Summer ... the twilight

Yes, we're in our last few weeks of summer. It has just flown by. My (teacher) sister went back for an in service day on Monday and her kids start tomorrow. Frankly, I can't comprehend that! We still have lots of fun things that we're planning on doing before school starts:

• Go to a Brewer's game
• Go canoeing with some friends on the Wisconsin river
• Go to Magic Waters (Cyndie and the kids are currently there) - a water park down in Rockford
  
• Go to Six Flags (Emma went earlier in with Uncle Gow and a friend from church ... this time Tim and Cyndie are going too)

Hey, I just realized that I don't get to go to the last two events! Poor me. I guess someone has to bring home the bacon!

Last night was my last softball game of the summer. We went out in style with a come from behind victory! It was fun because it was only our second win of the year. We won the first game, lost like 10 or 12 in a row, and then won the last game! I particularly enjoyed it because I had a really good hitting night ... 2 home runs, a double and a single in 4 at bats (if you guys don't mind me tooting my own horn a bit). It was definitely the stuff to make me excited to play again next year (while being happy to have a break for a while).

Cyndie continues to be pretty busy with her photography stuff. It seems like she's had 2 or 3 shoots a week for the last several. While that is only 3 or 4 hours of actual shooting time, it also means 8 or 9 hours of managing the photos and touching them up. That's pretty exciting. Hopefully things will continue to roll along (and pick up steam) during the school year when she'll have more time during the day (with the kids off at school) to do the work!

I need a weekend from my weekend!

Well now, that was a busy weekend! Friday night my sister Amy and her two kids (non-attending camp division) came up for the night. My folks and Laura and Gow and the kids and Jane came over for dinner and a rousing family baseball game. Then Timmy and his cousin (same age) Ben went over to Auntie Jane's and got to spend the night there. The next morning Tim and I headed to baseball practice, while Cyndie and Amy went to pick up the oldest cousins, Emma and Sarah at camp. Emma (and Sarah too I think) had a great week. The weather was cool, but that didn't seem to bother them too much. I think they were ready to go back again this week, but were pretty darn pooped on Saturday! Emma said her favorite things were the zipline, the climbing wall, and banana boating.

After a couple of hours of down time, we headed to the Freedom Fest, a free concert/festival in Janesville, joining our friends the Goreckis there. That was fun. The rides/carnival stuff was all free. They had stuff for the kids. The concert, Matthew West, was good, and there was a phenomenal fireworks show at the end. Fun times, but late. We didn't get home until around 11:30. Needless to say, everyone slept in in the morning! Then we had church at Covenant Harbor (our pastor was speaking and we had three people from church get baptized in the lake after the service). There was a picnic, then we spent the rest of the afternoon out on the boat with various friends from church (sandwiched around a trip to Wal-Mart to get a new battery for the boat!). And then we had church (a very short prayer/singing service). And then we went to Culvers for a heavy snack with a bunch of folks from church. Fortunately, the kids got to bed at a decent time.

Whew, typing that makes me tired all over again. Today Tim is off to Day Camp at Covenant Harbor (his first camp experience by himself). He was a bit apprehensive when I dropped him off, but his buddy Owen was dropped off moments later, and I'm assuming that things were peachy from there. Emma had a PetVet class this morning (she said there were five dogs and a cat there today). Tonight we pick Timmy up at camp, then go straight to his 5p baseball game (and Emma's softball game after that).

I need a nap!

Busy Pix

Tim reading his Bible first thing in the morning ...

The Covs first baseman ...
(bragging time ... I hit a grandslam on Tuesday night)

Tim on his first bike ride ...

The fam after our first "4 bike" bike ride ...

Emma and Tim at Emma's class fishing trip ...

Busyness

Yes, we've been busy. I remember a conversation between Cyndie and I where we discussed that every organization we, or the kids, belonged to was having an event within the last two to three weeks of the school year. Well, we weathered that and have made it into summer (which is perhaps summer in name only at this point ... I swear, it's either in the mid to upper 90s, or in the low 70s/high 60s. I don't think we've had any days with highs in the 80s).

So now we're transitioned to summer living. Which really means the normal for me, but is far different for Cyndie and the kids. They've been staying up a bit later, largely because of activities that they've had (more on that in a minute). But they've also been sleeping later, which is good for all of us. They've had some play dates, and are enjoying being outside.

