sibling.

My "big" girl.... the picture says it all.

My toothless, middle child...



"There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart."  ~Celia Thaxter

University of Notre Dame ... Swim Meet ... June2011

We have already established that swimming in general consumes our lives.  Travel is the best part of it though.  The kids work so hard at practice, so the meets are the reward.  Most of the time we stay at a hotel for the weekend and make a trip out of it.  The kids compete during the day and hang out and play in the hotel pools at night.  It is a great time, to sit back with the parents and just relax.

Memorial Day weekend brought us to South Bend, Indiana, home of the fighting Irish!


How cool is that?  To say I swam in a pool that Janet Evans holds a record.  She is only one of the many great athletes/olympians to swim at this pool over the years.


The girls got to use the actual college locker rooms.

All the trophies were just sitting out right on the table for us to see.


The wall photos and quotes were so inspiring.


Gabby and her BFF swimming team mate Brooklyn.  Both girls just in "heaven" feeling so grown up.


Our future "Irish" swimmer.


Bella and the #1 fan...



There is really only one word to describe the whole weekend experience.

...AwEsOmE ....

Need I say more?????

Courtney

Traveling Days ....

It's hard for me to believe but "G" and I took a trip to California almost 2 months ago.  My younger sister "Kiki" just graduated with a masters degree in education.  My parents, myself and Gia all went out to La la Land for a visit.  D1 & D2 still had school, so they had to stay back with Mr. Mom.

She should be in movies, she is so dang cute!

This is after landing in LAX, waiting on the curb, for my sister.  We kept telling he to look for Justin Beiber!

A picture of the program, and the whole reason behind the trip.


During the long accolades ceramony, I took the little one for a walk around campus.

On our walk she met a friend.

The next day was Kim's party/open house.  My parents are on the right, and our good family friends on the left.  Sharon in the yellow use to babysit me when I was little.  She tells everyone I use to play bank teller in her bathroom.

When we moved to the house of five on cambridge drive five years ago,Sharon and Joe lived 4 houses away. Sadly Joe took a job transfer 2 years later and they sold the house and moved out to San Jose California.  It was close enough that they came over to see us and attend Kim's party.

Gigi, and Kiki proudly posing with the vegan chocolate cake I made.  Yuck if you ask me, no sugar, eggs or butter.  Made with lots of tofu.


Gia made her first friend.  Jetta.  Her mom is a teacher and my sisters, school.


A view of the mountains, from Tye's apartment.


Tye is my sister's boyfriend.  He does voice over's in movies.  Here he and the little monkey are making funny faces.



The almost graduate trying on her cap before the actual ceremony.


Parmount Pictures, is a 3 block walk from my sister's apartment.


This is where she lives.  It is a cute old building with lots of character.  ♥ the red doors.


Commencement was actually at Universal Studios.


 Can you believe that?  We had to drive to a theme park and pay $20 just to park, so we could attend the ceremony.

It was in the amp-a-theater.  It was a bit surreal for me.  The lobby sold, hot dogs, chili cheese fries, nachos and beer.  Only in LA does a Commencement Ceremony sell beer!

This trip happened over mother's day weekend and I wanted to find a way to remember the trip, so I decided to buy myself some hair.  My sister's school, where she works,  is only a 2 block walk to the "house of hair".  So I thought, why not?

My hair hasn't been this long for 14 years.  Ha, it has been  fun to wear, but wow is it hot and heavy.


Now that Kiki has a master's degree, she took a new job at a new school, so she can make more money, This is at a beach community, if she moves closer to her work, I may have to visit a tad more often.  LA is not for me, I ♥ the ocean and beach to much.


Courtney

A simple sunrise....

I am fixated on these pure Michigan Commercials, yep, I admit it, they about bring me to tears. Is it the instrumental music that gets me? Maybe? Or it could just be Tim Allen's peaceful, calming voice. I don't know, maybe it is just my age and the thought that my life is flashing by me at warp speeds. ...

"25,000 mornings give or take, is all we humans get. We spend them on treadmills, we spend them in traffic .... and if we get lucky, really lucky, it dawns on us to go spend them in a world where a simple sunrise can still be magic....25,000 mornings, make sure some of them are pure Michigan."

I could care less about the pure michigan part, but boy oh boy, the 25,000 mornings has hit me hard. Really, is that all we get? If you do the math it is like 70 years worth of mornings. 25,000 just doesn't seem like very many. I mean I'm half way there!




Half of my life, flashing by, I've never really been a morning person, but maybe,just maybe, that might need to change.

Courtney

Travel Swim...

So another two swim weekends have come and gone.  The Huntington Mile was one of them.  It was to be held at a lake where the kids would swim a mile.  We have had so much rain this summer is was canceled because the lake level had raised 6ft.  That weekend we decieded to go to an amusement park instead.  It was a great time, except it rained on and off all day at the park and we got pretty wet.  (it's a whole other post for another day)

This weekend was the team travel meet.  We drove over 3 hours for this weekend.  We do this maybe 3 times a year.  This was our familes first year traveling that far.  It was a fun time.  We as parents are starting to build good friendship with other swim parents.  They are our mini vacations.

Which leads me to....

A friend of mine recommended this app for my camera on the iphone4.  Wow, is all I have to say.  It was 99 cents and usually I am only a free app girl, but this app lets your changed your pictures to make them very professional.  I spent the whole two days taking pictures at the pool and editing them with the app.

Check them out....
"G" as the team now calls her.  She is now 4 yrs old and truly is the teams #1 fan!


Gabby and her pre swim face.


View of the pool while Gabby walks past.


Bella and her pre swim face.



Gabby and Brooklyn.  Her swimming best friend.  These two have become the best of friends.  They push each other in practice.  ♥ this picture, because it was taken thru a glass wall, and the lines that make them look checkered are just a reflections off the title onto the glass.  So neat and cool.


Bella, enjoys the social aspect of swimming almost more then the swimming.  She allowed her friends to tattoo her back.   I was not over joyed by this, but surprisingly sharpies and cholrine do not like each other, so in the end it was fade pretty well.


Team mates cheering on a swimmer.  Warms my heart.

Now for a moment to brag...
Bella dropped 12 seconds in a race!  It makes her time 6 seconds away from a divisional cut.  She is 6years old and the time is for girls 10yr and younger.  Gabby was 9 when she made her 1st divisional cut, and Bella will have one by time she is 7!  WOW is all I can say.



Gabby, swam on two relay teams this weekend that made state cuts.  My baby made it to state!  This is where the top swimmers are invited to swim!  I can't even grasp how awesome this is yet!  She is 9 and swimming against those 10 year olds and made it to state!

After a full day of swimming, it is time for dinner.

Can anyone say reservations for 45?


It was a great way to celebrate a super day of swimming.

All the 8 and unders plus the number one fan.


11 year old Maddison and 3 of the 10 and unders.



Yes, swimming is a time sucker, and yes it a money sucker, but gosh...

I
Do
Love
IT!



Courtney