Summertime

Hello?

Hello?

Is anybody still there?

I read somewhere that you're never supposed to apologize for taking a break from blogging. So without any apology, but at least an excuse, I've simply been having a great summer. I've managed to check a few blogs here and there, leave a comment or two, and do all my online banking, but for the most part, I've avoided sitting at my kitchen table and tapping on these keys.

It's just that people have started to ask where I've been.

I have been:

• To Bear Lake for a family reunion. This was the first time we've ever done anything like this. Five whole days with everyone, camping or condo-ing, lakeside and firepit - it was wonderful. So wonderful and busy, in fact, that I didn't take any pictures other than this one. Troy is becoming quite the dutch oven chef!

• To Scout Camp. Two days up in the mountains with 8 and 9 year old boys. It was actually a lot more more fun than it sounds.

• To the pool. Cam and Aaron are pretty self sufficient when it comes to swimming now, so I can be super lazy and relax in the shade. Occasionally they come back for a sunscreen reapply, a drink, or a snack, but for the most part, they are just gone. They are off with friends (with a stern warning about never playing the hold your breath game), jumping from diving boards, having water fights, and getting very tan and blond.

• Watching my garden grow. And even eating from it every once in a while. Troy put in square_foot_gardens for me this year, and we've been having a moderate amount of success. No weeds, a few bugs, and Oliver, who has been determined to snatch plants from the soil and race all over the yard playing with his leafy and apparently delicious new chew toy. More on the garden later.

• Reading. At Bear Lake and the pool, I've been (finally) reading A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Kite Runner. Both were "couldn't put 'em down" and "can't stop talking about them" kinds of novels. I've also read a few tabloids. Don't judge me...it's summertime and I'm by the pool. Of course, I wrap it in an Ensign.

• Biking. Continues to be something I really really enjoy, especially now that Troy can go with me. We went every day at Bear Lake and try to go for at least 15 miles when he's home.

• Playing tennis. I'm actually fitting in everything else around the tennis. If I'm not practicing with the league, I'm there for lessons with the boys and just playing for fun. I'm better than I was last year, I have lots of friends playing with me, and I LOVE IT!!! The courts close at 10pm, but I think I could hit balls all night long. If I'm not at home, there's like a 90% chance that I'm at the tennis courts.

• Keeping cool. Swamp cooler's been working splendidly, and after a buying a whole new compressor for my car, the air conditioner in there has been doing fine as well.

Aaaaaahhhhh, summertime.

What have you been doing?