Of course the biggest thing happening for them is that they have baseball/softball three days a week. Games are on Monday and Wednesday nights, and practices on Saturday mornings. They've both been doing very well, and are getting quite a bit better, especially compared to 2 months ago when neither had really played any ball at all. Timmy is one of the youngest kids on his team. But he's doing very well. He's a bit of a hitting savant. He connects with a lot, but doesn't hit it very hard yet. Emma is doing very well fielding, and understanding what to do with the ball when she fields it. She's improving on her hitting too, and hits it pretty hard.

Next week is overnight camp for Emma. She's already started packing. She'll be at Covenant Harbor from Sunday afternoon until Saturday morning. Cousin Sarah and a girl from Sarah's church will be in her cabin. As we speak, she's making them matching bracelets ... since I'm writing this, hopefully she'll actually finish them! Emma is very excited!

Timmy has been reading a TON! It's almost every morning that he stumbles down the stairs with a book in his hand, reading as he goes. For some reason (maybe it's because it's long and he doesn't run out of stuff to read, or maybe he likes the stories) he's been reading the Bible (a kids version) a lot, which is very cool. Spurred on by his cousins learning to ride their bikes, Timmy finally decided that he was going to learn, and did so with not too much difficulty yesterday. We took our first family bike ride (just around the neighborhood) yesterday which was very fun!

Lets see, Cyndie and I have been busy running around with the kids. I'm helping to coach both baseball/softball teams, and Cyndie is (of course) there too for those things. Cyndie's had work, keeping the kids busy during the day, sailing, church leadership team, and multiple activities with her lady friends. I'm doing my own softball team, church worship team, school board (I was on all day panels to interview perspective teachers three days in the last month), etc. We're trying to put in some time on the many unfinished projects that we have around the house too, but that's a bit slow in coming. On top of that, we're trying to get out on the boat too. We had some slight problems with that, but it turned out it was just a clogged fuel filter ... $65 instead of potentially much more.

So there you have it. We'll have a busy summer until the end of July, then August should slow down quite a bit!

Fun Stuff!

So, we're sitting here at the kitchen table, the kids are in bed, the calendar is out, and we're planning trips! Good stuff. It appears that as of now, we're going to do 3 big trips as a family this summer, and Emma is going to do Day Camp. We're planning our first big boating excursion right after school gets out to go visit my sister Jane at her place on the lake. Then we'll head over to Minnesota for a family reunion and to visit with my cousins over July 4th. Then it will be up to the UP (that's Upper Pennisula of Michigan) for a week of family camp at the end of July (we've heard really great things about family camp at Covenant Point, so we're really excited about that).

So, good times are ahead. We're excited! Maybe it's the cold weather, or something, but we're looking forward to summer ... only 4 1/2 months more to go.

A weeklong darkness

Did you all feel lonely and lost without "Life and Times ..." posts to read the last week? Apparently I've be negligent in getting my ramblings out there. So sorry, I'll try to be more timely!

Here's what's happening with the Wildwood DeVries:

• Cyndie drove Emma and her cousin Sarah to meet my sister Jane on Friday. The girls spent the weekend with Auntie Jane and had a blast. They set the DeVries clan record for number of parks visited in one day at 21, went tubing (Emma LOVES that), and generally had a great time together. She arrived back home on Monday evening tired, but excited to see Papa Lee and her new cousin.
  
• Cyndie's Dad was here from last Friday evening through yesterday morning. We had a very nice visit!
• While I helped some friends move last Saturday, Lee and Cyndie went to an auction. They bid on a couple of boats, but didn't come home with anything! Oh well, maybe next year.
• On Saturday night we all went out to watch a water ski show ... they were doing jumps and pyramids and all kind of fun stuff.
• Sunday after church we went to see some power boat races at a small nearby lake. That was interesting. We also got to walk through the pit area and see the boats. Good stuff.
• Wednesday night we went to the Lake Geneva Venetian Fest. That's the local carnival/festival, etc. It was rainy that evening, so the kids got to walk on to all the rides (we got them the wristbands so they could go on unlimited rides). They had a blast, and were soaked when we left for home!
  
