The summer of fun...and some tree hugging

Today I finally sat down to catch my breath. What an amazing summer we have had, and as I sit here, I feel many emotions creep in. Fall is a great time of year, but it always makes me a little sad...mostly because I HATE cold weather and cloudy days--and not fall cold, winter cold, but yet, sad it is. As I look through hundreds of pictures from our summer, it makes me happy knowing we filled our warm days as a family in so many different ways.

JUNE

      

June starts with a fabulous trip-- a stop in the Smokey Mountains, to bringing a sweet

addition, ten years later, to our honeymoon spot.  It was lovely (for the most part).  :-)

Everything else we did...

       waiting to get signatures at PINKALICIOUS - building LEGO's, and many other

playtime favorites went on - a fun JOHN DEERE day helping Daddy

 we love the chocolate cake dessert at Appanoose Rapids (and the Cuban!!) - waterpark trips are
abundant this summer - and biking in Ottumwa Park is a favorite past time

Showing off some biking skills to Nonna and Nonno

  

 hanging on the "beach" in ottumwa - ottumwa balloon races going past our home one
 beautiful summer morning - and presents from auntie danica always bring a lot of joy

 Cousins visit (without any other adults than me--scarey) for three days.  It was a blast, and an inside view of what parents of three kids go through everyday (whew) 
- Nick and I build a ring of fire - 
Harris' skinny teenage back with four bee stings (this was on a seperate visit in Hamilton after a day at the Country Club). 
 In true Harris fashion, he said, "ooww, ooww, oww" quietly, then asked for pictures to send to friends.  I love teenagers (of course, when they aren't mine)

 

With record heat and a bad drought in the making, we spent many days in the
back yard floating in the kiddie pool avoiding all the crunchy burnt up grass

JULY, oh wonderful July

This is what the City of Ottumwa did to our neighborhood in July... 

 

My feeling then...God Bless America and the government in control of our children's future!

They took down six trees around our home, which were among hundreds of others to redo the sewer, and my hell raising consumed a lot of time.  To tell this story would take a seperate blog post, which I have no time for, so to sum it all up--I got the city of Ottumwa to pass a New Resolution to start an Urban Reforestation Program.  Plans are under way as I write, and I can't wait to plant the first tree.  Below is an email I got from one city council member that made it all worth it...

Francesca:

Politics is a funny beast. Just by being there, you put a great deal of pressure on the other guys to follow through. Thank you for caring and standing tall for what you believe. Your strength and that of your friends will result in a change in the way this city operates from this point forward. Think of that! One little lady and a few friends has changed the course of an entire city. This will start now and go into the future. You have done a mighty thing. God Bless you and all of us "tree-huggers". John Richards

my feeling now...be the change you wish to see in the world (thank you gandhi)

THE REST OF JULY

A few pictures from our tree saga...

handing out flyers, with some true friends, to get support -- the kids hanging around our beautiful trees while they were getting cut down --what we salvaged, for building a fairy garden for Ava, with left over tree stumps (this is a work in progress, more like at a halt, until we get rain to soften up the drought riden ground to dig holes)...

   

  

Ava goes away for the weekend without Mommy for the first time and she cries while riding the horse :-( , we took two trips to the zoo, and cousins hanging out on the ONLY cold evening this summer--but still in the pool...

 

The Circus comes to town and Ava proceeds to want to be in the Circus...

  

We babysit a few times and Ava makes a great big neighbor sister...

My sister and I go see Rythmic Circus and have a REALLY good time

(I still need to give my friend Mark hell about that light)...

Another visit with cousins...

 this visit takes us from "roughen it" to pampering ourselves at the nail salon..

My cousin from Colorado came to visit for a week and we took all the kids to Lake Wapello... My favorite memory from this trip, besides the lake, is sitting on my back porch (until god knows when) with Becky & my sister, talking and laughing until our stomachs hurt.  Something about cousins can make everything seem so much more fun!

A fun visit back in Camp Hamilton takes us down memory lane (Ava in my prom dress from 1992), to the "old bridge" to watch barges, and big hugs between cousins.  This trip was extra fun...

 

FINALLY ON TO AUGUST

 Lots and lots of fun in August with even more cousins & family, and one wedding thrown in there...

and more visits with cousins...have you started to notice a pattern here?  I think they all like coming to our house..and eating ALL my food.  :-)

and some last minute fun stuff before school started...

By the end of August, Iowa is the driest I have ever seen it . Creek beds and river beds are empty, corn fields are withering, trees, flowers, grasses, and my water bill are all suffering.  The clouds came through all summer, but the rain just wouldn't come.  What little rain we have had, has been a blessing, and God got lots of thanks those evenings from Ava for even the littlest rain puddle to splash in.

This is one of the last bike rides we took that I cherish...I miss our summer evening walks already.

 THEN THERE WAS SCHOOL!!!!

  

 

 teacher of the century mrs. johnson - getting our new tradition of after school ice cream - 

and the heart she carried on her hand during school in case she missed her family.  she did great, but did tell me she kissed her heart a couple times when she thought of us...oh, my melting heart!!!