Handy (wo)Man

Kelsey's been spending her summer afternoons hard at work with the crew of OPRF's summer musical Hello Dolly.

When she signed up, we were told she'd be trained to use tools. We didn't realize how handy

those skills would be!

Our gutter's been leaking all spring and summer. Today Kelsey climbed up on the roof, cleaned out the garden that had been growing there, and calked the seam so it won't leak.

It's great to know there's a handy (wo)man in the house!

My Almost-Grown-Up Daughter

My Kelsey-Girl is growing and changing at a breath-taking rate.  Holy cow.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Between New Orleans, Cousins Camp and Pampered Chef's national convention, it's been a busy first half of July, so my birthday seems almost like an after thought this year. We did celebrate with our good friends S&J Renny at Carnivale in River North.

The first words out of Baird's mouth when we sat down: "You're not going to take a picture of every single thing you eat are you?"

Well when you put it like that...

I just couldn't help taking a picture of the beautiful birthday dessert. I gotta admit that I'm getting a bit spoiled by having all these restaurants make custom desserts for me!

The other thing about Carnivale is that I swear, they stole the dot design right off of Pampered Chef's Simple Additions dots plates and entertaining pieces, and plunked them on the enormous lights that hang around the dining area!

The food was terrific, the atmosphere was party-like, and the company was amazing. It was the perfect way to spend a birthday evening!

Chug a lug

She got this skill from her father. Her mother hates it. 'nuf said.

Cousins Camp

Cousins camp always starts off with a treasure hunt.

Drew's favorite prize got a lot of laughs.

The kids went to a working farm where they were allowed to hand-milk the cows.

Drew had to get over the smell of the place first.

This year's group photo, taken at the cow farm.

In Iowa, you get your learner's permit when you're 14.

Kelsey's been taking driving lessons from Grandpa since spring,

practicing safetly on the quarter-mile driveway.

Popcorn and movie night is a cousins camp tradition.

Kite flying's the best!

Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa Hunter, for this wonderful tradition,

and for all the great memories that go along with it!

12:34 and 56 seconds on 7-8-9

I've lived through a lot of special dates.
There was 8-8-88.
There was the turn of the millenium
And there was this afternoon - 12:34:56 on 7-8-9. I wasn't awake to catch the first round of this fun little moment, so I thought I'd pay a bit of attention this afternoon. But what was I doing at that exact second? Running around making sure the kids had all their stuff together so Baird could take them to cousins camp. They pulled out at 1:05pm, at which point I looked at the clock and realized I'd missed the magical moment.
Oh well. There's always 7-8-9 at 10:11 this evening to look forward to!

Reunited

When we got home last night, Kelsey was at the house waiting for us. Drew was dropped off a few hours later. This morning Baird drove up to Wisconsin to pick Erin up from horseback riding camp, completing the reunification of our family.

Kelsey and Erin have a very special bond, and they really missed each other this week while we were all separated. They were thrilled to be back in each other's lives again.