Summertime

It has been a lazy summer at the Haest house. The kids have been sleeping in almost every day, sometimes til 11 a.m. Fine by me, I measured them at the beginning of summer, we will see how much they grow after all the sleep and constant snacking! They can go through a container of ice cream in a day! Ok maybe I help a little with that. They have been playing with their friends quite a lot. It seems I am always running them to or from somebody's house. I decided not to join the country club this summer, to save moolah. It hasn't rocked their world the way I was scared it would. We have been to the water park a couple times, and Creekmore once, although that's not our fave because it's so crowded. And of course, there was the beach...!

We went to Treasure Island, near Tampa FL, for 4th of July with the Haest family. I had planned to drive down there, I like road trips especially now that the kids are older. But my mother-in-law Letty insisted we let her fly us down. My driving makes her nervous, and especially that long of a drive, with nobody to share the driving. I was actually glad we flew, it was so much easier and quicker. I wasn't sure what all was planned for the trip, and I was pleasantly surprised to realize it was to be a simple, relaxing, beach trip. No Busch Gardens, which would have been fun but hectic, no water parks, just the sand and the water! I never get tired of the beach. I got up early every morning, got some coffee and headed down to the beach for some quiet time, then to the hotel gym for a nice little workout (and I do mean little, I get bored by myself and give up after about 30 mins). There was a huge complimentary breakfast every morning, where the family converged and said our good mornings and pigged out together. Then on with the swimsuits and goggles and out to the beach for a day of sun and water. The water temp was perfect. The company was wonderful, hadn't spent any time with any of the Haests since Christmas. Everybody always remains very well-hydrated during the Haest vacations ;) I drink more on a single vacation with them than I do the rest of the time combined! The kids had a blast catching up with each other, and playing Sharks and Minnows and Marco Polo in the hotel pool. Three of the five nights we cooked dinner in our suite kitchens, and twice we went out, the last night it was just the adults and we went to an amazing restaurant called The Salt Rock Grill. Fabuloso. I have never had such fresh oysters, calamari, and shrimp. Yum. And the wine was so good but I do not remember what it was called. I will be going back to that restaurant one day! Oh, and I did make an attempt at some beach pics but it was sprinkling on us and I picked a really unflattering outfit for myself, which I only noticed afterwards, so I'm not really happy with the results but here are a couple pics.

We have another week or so til we travel again, to Oklahoma for a family reunion, then a couple weeks after that we will head down to New Braunfels, TX. First we will spend a day or two at Schlitterbahn water park, I think it's the largest in the world, then we will report to T Bar M for Family Camp, this will be our 4th year in a row to go! Cannot wait. And just a couple days after we return from Texas, it'll be time for the kiddos to go back to school! SO our summer is just about over. We have enjoyed every minute of it. I have been focusing lately on not wishing life away, no more "I can't wait till...", just enjoying each day and each season as I have the pleasure and privilege of living it.