I miss summer.

Anyone in the mood to relive a month-worth of adventures in reverse chronological order? I hope so, because there is no way I am spending 20 minutes rearranging these pictures when I could be sitting on our Lovesac eating leftover pie. 

I would recommend using the restroom and getting a drink of water before we begin. Here it is - the last month of our lives in reverse:

On Saturday my second-oldest daughter, Olivia, was baptized. It was a sweet experience. If you want to know all of my warm and fuzzy thoughts about the experience you'll have to break into my house and steal my journal from my secret hiding place in my underwear drawer.

But before that, Olivia turned eight. She got cowgirl boots and her aunt Sheree made an enormous Oreo birthday cake for her:

My kids started school. Blech. Don't tell them I said that. If they ask, tell them I said, "School is cool!" They might not believe you because I've never been one to use catchphrases from the late 80's/early 90's. Not.

Before that we drove home from Kentucky/Tennessee. Yes, Tennessee. More on that in a minute.

This is a good place to stop if you ever find yourself on I-70 east of Denver and you have a hankering for the best Monte Cristo in the history of Monte Cristos:

This is Kansas:

And this.

*sigh*

This is Lake Norris in Tennessee. We had a half-of-my-family-reunion at a spectacular lake house there. There was a cabin, a dock for swimming and fishing, a movie projector, a fairy swing, card games, sleeves and sleeves of Oreos, a ping pong table, canoeing:

kayaking:

This water trampoline that essentially turned into a daily "game" of king of the mountain. It was a little Hunger Games-ish. I still have bruises. Also, this is the closest thing to a group photo that I have from the whole week:

And the fishing! My husband, bless his heart, tried and tried to catch a largemouth bass. He went to the store for more bait and this happened:

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

There was also this teensy cabin on the property that had a loft, a futon, and an Xbox. These girls spent an entire day sneaking/stocking it with red cream soda and Oreo cookies for their sleepover that night. They were in heaven:

There was also an illegal rope swing. Naturally, if one attaches the word "illegal" to something, it piques my husband's interest:

(We're almost there. This would be a suitable time for a bathroom break.)

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Welcome back.

Right before we left for Tennessee, DJ and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. You would appreciate what an accomplishment that is if you knew how often we bicker over what to eat for dinner.

We celebrated by having a classic Cincinnati date. We ate LaRosa's pizza, watched the Reds play the Cardinals, and washed it all down with some Graeter's ice cream. It was a perfect night.

Before that we all went to King's Island theme park in Cincinnati. The best part about it was listening to my brother-in-law, Manny, laugh on the rides:

At one point this summer my boy turned six. I plopped a Blackbird on his cake like the lazy mom that I am. The awesome thing about boys is that they don't care.

Some time before that we visited downtown Louisville and rented this little number for the afternoon. It was hilarious. Not to brag or anything, but I did most of the pedaling:

And walked the Big Four bridge from Kentucky to Indiana:

 And lastly, one final cannonball shot:

I already miss summer.

Desperately.