Summer Time

 Our summer turned out to be SO MUCH BUSIER than planned! We've been gone a lot and I feel like I'm always playing catch up. Two things we had planned on though were that Sydney was going to go to theater camp so she could participate in the Elgin Opera House's production of "The Wizard of Oz." She got sick the first day of camp a few weeks back, and they were so nice to work with us and switch her to a later week. It turned out to be really busy for her because by that time soccer season was in full swing too. She had some long days, but definitely had fun being a Munchkin and taught Wynn and Abby all the songs too. We all know "ding, dong the witch is dead..." by heart I think now! I was surprised and proud of her for really getting into the acting part of the show. We already know she loves to dance and sing, but I guess she likes to act too. It was so fun to watch how animated and involved she was up on stage. I'm sure we'll have more musicals in our future with her!

Wynn played soccer too and really blossomed this year. He never wanted to sit out and rest and scored some goals. He ran fast and even got better at not slide kicking towards the end of the season. Slide kicking is his "signature" move, but we tried to show him how that meant he couldn't keep kicking the ball and it always got stolen right after he'd kick it and fall down lol. He's getting the hang of it and looking forward to pee wee football in the fall.

Kauai

Dad treated Mom and I to a beautiful, fun trip to Kauai this year for some mother daughter time. I forgot how much I love Hawaii. It's almost painful to be there... but so perfect, beautiful, and serene. It sounds cliche, but my soul feels at home there. One day I hope to be able to live there again and am so grateful I was able to spend time there with mom this year.

On to the trip however.... We did a lot of fun things and relaxed and surrounded ourselves with all Kauai's lush beautiful glory. We saw Kauai from the water on a riverboat, from the air on a helicopter,  from the road on our trip from one end of the island to the other at Waimea Canyon, and from the dirt on a grueling 8 mile hike on the Na Pali Coast, a place where the only way in or out is to walk! We snorkeled, shopped, ate and much more. It was a fun week and I'll let the pictures speak the rest for themselves! We took these pictures ourselves. The landscape is so amazingly beautiful, you don't have to be a professional photographer to make it look stunning!