Our Summer-y Summary: Part 2

The last week of July we met up with Ryan's best friend from high school and his family who were nearby on vacation (love living near a trip destination!)  We had dinner and watched the light/fountain show and then let the kids go swimming at their condo.  It was great to see them.  Since meeting R, I have several special memories of B and H.  I remember holding their firstborn in 2000 and B was giving R a hard time about when he was going to bite the bullet.  Little did we know he was planning to propose the very next month!  :)  H was also one of the "lucky" ladies at our wedding who got smacked on the backside by my brother.  "Mrs. S, you are one hottie-patottie!"  HA! I can still hear him say that.  It was nice to catch up--I'm just sad that it doesn't happen more often.

That next weekend we headed to our home state for a family reunion.  My grandmother was one of eight and every two years, we join my mom's aunts, uncles, cousins, and cousins' kids for a weekend.  It's fun to see everyone but it's strange how much the family has changed.  The only ones left from my grandma's generation are her brother and sister, who are 94 and 96 (Grandma was in her 90s when she passed away--hope I get those genes!) And there are so many little ones!  One day, my siblings and I decided to take our families to the local water park.  It was a killer deal.  Our family of four got in for $18.  Total.  The girls had a blast and I'm sure there were some park goers who will never be the same after seeing some of us adults conquer the water slides.  I really didn't wear a thong although it may have appeared that way after going down. . .   ha!

We also had a joint birthday party since five of the seven grandkids have summer birthdays. It was a fun weekend. The reunion has become so much more to me since becoming a parent. I can remember having SUCH a hard time when I was younger trying to figure out who everyone was. It was hard to keep Mom's cousins straight and remember which cousins were from which aunt and uncle. Now it's tough for MY kids to wrap their heads around who MY cousins, aunts and uncles are. It's made it even more important to remember my grandma's generation when I realize that in a few more, it's MINE that may be forgotten.

The next weekend, we met up with another of R's high school friends and his family for a little vacation.  R has known A since they were born and it's been great to keep in touch with their brood.  Four kiddos 6 and under!  We met up in the city where R and I lived when we were first married, which felt a little weird. We're now tourists though!  :)  We stayed at a hotel with a mini-water park inside (one more water slide that altered the look of my suit. . . and NOT for the better!) and then took the kids to a major league baseball game and a new aquarium in town.  Sassy was totally into all the little "challenge questions" in the aquarium.  Reading has opened a whole new world to her!  It was fun to see the Ws--and our kids hit it off which is always fun to see.  Again, I wish we could see them more often!            

The girls also squeezed in about a week with each set of grandparents and they had a blast. We're blessed to have these four special people in our lives! I'm so grateful for the memories they're making together.

Needless to say, we had a busy summer. I was almost ready for school to start because it seemed like we needed a vacation from our vacation! Although now that I'm getting up every morning at 5:30, supervising homework, and trying to find time at night for everything that I used to spend all day doing, I'm missing my lounge chair at the lake. Lucky for me, another summer will be here before I know it!