Delinquent

There's no denying that I've been horrible at blogging the last 2 years.  Anna certainly keeps me busy though, that's for sure!  Rather than trying to catch up for the whole year 2012, I'll just try to highlight the summer that we've been having.  It's been very hot and dry, so that's made for a lot more indoor time than I'd prefer.  We've had our share of bebows this summer (yes, she still calls them that), but we have to make sure to go very early, before it gets insanely hot.  Even then, sometimes Anna complains about the heat and wants to go home before we've been there very long.  Okay, now for June...

We started off our summer with a weekend at the farm in Michigan.  That's a lot more down-time than Anna's used to, but she still managed to have plenty of fun taking walks around the place and playing frisbee, bugging Matt a lot, and playing fetch with the dogs.  I think she really enjoyed the bonfire we had, where she got to roast marshmallows and eat s'mores.

Anna also played her first-ever round of mini-golf on Father's Day!  We went to Haunted Trails, and Anna really loved it!  She's gotten better about taking turns, but she still gives up on herself very easily.  Her coordination is still a little lacking too, but she's working on it.  After we were done golfing, her and Daddy played a couple arcade games and then went on the little roller coaster together.  Then we had a delicious lunch at Uncle Bub's, where I discovered that Anna really has a strong love for pulled pork!

We also made our way to the Children's Museum, which is always a good time.  They had redone a few things since the last time we went, and Anna particularly enjoyed the vet area, where she took care of the animals.  She wasn't as interested in the market area this time around, but part of that might have been because it was really difficult to acquire the shopping carts.  They were being hogged by some older kids, so she couldn't use them for a long time.  By the time she got one, she must have been getting worn out and didn't want to play much at that point.

We also checked out the splash park in Westmont once, which was pretty fun.  Anna didn't want to run off and splash by herself though, and she didn't have any "friends" there to play with, so it wasn't quite the time that it could have been.  If we go back, we'll have to make sure to arrange a play date ahead of time!

The end of June had us moving Auntie Loonie to a new place in Warrenville.  The new place is much nicer than the last one (and quieter), and we enjoyed helping her celebrate!

July brought us to family vacation at Double JJ Resort.  We had a wonderful time!  Anna got to ride ponies, pet and feed the barn animals, ride the barrel train, get her "face" painted (she got it on her arm instead), get balloon animals, make crafts, play in the splash pool/swimming pool, feed the horsies, ride the pedal carts, and play lots of games.  Her favorite game happened to be ladderball.  I swear she could play it for hours.  She also really loved visiting Bubby and Bobby in their room (which was awesomely very near us), where she would play checkers among other fun things, surely.  One night we also took a hayride to the woods, where we roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, and sang songs.  Another day we went for a lovely hike on a deserted snowmobile trail.  On our way home we stopped by a blueberry farm and picked 8.5 lbs of blueberries!  I was surprised at how much Anna enjoyed it, because it was very hot that day, but we all had a great time!  It was a good vacation, and we're hoping to go back next year.

That brings us to August, which has been pretty quiet.  We mostly just play at home these days, although I'm sure we'll do a couple more fun things before going back to school.  Anna starts preschool a week from today!  Hopefully she'll enjoy it, but I'm sad to see her growing up so fast.