• Cyndie got her new computer for work. She's going to start up a bit again this fall with Tim in school and needed to upgrade from her 5+ year old machine. She was pretty excited!
  
• On that note, Cyndie's been busy trying to get some work done for a new client and I've been pretty busy with work too, on a new project for Kraft.
  
• Today we're headed to the UP (that's Michigan's Upper Pennisula for the un-initiated). We're going to stay for a long weekend with a friend from college who's family has a island on a small lake up there. Should be fun!
  

Normal? Low Key?

Well, we're headed into the weekend and I've got to say that I'm looking forward to a "normal"* weekend. Cyndie and I plan to go out for dinner ... a real live date ... tonight, then we have nothing scheduled for Saturday. Maybe we'll sleep in! Hopefully we can get some things done around the house/yard, and just spend some time together as a family. It seems like a long time since we've had a day like that. Running here and there ... summery is busy!!!

*I'm not exactly sure what the definition of normal is these days. If we're looking at what type of weekend occurs most often, then my hoped for weekend would most definitely not qualify!

In related house/yard news, we're very excited to see grass growing at the front of the house where we planted it a week or so ago. Now we'll see if it continues to grow and fill and ... and more importantly, becomes permanent!

Last night we went to the family night for Emma's Day Camp. It was nice. We spent some time with her friend Hannah and Hannah's mom Sheri (who we know from Woods School events and lots of other "Emma related" events). There was a little program with some singing and a little drama. Good stuff. Next year Emma will likely attend the camp where she stays overnight for a night ... she's becoming a big girl you know!

In other Emma news, she has a couple more loose teeth, including one that would appear ready to fall out at anytime. And lest we forget the fact, Emma has us wiggle it many times a day!

Midweek happenings

It's Wednesday and we're plowing through the week.

Emma's been enjoying Day Camp. Yesterday she went on the BIG swing ... I haven't seen it or been on it, but from the descriptions I heard, we're talking the rope of the swing is 100 feet long and you really get some air under you. She was pretty excited about that. For much of yesterday, Uncle Gow followed Emma and her group around at camp with a video camera to document their day. This morning he came over for breakfast/get ready time and shot some footage of Emma at home. We're very interested to see the end result!

Last night my folks stayed home with the kids (they're with us until they move back to their place when Laura and Gow move into their new place ... confusing enough?) while Cyndie and I went to a weekly prayer meeting with a group from church. It was good to get together to pray with those folks and just spend time building relationships.

We're still fighting a battle with wasps under our deck. They seem to be somewhat resistant to the spray. I think it's more a matter of us not being able to get a good angle to get the spray up IN the hive rather than the spray not working. We'll keep fighting the good fight!

In "awe shucks" news, we're getting close to trying to find a new dog. Emma asks for one a lot. Both she and Timmy have been really doing well this week in helping out, and playing with, our friend's dog Gunner who we are dogsitting. We're looking at a much smaller dog (than Al), and one that doesn't shed as much. Here's the current thought:



These are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Anyway, that's the current thought! We'll let you know how things develop.

Negligent

Apparently I've been neglecting the blog ... shame on me! It seems like, if anything, summer is more busy that during the school year. How can that be?

Last week, the kids finished up VBS. They really enjoyed that. Thursday was a family night and a local, smaller zoo came with some animals, including and alligator (the VBS theme was "Crocodile Dock", so the alligator was supposed to be in keeping with that theme).

Friday/Saturday we went down to Crystal Lake to my sister's for a movie night. The kids were great together, and it was a fun time to hang out and relax together. We hit Costco and then I had worship practice and setup for church at the Y. The day rounded out with two episodes of 24 season 7. Yes, that's right, Gow, Laura, Cyndie, and I are starting in on the latest season. And I don't think we could have picked a more challenging time to do so. We're busy with school, work, projects at home, etc. And Laura and Gow are moving, having a baby in two weeks, and Gow is working what would appear to be more than full time. I guess we'll fit episodes in here and there!

Sunday was church, then a potluck afterward at Covenant Harbor. The lake is still pretty cool, but the kids enjoyed playing along the edge and then swimming a bit at the end. In the evening we then came back to Harbor for Emma's orientation for day camp this week. She'll be doing that from 8:30 - 4:30 daily. She's pretty pumped. She's in the same group as her two best buddies from school, Olivia and Hannah. We'll see what anecdotes she has to share when she returns tonight.

