Scenes from a Kid's Vacation

Well, Kendall & I are enjoying being empty-nesters.  Amazing how much we can get done and how many things we find to talk about when there aren't any interruptions.  I actually am married to a very interesting person - who knew(=  Just kidding, I've known that for a long time.  And gosh, there aren't toys strewn about the house - how boring.

The girls are happy happy happy in Florida. I'm sure they will come back brown as can be - I know they have spent most of their waking hours in the pool.  This weekend my sweet brother & his adorable family picked them up from my Dad & Maryann's.  So they are now over in Jupiter enjoying the good life on the other side of the state.  I believe a trip to Disney is in the works for later this week if they can all 4 behave themselves.  I just absolutely love how close the 4 of them are even though they see each other only a couple times a year.  I treasure the time they have together & the 4 cousins growing up with strong relationships with each other is immensely important to me.

Here are a few photos from their time in Florida.

Beach time!

Diving lessons in Papa & Mimi's pool

At the children's museum in Naples



I love this picture of Maryann (Mimi, "Mom" to me now) with her grandkids.
The handsome young man is Maryann's grandson Nick.  Julianna (my brother's oldest) is in the red.
EB is next to Mimi.  Eri of course is in the black & Caraline (My brother's youngest) is in the front.
You can totally tell which 4 are related, right!
Maryann has 2 more granddaughters, Taressa & Carley, who live in Colorado.
I often reflect on how incredibly lucky my family is to have been joined with Maryann's wonderful family -


As for me -- you know this IS all about me (-: -- I'm feeling good.  No more nausea & not taking any meds which is a nice feeling.  I get to work this week - actually in the office.  Hooray.  They are installing our cabinets tomorrow & our appliances Wednesday so I also get to go home & organize cabinets.  Those of you who know me well know how much I love stuff like that!!  Kendall is in Kansas City today & tomorrow so I'm a single woman for about 48 hours.  Very quiet in the house this morning.  Its a really weird feeling to be all alone in the midst of the trappings of a life that normally has 3 other people in it with you.  Sort of out of body.

We worked in the garden some this weekend - taking out corn & a few other things that were past their prime.  Some of our beds are looking so full and wild - I just absolutely LOVE it.  We also went to the Farmers Market & bought some new plant material (perennials mostly) which we planted yesterday.  It was cooler this weekend but so incredibly humid - we were both soaked thru after about 10 minutes.  Of course I'm so pathetic I work for 5 minutes & sit for 5 minutes.  I am totally fed up with not having any endurance or stamina.  I hate that.  Used to be able to work outside all day long & have that tired but satisfied feeling.  Now an hour makes me feel like I am going to pass out.

We cooked some this weekend - grilled on Saturday night & Kendall made a delicious Thai dish last night that we both enjoyed.  I made homemade salsa yesterday with fresh tomatoes, parsley & jalapenos from the garden.  No baking - its not as fun without the kids. 

The girls go back to school, sort of, next Thursday.  Well, EB does - she starts Thursday August 16th & pretty much goes full out from there.  Eriana has this weird schedule for the first week.  She goes for a couple hours on Friday morning then half days the week after before finally going to full time.  I remember she did the same thing last year & I hated it.  Just get on with it!!  Thats how she feels too.  Thankfully Payton will step in & keep her company.  Next week will be busy for us though - doctor's appointments for the girls, dentist appointments, getting odds & ends they still need for school (thank goodness for uniforms!), and soaking up our last couple days together before we are back at it! 

Emilia has been training for a month or so for cross country so she will start practice on Monday for that as well.  She's done a great job being responsible & committed and we are really proud of her.  She is also doing a triathlon August 25th - her first.  And she is going to take tennis lessons starting late August.  Eriana is returning to gymnastics at the end of August.  That cracks me up because she has none of the daintiness or lightness on her feet that you see in the artistic gymansts - but boy does she have power & attitude!!!

Thats all the news thats fit to print today.  Hopefully no medical news til next Tuesday when we see Dr Keedy.

I just realized this is my 100th post.  100 sessions of therapy!