Time Flies . . .

. . . When you're having fun, right?! Well, it's SUMMER and we're havin' FUN! Where are the days and weeks going?????!!!!! I was in Walmart today and what did I see going up on the shelves? SCHOOL SUPPLIES! Boo hoo! I just wanted to CRY at that sight! :o) We have a jam-packed July, so this month is sure to whiz on by. Darn it -- why can't summer last forever??!!

I've been neglectful and haven't posted since the end of our wonderful vacation in June! Following our week + of paradise in Marco Island, we had a great time in Orlando. We spent a day at the Magic Kingdom (thank you to Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Day" program!), braved the heat and humidity - it must have been 120 degrees the day we were there! (Ha) and then went to the Kennedy Space Center for a day (I told the kids it was for their summer Science lesson) where we also had a great time. Highlights of our Magic Kingdom day included Carly's willingness to ride Space Mountain (TWICE, actually! who would've thought?!) and lining up to get pictures taken with the princesses, including her most FAVORITE Princess Aurora. The Kennedy Space Center was awesome - lots to see there - soooooo much information to absorb and cool things to see! Highlight of that day ... well, we waited in line for the Shuttle Launch Experience ride (me, Alex, and Carly) and by the time we got into the actual ride, I was sufficiently freaked out due to all of the precautionary information and warnings they repeatedly shared during the wait. So we went into the capsule, sat down, buckled in, and ..... when they said "last chance to exit" I raised my hand and said I wanted OUT. NO THANKS - I did NOT want to ride. Alex was appalled. :o) As I got out of my seat, I turned and told Carly, "Come on, let's go - I don't want to ride it after all...." and she said, "No way! I'm staying with Alex! You big scaredy cat! I WANT to ride it!" LOL!!! So I waited with all of the other people who had chickened out and a few minutes later, out comes Carly as excited as could be telling me all about it. Exiting that capsule full of people .... Not one of my proudest moments, to say the least. Haha.

We got back home on June 15 and returned to work on the 17th. Back to reality VERY quickly .... and it wasn't a welcome return on our parts! :o)

Other exciting news ... Alex took the ACT on June 12 in Naples, at the tail end of our Marco stay ..... he anxiously awaited and simultaneously dreaded the results (he felt the exam was more difficult than the one in April so he was not optimistic!) which finally arrived last week. He got the score he was aiming for! An improvement by 3 points over his April result. Needless to say, we were THRILLED!!!! This new score will open up a few more options as far as colleges go .... so lots of exciting times are ahead as "the search" continues and he begins to narrow down his list of possible schools. As of right now, he's still holding Augustana in the #1 spot -- we'll see how the rankings pan out when we finish our visits later this month. Stay tuned for that!

Since returning home, Alex has been busy working two jobs. Nick is staying busy keeping Alex busy (one of Alex's jobs is to be "summer companion" for Nick and his friend - very brave move on our parts, wouldn't you say? ha) and staying active in sports camps, etc. Carly is having THE summer of her life enjoying every day with her dear friend Ella and their sitter, Shannon. They do all sorts of fun "girl" things and they swim almost every day .... need I say more? :o) Mike and I are staying busy just trying to keep up with the kids and their social lives and activities, lessons, etc. Some days (actually, most) we barely keep our heads above water, it seems! But it sure is nice to deal with the chaos minus the hectic drama of the school year. I will continue to enjoy this pace of life for the next several weeks ... and then, all to soon, we will be facing yet another school year .... with a SENIOR, an 8th grader, and a 1st grader. GULP. Once again, WHERE does the time go?!

Sorry no pics with this post ... I will try to remember to post some soon of our Orlando visit and various summer activities/fun.

Hope you all are having a WONDERFUL summer!!!