Roadside Relief

Often called monotonous and void of any interesting landscape, the Midwestern stretch of I-80 gets a bad rap. While the drive between Chicago and Salt Lake City can be boring at times, somehow, we managed to find beauty every time Ethan needed a between-gas-stops potty break.

Nebraska or Iowa on the way home

Wyoming or Nebraska on the way home

Wyoming (I think) on the way out

Wyoming on the way out

Colorado (technically not on the I-80, but close by)

Staying Cool in the Pool

This summer has been a HOT one! We've spent many days cooling off at our community pool. Ethan showed off his awesome swimming skills by passing the swim test (an unassisted swim across the deep end)--thus granting him access to join the big kids riding the slides and jumping off the diving board. After five years of being too little for the slides, it truly was a glorious day. He wore his wrist band with the pride of an Olympic medalist and pointed it out to many friends (and a few strangers). With my youngest now swimming I have graduated to a mom who can sit at the side of the pool and read...however it's been so hot I've opted to swim with the kids instead--but I love that I have the choice!

The day after Ethan first jumped off the diving board he told Isaac he was going to do a front flip off the diving board. Isaac tried to talk him out of it but when Ethan refused to listen Isaac defered to me, "Mom! Ethan says he's going to do a front flip off the diving board!" I told him it could hurt his back or maybe he could hit his head and that maybe he should wait until he was a little bigger. He kept pestering me till I finally relented assuming he wouldn't actually do it. When we got to the pool all the kids scattered. A few minutes later I was scanning the pool for Ethan when he approached me from the direction of the diving pool with a huge grin across his face. Yes, he'd marched straight up to the diving board and done a front flip all by himself. The boy's got guts that's for sure!

The Hurricanes take Second Place in the League

Congrats to Morgan's softball team, the Hurricanes. After the last two tournament games in the sweltering heat on Saturday they finished the season in second place. This was Morgan's second softball season ever (her first was in 1st grade). I think she surprised herself as a great little player...and she had a lot of fun too (thanks to great coaches and great teammates).

Crazy for Coasters

Camden C with Isaac, Ethan and Morgan at Six Flags We are a family of thrill ride lovers. So, when summer comes along we look forward to many visits to Six Flags Great America. Since it's only 15-20 minutes from home we get season's passes and visit often. Last year Morgan was tall enough for every ride in the park--even the big scary coasters which she rides with a big grin on her face and a sparkle in her eye. Last week Brent and I went for a date night and as we rode the Raging Bull roller coaster I screamed, "I can't believe we let our little girl ride this ride!" It's a great coaster, especially from the front row --but scary when you think of your first born child riding! Other favorites are Superman, Batman, and Vertical Velocity. Isaac is tall enough for the Viper and American Eagle, and also loves Giant Drop (my personal favorite...technically not a coaster, but an awesome drop ride). Ethan's favorite is the Whizzer (because he can ride all alone). He also loves the Jettson's and the Demon. Last week we visited the attached Hurricane Harbor water park for the first time and found some favorite slides as well.

Friends Forever

For the past five years Morgan and her friend Camden have switched off visiting one another during the summer. These visits require an unaccompanied minor flight across the US. These brave little girls made their first solo flights at 8 years old. They each look forward to their week together with much anticipation and there are always tears when their time together comes to an end. They have been friends since the day Morgan was born, and it's sweet to see how connected they've stayed even though they've lived far apart for 8 of their 11 years of friendship.

The girls kept super busy during Camden's visit with Six Flags, the pool, our village's carnival, a horse show, a visit to the former workplace of this year's American Idol, shopping, playing at home, and of course a day in the city. Downtown at the Bean

Shopping success!

Former workplace of this year's American Idol, Lee Dewyze

The Temple Lipizzian's horse show

Parting is such sweet sorrow :-(

Ode to a Well-Worn Couch

Farewell beloved green couch
Olive, cotton, worn, soft, stained.
Cozy and smooth like a favorite blanket,
Now rejected in your tattered and weary state.
Once a place of refuge for an exhausted child, mother, father, friend.
You comforted us when we were too sick or sad to sleep in our own beds.
You welcomed our guests.
You enveloped a new mother nursing her newborn infant.
You were patient, brave and strong when armies of toddlers trampled over you like a playground.
For seven years you were the hub of our home.
In our small apartments you were always close by, always available.
But we thought we needed more space, more rooms with more couches.
And so we moved, and bought more couches to fill the rooms.
You were showing your age and we were ashamed of you.
We had stained you, torn you, tattered you, and so we banished you to the basement.
Abandoned in the sea of toys and tots.
A vibrant red couch took your place as the most popular seat in the house--but it never felt quite the same.
Months would pass between our infrequent visits with you.
We’d lay on your familiar cool cotton twill softness and reminisce of our joyful young family in cozy one-couch homes.
You felt like California and Chicago.
You felt like Thursday night “Must See TV”.
You felt like a late night rendezvous.
You felt like mornings that started much, much too early because a toddler was done sleeping.
You felt like lazy Sunday afternoons.
But, whenever we were to host a guest we were ashamed of you—-so soft and comfortable, but so unattractive.
We wanted more seating for our growing family, we wanted something prettier.
And so, one day a truck arrived with a pristine new sectional.
You were sent to the garage. No longer fit for even the basement.
A $50 Craigslist ad went unanswered. You were of no value.
Weeks passed, we reposted you, worthless, for free, and finally a taker.
Too impatient to wait around to greet your new family, we left you on the snow covered porch, covered only by a haphazardly placed plastic tarp.
Our parting thoughts were, “my doesn’t that couch make our house look trashy,” sitting there absurdly, humiliatingly on the front porch.
Maybe you are covered with a slip cover now.
Maybe you are in another basement now.
Maybe you are again the hub of a home.
We watched Chair, your loyal lifelong companion, topple into the garbage truck. The tear on her arm too unsightly for anything but landfill. I felt remorse for not trying more diligently to find her a new home. She was a good seat too.

Onward and Upward...Farewell Elementary School

It doesn't seem like that long ago when I snapped this photo of Morgan on her first day of Kindergarten. Back when she'd wear darling little dresses with matching socks and let me braid her hair and finish it off with matching hair bows and clips.

While it may not seem that long ago, somehow six years has come and gone in the blink of an eye. My darling girl has graduated from elementary school and is anxious to embrace the world of middle school. No longer interested in matching socks and hair bows, she dreams of the day when her parents will get with the times and grant her access to a cell phone and Facebook account. My baby girl is growing up. Time is rushing by, but I have no regrets. I'm grateful for the darling girl she was in Kindergarten and the sweetheart she continues to be. She works hard at everything she does and is beautiful inside and out. I'm so proud to be her mom.

Ah, what a cute little Tinkerbell she was in Kindergarten!

Morgan's Kindergarten class

Morgan's 5th grade graduating class