Neglect to the Upteenth Degree

Oh how I have neglected this precious blog.  I can't specifically say what has caused this neglect.  Just life has come and gone.  Times have diminished that I have had to actually sit down and write.  This new house, although completely wonderful, has made it difficult to let the children just go play by themselves.  Well, let me rephrase that, Noelle, Max, and Violette are great on their own, obeying the rules of the road and respecting the boundaries of "stop sign to stop sign".  Zane on the other hand has earned a reputation, he pees on signs, runs off to neighbor's houses, and causes general mayhem when I'm not keeping a hawk like eye on him.  Of course, that requires most of my times, as kids love to play outside.  The house work and this blog, then, in turn suffer.  Oh well, they are outside having fun, playing, and burning off energy.  I may have a dirty, unorganized house, but at least my children are not glued to the TV

So let's play catch up with multitudes of phone pictures....

We attended the local Lenawee County Fair.  Zane learned he is TERRIFIED of small roller coasters, but everyone loves the animals.

Lake Columbia, ice cream, and parks have been on our agendas, keeping us busy weekly.

And we FINALLY made it up to Traverse City.  Loving the time spent with Mom, Dad, and Alex.  Enjoying the beauty of Lake Michigan and the fun of Grandpa and Grandma's house.  

One more round of swim lessons had to be attended.

Appointments, bike riding, and more fun.

Summer is almost over :-(  School shopping is mostly complete, bags and piles of clothing are scattered around.  Noelle claims in dramatic fashion that she just can't spend her last week cleaning.  I tend to agree as it's almost noon and most the children are still wearing their pajamas and I'm ignoring the tumble weeds of dog fur.)  Open houses and the meeting of the new teachers happens tomorrow (Tuesday) evening.  I'm ready for them to get back,  but very sad at the same time.  Violette will be attending her Kindergarten year, and that alone makes me melt on the inside.  She is so many wonderful things wrapped up and she will be missed.