Catch up

Holy cow!  I haven't posted in a long time.  I should be going to bed now, but I wanted to reconnect with my nine loyal followers. 

How is your summer going?  Ours is beautiful, warm, sunshiny, and fun.  My parental units and eldest sister and her family came to town the last week of June and we had fun playing with them.  We checked out the Olympic Trials, where the Olympic Committee asked me to compete for Team USA, but I had to politely decline as my baby is not yet weaned.  Priorities, folks.  We also went to the coast and had a fun time playing there before the rain came along. 

For the Fourth of July we went camping with some friends up north on the coast and also enjoyed ourselves, although I do not highly recommend camping with a baby who can't yet walk.  I only give it a low recommendation.  We ventured to an aquarium where I saw a depressed giant octopus, Coral, Marlin, Nemo, and Dori, and learned the best insult ever: Monkey-faced Prickleback.  Apparently this is a name of a real fish, but I think the name can be used for so much more.  Yes, I am teaching my children to call people that name.  On the 5th we drove down the coast to play on the beach once it warmed up.  You see, we were all up around 6 am, and were out of the campsite by 9 am.  So we decided to make way for home and wait for the sun to warm up the sand before playing at the beach.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and all the kids took a nap on the final drive home.

The budding scientist gazing through the binoculars to witness the wonders of the natural world.

These tide pools were so cool!

 

 

The girls were so cold the morning of camping. 

 

Our beach house.  You should come hang out.

This is my triple lutz off of the log.

Practicing for the Olympics.

So is she.

And M too.

He's cheering us on.

Are you ready for a disappointing story?  Wait no more!  I don't remember if I've mentioned it on the blog, but Handsome Hubby (HH) and I stopped eating desserts and junk food for about 3 1/2 months.  The day to break our "fast" on our anniversary, July 9th.  Yes, we've had seven years of wedded bliss, and one of less-than-blissful status.  That first year was hard for me, but add it up and we've been married for eight years.  Anyway, we planned to go to a restaurant where the food was so-so but the desserts were just what we wanted to end our fast: delectable vanilla cheesecake and decadent chocolate cake.  Alas, after eating our dinner, we asked for the dessert menu only to learn that our beloved and anticipated desserts were not available.  WHAT?!?!  I didn't even think to check if the dessert menu changed. 

So off we went to a nearby high-end grocery store (they play classical music and charge outrageous prices if you are wondering what makes it fancy) where they make extremely yummy cakes and sell them in huge slices of about 1500 calories each.  Foiled again!  Our beloved cakes were not there.  But guess what was just down the road?  A Dairy Queen!  Since the baby was with us, we were getting tired of going from place to place, so we went to - cough - Dairy Queen and got Blizzards.  Nasty, nasty food, those Blizzards.  They were super sweet and processed and waxy and oh-so-very disappointing.  We had anticipated those high-quality, tasty desserts for 3 1/2 months only to further sicken ourselves on Blizzards.  Lame.

Lest you fear that we haven't had a tasty dessert since, be assured that we've more than made up for it.  For my birthday and the two days following, we enjoyed homemade German chocolate cake.  Yum!  Friends showered down treats on us including my favorite, dark chocolate.  That is what I missed the most during my dessert-free days.  Just a small square of dark chocolate.  With all this celebrating, we've overloaded ourselves on treats and now I fear that all the control I gained over my eating is out the window in less than a week.  But all the big desserts are gone now, thank goodness!  We're back to me and my small stash of dark chocolate that I can enjoy one nibble at a time.

For my birthday, my awesome sister continued to be her ever-generous self and got me flowers, a birthday picnic, a biking jersey, went to a movie with me, and compiled messages from my good friends and family where each person shared what they love about me. How thoughtful was that?  I felt like a million dollars while reading those.  I hope you all have an Amy in your life.  I love having mine.

And the movie we saw was Singin' in the Rain, the best musical ever.  My family knows that movie in and out, and to see it on the big screen in good color was such a treat.  The audience was so fun, clapping and cheering after the singing/dancing numbers.  It was expensive but worth it.

Finally, the new picture I have up on the blog is Little Buddy with his great-grandma.  He has taken a liking to hear, and it is cute to see them together.  We're so lucky to have so many family members visiting our area this summer.

 I hope you're having fun this summer too!