Where, oh where did you go?

We're 3 weeks in to school now, and I was just curious if anyone could tell me where my summer went?  I'm still baffled that it's over!  Back in early June, we had a dinner conversation that centered around how we would fill the days spreading out before us.  You see, for a family used to having summer consumed by the joys--and challenges--of living the summer camp life, we still don't know what to do with a "typical" summer.  Do people really lounge on beaches and around pools, do people really stay in their pajamas all day, do people really take impromptu day trips?  As it turns out, in the end I still can't say what other people do; I just know we had a blast doing very little of those things.

Although school here doesn't get out until the middle of June, I really felt like our summer adventures started in May when Shawn's parents, brother, and niece all came for Ellie's First Communion.  It was an incredible weekend, most especially because of the Sacrament itself, and then also because we got to show them around the Seattle metro area and then go on an overnight to Whidbey Island (including a whale watching trip).  That was our second time there and both times I've been struck by how completely I feel the pacific northwest "vibe" when we're there.  The combination of forests, oceans, and general atmosphere are wonderful.  While we were there we also went to Sunday Mass, and having Ellie walk up with us and receive the Eucharist on that "ordinary" Sunday was a striking reminder that this weekly miracle we get to partake in is always EXTRAordinary.

Just after school got out, Shawn's family came back (parents and brother's whole family) and while the weather wasn't super cooperative--go figure, right?--we had a fantastic time.  Again we explored the metro area and such, but then...we took our first trip to Vancouver, Canada!  It's really fun living so close to the border and being to take our children on an international trip.  That said, it's so hard to accept that to them it seems like just another weekend trip--a cool one, mind you, but still a just short trip from home.  I wonder if years from now they'll understand how crazy awesome our adventures have been these last couple years because they're so easy to take, or will they have forgotten?  Or, will we still live here and they'll take it all for granted, finding awe instead in the rolling fields and thunderstorms of the midwest?

Fact: When you go anywhere in Seattle with this many children, you definitely get a TON of double takes!

After that, we spent several days coming and going from camp, where we had the blessing of getting to hang out with friends who said yes to growing the mission this year.  We are so grateful for these families who said yes to living the camp life because they love Jesus so much and want to share that love!  It was also during this time that we celebrated Independence Day, played a bunch of Kuub, enjoyed our neighborhood beach and park, let go of Ellie for a whole week of camp, sent the girls to day camp, and waffled constantly about whether or not we were really going to make a trip to KS this summer.

In the end, WE DID!  We made the final decision just 24 hours before we loaded in the van and left--yes, that's what I said--we drove from Seattle to KS this year.  And, believe it or not, getting there was half the fun.  We saw all the beauty and grandeur our national hymns refer to, we woke up in Big Sky, MT and spent a day in Yellowstone, we saw Mount Rushmore and meandered through the Badlands (while listening to Rich Mullins sing about it), we drove through a crazy storm, we wondered how we were going to get through a particular cliffwall that didn't appear to have a pass and then discovered a series of crazy serious switchbacks that took us to the top, drove across a 60+ mile plateau, and then took an even scarier series of switchbacks down again (this time in the dark).  And all of this before even reaching our destination!  Waiting for us in KS were some of the most wonderful days ever, including hanging out with cousins, going to the water park with Grammar and Aunt Josie, spending an evening with close friends, attending the Camp Tekakwitha reunion that my girls still haven't stopped talking about, etc, etc.  And, to top it all off, we left on a Saturday night at 11:00 pm, drove straight through 30 hours (truly stopping only for potty breaks, lunch, and dinner), and got home at 3:00 am Monday morning exhausted but happily safe--I emphasize the happy part because I'm still SO grateful for how easily we all handled that day...seriously, the girls were WONDERFUL!

Looking back at early August, I remember losing 2 miserable weeks to a couple of really bad rounds of Hand, foot and mouth disease.  On the other glorious hand, however, I also remember celebrating our 10th anniversary with the man of my dreams!  While I completely enjoy seeing everyone's re-declarations of love on such days through FB and other media (thank God for holy, lasting marriages!), it was also such a gift to feel like a thief secretly stealing that weekend away to keep just for ourselves.  We had a friend offer to keep the girls, so we got to enjoy a weekend of being deliriously in love--we went out to dinner, did some shopping, and then came home.  Who knew being at home--without kids--could be such a fantastic gift on your 10th anniversary!  We shared gifts and talked memories that, sorry folks, I still just want to cherish just in my heart, renewed our commitment to the future, and spent time remembering how great it is to be married to your best friend.  I am so grateful for that weekend that got to be just ours and that I know I'll never forget.

Ten Years!

Think I'm done?  Ha!  If so, you must not have ever read my other blog posts.  ;-)  For our final hurrah, we had the joy of having a dear friend come stay with us for over a week.  We played many games, had ordinary dinners at home, and (with a bit of hesitation for the inevitable coming season) set about the process of going through the back-to-school motions.  Funny, though, how these things are always more fun in the presence of a great friend!  We also took another trip to Vancouver and explored new adventures there, as well as revisited some we'd enjoyed before.  But for me, the best part came on the last weekend he was here, when we took a trip to the coast.  Living on the Puget Sound is very cool, don't get me wrong, but ever since moving here I've wanted to go out to the edge and stand where I could see nothing but ocean spreading out to the horizon--and finally going was SO worth it!  We arrived just in time to watch the sunset., which was amazing.  The pavement literally just ended at the sand, and given that according to WA state law coastal beaches are literally state highways, we just kept driving.  We parked our car facing west and drank in the view.  That was nothing, though, compared to the first moment we opened the car door and got a that first taste of fresh, ocean air...so amazing!  Thanks to Ellie and our friend, we found a perfectly whole sand dollar, which is one of those silly little secret dreams I've always had and never really thought would necessarily happen.  We walked through sand dunes from our hotel to the beach, we flew kites, we made sand castles (Gianna and Ellie were the flags), we walked miles of beaches collecting shells, we climbed the rocks of a jetty (being ever so careful not to disturb the anemones living in the crevices between), found a great, quaint interpretive center, and just had a generally great time.

My happy place!

It was a weekend that, even as an adult, was another first for me.  We've had so many firsts since moving here that when I think only about those, it's almost as if the last 2 years have been a really extended vacation. What a gift!  And yes, there have been some complicated strings attached, but I still readily accept it with gratitude for God's goodness.  Alas, school has started again, and I know there will be more time between our adventures for the foreseeable future, but that just makes me all the more grateful for this wonderful summer we've had.  Besides, in the words of one very smart Peter Pan, "to live (and die) would be an awfully big adventure."  Bring it on, then!