Let's see, a few tidbits ...

• When Cyndie and I walked up to VBS on Thursday, Timmy was in his 4K group playing a game on the sidewalk in front of the church. He was significantly taller than all his classmates. Plus he's just a thick, strong kid. He's the only kid I ever remember picking up and feeling bunched muscles in his arms and shoulders. I guess part of that, especially the height thing has to do with him being about the oldest kid in his class group (Sept 1 is the cutoff date for birthdays for Kindergarten here, so he misses out by 11 days).
• Tims been getting a kick out of reading some simple words together when I read him a book. I've been showing him how to sound out the letters and make a word.
• Emma LOVES being with and playing with her cousin Sally (15 months). She's learning (slowly but surely) that she can't just pick up Sally and carry her around everywhere. We think she'll love having a littler baby to hold who won't want to get up and walk around all the time.
  

Full Weekend, and VBS Starting

Had a nice weekend ... full of good things.

We spent Friday afternoon through Saturday noon hanging out with our friends Greg and Sheryl (and kids). It was nice to just be with them and have good conversations. The "highlight" of that was probably the (literally) hour we all (4 adults, 4 kids) spent looking for Ben's shoes. They just disappeared. We haven't found them yet! Strange things happening in the upper hallway of the Wildwood house!

We followed the Armstrongs out of the driveway as they left to go to the airport (and back to SoCal). We were on our way to the rodeo. It was fun, but a bit long. The kids got to talk to the clowns and a cowboy before hand. Then we watched the crazy, violent show as cowboys were thrown here and there by various farm animals. I'd say the highlights were:

• The very pro-USA intro to the show with lots of patriotism, flags, and a prayer.
• The barrel racing ... lots of fun because of how fast the girls are riding their horses. Lots of the other events were much slower, and over fairly quickly, but that was cool because of the high speed and longer length.
• The bull riding ... dang those beasts are big!

We got hit by a nice downpour 2/3rds of the way through. It was good to push most of the crowd further up the grandstands and give us a little more elbow room. Good times.

Sunday was church, a bit of down time at the house, then swimming at Grandpa and Grandma D's pool with all the local cousins. The water was nice, the kids had fun ... it was a beautiful Wisconsin afternoon.

We left the festivities a bit early for the kids to go to Vacation Bible School. They went to the Luthern church that many of our friends attend. The theme is "Crocodile Dock". There were lots of kids, neat decorations and just a really festive atmosphere. The kids took a few minutes to adjust to an unfamiliar surrounding, but they were fine when we left. They had a great time ... did crafts, ate dinner, held rabbits, saw miniture horses, and learned about God! When we got back for the parent time at the very end, they were up in front singing and dancing. It was good to see them have something that was right at their level, and with other kids just excited to be there. We'll see how the 5 - 8:15 time slot works as the week progresses. It meant bedtime was more like 9p, so we'll probably have some pooped kids by the end of the week!

So there's life as we're living it. Cyndie and I are hopeful to get a yard project done this week while the kids are doing their VBS thing, so we'll see how that goes.

Day 2 in the Real World

Well we're approaching some semblance of normalcy now in day two back from Cancun. After working from home yesterday, I'm in the office and even being a bit productive! Yesterday Cyndie and the kids had a nice day (parks, swims, etc) with the Armstrongs (minus Greg who also was working ... he has a convention here in town out at Grand Geneva). I got in a bit of hanging out time at the end of the day over pizza.

Not a whole lot else is happening, though we seem to have a lot of things on our plate which we're trying to prioritize so as to not become overwhelmed. The Armstrongs will be here through the weekend, then next week, the kids have Vacation Bible School at a local church (in the evenings).

One little fun twist is that we discovered a rather large hornet nest underneath our back deck. It's right above one of the windows in the basement, which is kind of cool because it allows us to observe nature in action. I went out to spray it last night after dark, but the spray I had ended up not working. We'll try again tonight.

So that's about it ... some odd ramblings and back to somewhat normal happenings.

Back Baby!

So, we're back. Working, playing, doing the summer thing, yeah!

