Summer Fun....

Wow, so much has happened in our lives since my last post. Let's see where to start...
The school year ended and both the kids did very well in their classes. Kodi was especially bummed to say goodbye to his friends. This is the first summer where he has said he misses school (not because of the studying but because of his friends :D). This summer Kodi, Eden, and Abram are all participating in the summer reading program at our local library. We all enjoy taking trips to the library and Kodi is getting better and better with using the computer search system. Abram is not so into reading yet, but he does enjoy paging through books at his own free will (he will listen to me read a page or two here and there and on a good day will sit through the same book twice --- when he's into it he loves repetition).

Right after school got out Matt, the kids and I all boarded an airplane and flew down to Florida for a week in Kissimee (Orlando area). We spent the week with Grandma and Grandpa Jorgenson (Thanks again for the wonderful accommodations) and then my sister, Sarah, her hubby Ed, and their son Morse came and joined us all on Tuesday. Here's a recap of our trip....
Saturday: Magic Kingdom bright and early -- we had a blast in Tomorrow Land and Frontier Land. The heat hit us hard and we were all exhausted by 3pm. We took a swim and napped back at our hotel before heading back to Magic Kingdom for more rides and fireworks. It was a magical day for us all! I was worried that Abram wouldn't enjoy the fireworks but he was ooohing and aaahhing with each explosion. Eden and Abram both also enjoyed the Small World ride (my favorite memory of Disney from when I was a little girl).

Sunday: Hollywood Studios here we come! We got a late start today (as we wanted to sleep in and relax). Studios were especially crowded since it was the final Star Wars weekend celebration. Grandma Nancy and Kodi were both a bit disappointed in the Star Wars stuff at the park, but we still had fun. Kodi, Eden, Grandpa Jim, and Matt all enjoyed the Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller coaster while Grandma Nancy, Abe, and I went to see the Fantasmic show. It was another wonderful day!

Monday: The 7 of us got into the Pilot for a nice drive to Cocoa Beach for some fun by the ocean. Kodi unfortunately got fried while playing in the ocean...I think he only came in for a quick bite to eat and to reapply sunscreen -- but he had so much fun! Eden had fun getting buried in the sand and of course Abe enjoyed it all. We actually saw a sand crab run right by us on the beach. I got some pics of it for our family scrapbook. Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Jim both enjoyed a dip in the ocean and a nap on the beach. We all had a wonderful dinner at a local niche in Cape Canaviral - though I am blanking on the name at the moment. Sarah, Ed, and Morse arrived late this evening.

Tuesday: All 10 of us were here now (we were all sad that Angie and Marvin weren't able to join us on this trip, but hopefully the 12 of us can spend a vacation together sometime in the future)...Today we enjoyed our resort - swam in the pools, the kids had fun on the gigantic slip and slide outside of our room, played some mini-golf and then toured down town Disney.

Wednesday: Back to Magic Kingdom for a whole day of fun! Eden, Sarah, Ed, Morse, Grandpa Jim, and I lasted the whole day and we had so much fun! Ed and I got stuck on Splash Mountain and had the privilege of going on a special backstage tour (as I call it --- fancy way of saying we had to walk off the ride since it stopped working) -- good memories none the less.

Thursday: Epcot -- lots of rain today. Grandma, Grandpa, Eden, Sarah, Ed, and Morse lasted through the rain while Matt, Kodi, Abe, and I bailed in lieu of relaxing back at our hotel.

Friday: so sad to go home...wish we could stay longer. Matt, Kodi, and Eden went back to Hollywood Studios to ride some more rides this morning before we boarded the plane to head back to Wisconsin.

We had a wonderful week and Eden and I are already scheming for when we can go back to Disney World again! Maybe in a few years once Abe is a little older and more independent :D

After getting back to Wisco we spent about a week and a half at home before we headed out for our 4th of July ramp around Wisco-Minnesota. We spent a few days with a good friend Tim Swift up in Seeley where we had a bonfire, shot off some fireworks, swam in Lake Silvernail, Matt did a little riding and Eden and I did a little shopping at our favorite little shop "Firefly" -- I strongly recommend it if you are ever in the Hayward area :). From Seeley we headed over to Independence, MN to spend the weekend at Sarah and Ed's place were Kodi learned to water ski and the rest of us enjoyed fun water sports. Eden built up her indepence and conquored her fear of the tube and by the end of the weekend she was flying off the tube laughing. Abe got over his frustration of his life jacket and was eager to drive the boat :D.

Our drive home was the best -- we hit Madison around 9:30pm where we were able to catch about 12 different sets of fireworks as we cruised along the freeway. It was a late night but seeing all those fireworks made it well worth it :).

This past Monday, Tosa shot off their "4th of July" fireworks and Matt and I enjoyed watching them from our futon upstairs -- perfect view with no mosquitos :D.

Abram is now 17 months old and is keeping us busy. His new favorite word is "up". He has skinned knees from all the fun he has outside. Thankfully no sun burns for him yet. We have already gone through almost 3 bottles of sunscreen so far this summer :)

I love the summer heat, sunshine, and water. Looking forward to 2 more wonderful months! If you are ever in the area, drop by and check out our graden :) Matt and I are very proud of all the growth we have this year. WE have so much salad it's coming out of our ears! LOVE IT!

Enjoy the sun and remember to wear sunscreen :)