We had a great trip! Here's the quick recap:

• Friday/Saturday - on the road. Driving, stayed the night in MO and enjoyed the pool at the hotel both Friday night and Saturday morning. Hung with my cousins, Marc and Erik a bit on Saturday. It was fun to catch up with them.
• Saturday pm - hit the cabin! When we first arrived, a decent sized oak tree was down across the whole driveway! Luckily we could park in their "guest" parking spot. Cyndie and I managed to pull the limbs out of the way with Uncle John's old F100 pickup! (I gave him a hard time that with all the equipment/tools/etc he has out there, he didn't have a chain saw!) Fished a bit, swam a lot ... this will be a re-occurring theme for the rest of the vacation.
• Sunday/Monday/Tuesday - our good friends, the Hobbys, and their six kids visited. That was a lot of fun. The kids really liked playing with their kids. We had fun just being with Chris and Vicki. I think it was Monday morning as Chris, I, and their two older boys were shoving off to go fishing, that Chris got his cell phone out and had this conversation (with his boss), "how would you feel if I extended my vacation a day?" It cracked me up that he made the call from the fishing boat!
• Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday - relaxing with Cyndie and the kids. Daily activities included swimming, games (UNO, Game of Life, Monopoly), rides around the lake in the golf cart (Emma did a great job driving all by herself ... once I convinced her that she needed to press the gas and brake with the same foot so that she couldn't depress both at the same time. Tim, not such a good driver. He's convinced that to drive you need to constantly turn the steering wheel ... left, right, left, right ... makes for a wobbly ride!), fishing (after the Hobby's left we stopped saving the fish and threw them all back. But we had one big meal where all 12 of us had fish!), playing on the association playground. Good stuff!
• Friday/Saturday - Uncle John and Auntie Diane stopped by for the night. It's always fun to spend time with them!
• Saturday - slowly packing up, while still enjoying the cabin.
• Sunday - marathon trip home. Left the cabin about 6:40a, pulled into Lake Geneva around 6:05 p. It actually wasn't too bad of a drive!
• Weather - smoking hot!!!!! It was in the high 90s or 100 all week at the cabin. Even the evenings and mornings were not much better. We were SO grateful that the cabin had AC! The lake was very refreshing, but by the end of the week, it was probably in the high 80s temperature wise.
  

Now we're back in the swing of things, and looking forward to a long July 4th weekend!

Exiting Stage Left

Yep, The Life and Times of the Wildwood DeVries is about to go silent for 10, agonizing (for my loyal readers who won't get to hear about the latest coming and goings) days. Yeah baby! We're headed off for vacation at the Larsen cabin (thanks Uncle John and Auntie Diane). I was just talking with the kids at breakfast and telling them that this is where the summer really heats up ... action wise. We have this trip, during which we'll see some good friends from college, the Hobbys, and their six kids, then we'll see Auntie Diane and Uncle John, then we'll get home and Grandma and Grandpa D will be there and Auntie Jane will be there for July 4th, then we'll have Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Fred come for a visit, then our friends from CA, the Armstrongs (and their kids who are the same age as Em and Tim), will be visiting, then there's day camp for Emma and a trip to Auntie Jane's house (just her and her cousin Sarah), and somewhere in there a new cousin will be born!!!

Whew ... why don't you just site back and take that in for a bit ... that's a lot of action!

So we're off; we're hoping to leave around 10 ... drive to Bethany, MO where we're staying the night at a hotel (with indoor pool). Tomorrow we'll meet up with my cousin Marc to get the keys and have lunch together (maybe see his new house and puppy). Then it's off to the cabin for a week plus. The Hobbys will join us from Arkansas for a Sunday/Monday. Then Uncle John and Auntie Diane will be there the last weekend with us. Can't wait!! I took a poll at breakfast and Timmy, Emma, and I all voted that we were most looking forward to the fishing. Apparently we're becoming quite the fishing family. We decided that the best plan would be for Cyndie to be the pilot of the little boat, and the three of us would fish (and she would probably read)!

So enjoy the peace and quiet that I'll leave you ... expect more when we get back!

Weekend Recap

• Fishing ... Timmy caught 3 fish over the weekend (we went a couple of different times ... Saturday evening, Sunday after church). Both of the kids are doing great with it and seem to enjoy it quite a bit. A friend of mine, Eric, works at the camp (Covenant Harbor) and he wants to do a regular time out on one of Harbor's pontoon boats with our kids (his oldest is 3 1/2). I think another friend Rico and his kids may join us too. That would be a blast!
• Church ... had church at the camp, then a bunch of church kids fished together, then a potluck for lunch. It was fun to all hang out like that and get to spend more time with the church family than we usually do.
• Swimming ... at the pool (the lake's too cold still). Good stuff. Both Timmy and Em are doing really well with being in the pool and stretching themselves. I was throwing Emma up into the air ... fun for both of us! She's so light I think I could throw her probably 10 feet in the air! Tim is doing well jumping into the deep end and not being bothered much by getting water in his face.
• Garage sales ... Cyndie and my sister, Laura, hit a bunch of sales on Saturday morning ... got a pretty good haul.
• Movie* ... Gow and I went to see Star Trek ... it was a good one!

*Review to come ... I know the public will be clamoring for one.

Now it's the work week. I think this will it will be pretty hard to focus on work as we'll be leaving for vacation on Friday (to the KS cabin of my aunt and uncle). The whole family is excited!

Timmy the fisherman

So we've been doing a lot of fishing themed things lately. We got some poles for the kids to take on the camping trip a week ago. But Timmy's was too big, so I went and got him a 2.5 foot pole. He does great with that. Friday, while Emma was at a birthday party, I set up a game for him in the yard where he stood behind a line, and then had to cast into a big circle about 20 feet away. He was very patient and got pretty good at that. Saturday evening we went down to the Lake Geneva dock and fished for about 40 minutes. Timmy caught two little fish! Emma, not so much. And let me tell you, she was not happy that her little brother caught two and she didn't catch anything! Then this morning we had church at the camp, Covenant Harbor. Afterwards was a potluck, but there was plenty of time for the kids to play in and around that. So the kids fished a bit, and Timmy caught another one! He's doing awesome. He casts it well, and is very patient waiting for the bobber to bob (though he'd rather have me hold the rod ... maybe he gets bored during that time). So Emma and Tim each have their own little tackle box. But they want some more stuff, so we're going to go to Walmart now and buy a few lures and stuff with their money (Emma's idea). I'm also going to pick up a fishing license because I'm tired of watching them fish!!! So we're having a great time fishing as a family ... Cyndie enjoys it too, though just as much watching and sitting in the sun as fishing herself.

A friend, Eric, who works at Covenant Harbor, and I and possibly another friend are trying to arrange going out on one of Harbor's pontoon boats to fish with the kids ... that would be a blast, so we'll see where that goes. More fishing news as it breaks!

Summer Quick Hits

• Got home from work and met the fam over at the pool ... I'm thinking a lot of time will be spent there this summer.
• Emma's playdate was a success. The two girls did a great job of including Timmy.
• Had dinner with the Gowans ... excellent pork chops!!!
• Cyndie, Laura, and the kids hit the Elkhorn (city next to Lake Geneva) city wide garage sale this morning ... it will be interesting to see what new things have been picked up when I get home.
• This morning is the last playdate with the Eikenbary-Barber (our pastor who is moving on to a new church in Minneapolis) kids.

Last day of school!

Today is Emma's last day of school! I'm working from home (all Wednesdays since Cyndie has sailing at 4:30), so we all had french toast together to celebrate while we finished watching Star Wars. We had a family movie night last night in part because Cyndie wasn't feeling too great. Emma had a fun day yesterday, getting a preview of 2nd grade and playing all kinds of fun games in the afternoon during the field day. Cyndie helped out and said that all the kids really enjoyed themselves and it was really well done.

Emma is excited for summer and play dates. She's having her good friend Olivia over tomorrow, then there's a final play date with Anya, our pastor (who is moving to another state)'s daughter on Friday, followed by a birthday party for another friend in the afternoon. Timmy gets to participate in that one as Anya's younger brother Lukas is exactly Timmy's age (and was in his pre-school class). In Timmy news, all his pants are making it to just over his ankles and his long sleeve shirts are not horribly long anymore. Time to move up to 6T I guess. When we were outside this morning, all waiting for the bus, Cyndie and I were talking about some landscaping that we want to do. Emma said, "you're not going to get rid of this (the one closest to the mail box) parking spot are you ... that's Auntie Jane's". Funny how certain things are associated with certain people and circumstances!

That's it for now!

Winding down the school year

So we're back in the swing of things. Everyone slept well in their own beds again. Emma has this week, next, and a half week the following left for school. Timmy is done. So now that we've passed Memorial Day, we're thinking about finishing up school and looking forward to summer vacation.

Current plans for the summer:

• Trip to the Kansas lake cabin of my aunt and uncle in late June - haning out, fishing, swimming, relaxing.
• Visit from Auntie Jane (Fourth of July time frame).
• Neal and Cyndie get away* for their 15th Anniversary!!
• Visit by CA friend the Armstrongs - in town for a convention, we'll hang with Sheryl and the kids and see a bit of Greg (hopefully) too.
• Day Camp for Emma - Timmy is still a year or two away.
• Emma trip to Auntie Jane's - long weekend, cousin Sarah and Emma's first big girl trip to stay by themselves with Auntie Jane.
• Go to the lake, swim in Grandma and Grandpa D's pool, play outside, be kids, sail (for Cyndie)!

*We just figured out that we'll be able to take a trip ... thanks to Grandpa Fred and Grandma Cathy for volunteering to watch the kids. We did this for our 10 year anniversary (actually during year 11 since Timmy was born during year 10) and went to Cancun for a week. Last night we started looking online for possible destinations. A lot of it will depend upon the house sale finalizing. But needless to say, we're psyched!

Between now and the end of the school year we have soccer and not much else.

Nearing school end, kinda

So, we appear to be in the home stretch for school. There's roughly a month of classes remaining for Emma (and Timmy a week and a half less than that). That must mean summer is almost here! I wish the weather could stay like it is now ... it's mostly beautiful (with the occasional rain to add variety) ... usually in the high 60s or low 70s ... with a pleasant amount of moisture in the air and not much for bugs. Contrast that with later summer when it will be a humid high 80s and the mosquitos will get you when you go out in the evening. Ah well, we'll enjoy it while it lasts!

We don't have a ton of plans for the summer ... hopefully a trip to KC to enjoy some time at my aunt and uncle's cabin that we really like; a weekend camping trip; a few things like that, but mostly we'll be relaxing and enjoying the Wisconsin summer!

Speaking of school, we found out yesterday that Emma's old school in SoCal is closed for the next 1 - 2 weeks because two students came down with the Swine flu. Craziness. I haven't been following this closely, but what's the difference between this and the "normal" flu. Normal flu kills people too. Whatever. I understand that the big discussion there amongst the Moiola parents is whether this unexpected vacation will add time to the end of the school year or not.

As for the weekend. Cyndie had a successful time at her scrapbooking retreat. She's caught up* through most of 2006.

*Is it really caught up if you're not all the way through the present? Perhaps I need to use the English language a bit more properly.

The kids and I hung out with Gow, Laura and Sally a bit. The adults of that crew are making our way through 24, season six. Over the weekend evenings we got through the first 9 or so episodes. Saturday morning we ventured over to Kenosha to tour the Jelly Belly warehouse there (and of course try the samples). Afterward, we had a picnic at Lake Michigan which was a lot of fun!!

So, the week beckons again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Spring ... and Summer?

Well, we're past the bad weather. We didn't end up with any snow, but I think we may have just skipped through Spring and entered Summer. It's supposed to be up to 86 today. Nice and warm over the weekend, but we're supposed to get lots of rain. Good stuff though.

It's been a fairly busy week. The kids wrapped up swim classes. We're not putting them in any new classes for the moment. We're just going to try to lay low for the rest of the school year, enjoy being outside and being together. Cyndie and I did our date night Wednesday ... dropped the kids with Gow and Laura, then went out to a butcher near town and got really nice steaks (instead of paying for someone to serve us). Steak and fresh guacamole and fresh roles ... that was tasty!

It'll be a full weekend. Tonight Emma and I are going to a Father/Daughter meal/banquet, then tomorrow morning Emma is doing her Dr. Suess speach at a competition in Walworth (at the other end of Geneva Lake). After that we'll head down to my sister's in Crystal Lake for a birthday party and to overnight with fam!

Oh yeah, and we have a good offer on the CA house. We're trying not to get our hopes up since our realtor tells us that these days lots of things fall apart, but we're crossing our fingers!