I'm trying to fend off my malaise by recapping the end of summer fun in this post. As you can tell from the long hiatus since I last wrote, we've been busy packing everything possible into the last weeks of summer. Since that last July 27 post, I've flown alone with Rosie to Indiana, flown by myself to Denver for a conference, conducted a focus group training at Purdue, and married off two friends back in Indiana.
Eric and Ashley (left) married at St. Luke's United Methodist Church and had their reception at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. I'd never been there, but it certainly lived up to its reputation for grandeur and character.
For those of you who know our family well, Eric is the oldest of the Powell boys and the second oldest of the Blake-Ward-Powell clan. So, he and I virtually grew up together. And now he's married to the beautiful and fun Ashley. I hope they enjoyed their wedding as much as we all did.
Heather and I were the Maids of Honor (I refuse to use the title Matron!) for Kara in her wedding last weekend to Brady. Heather, Kara and I were high school best friends. Kara and I went on to DePauw and Alpha Phi together. The wedding featured many of our college friends, so it was quite the reunion! They got married at the Mavris and held the reception there too. What a fab location! We were pretty sweaty, because the DJ stirred up a dance party that had all generations boogying all night long.
Jon and I also had the privilege of spending some fun time at the lake as a family with good
friends and our expanding collective brood.
Good food, great weather, and many, many laughs.
I even got brave enough to tube all the little kids! They were so cute back there behind the boat.
Rosie loved the baby pool we set up on the deck. That was her favorite place to play, but she did great in the water too. Of course, the life jacket looked like it was swallowing her whole, but she didn't seem to mind that too much either. All those swim "lessons" at the JCC last winter paid off.
Just before we left, we made a trip to the farm to play with Great Grandma Rosie and Great Grandpa Mutt and see Rosie's Great Great Aunt Millie and then all the great with a lowercase "g" cousins. :)
Cate enjoyed being Rosie's driver in the car as you can see. She also liked being Rosie's "seatbelt" during wagon rides. What a fun day! And then the very next day we got on a plane and made a hard East turn back to reality. It's been nice to readjust to life at home. Rosie walked in the front door and looked all around the living room with this quizzical expression that seemed to say..."Hey, I know this place. I know these toys!" What did she gravitate to first? Her Bumbo seat she hadn't touched since she was 5 or 6 months old. Now she likes to master climbing in and out of it - over and over and over. Too funny.
Other fun memories from the trip:
- Playing board games with Colin and holding Ethan while Jill took Aidan to the doctor
- Late night walk with Jon around the neighborhood
- Helping send off Colin to the kindergarten school bus on his first day of school!
- Being with Whitney, Jessica and Aja on new baby Ford's birthday and getting to visit him in the hospital
- Watching Rosie play with a helium balloon that kept rising to the ceiling
- Breakfast with Susan and Peter at Qdoba
- Breakfast with Steve and Becca at our house
- Dinner at Some Guys, Jon's favorite pizza place, with Mom and Dad - watching Rosie eat fettucini alfredo for the first time
- Play date with childhood friends, Laura and Liane, and their boys, Luke and Oliver
- Play date at Broadripple Park with Mom's preschool parents and kids
- Road trip to Purdue with Aja and lunch afterward at the famous Arni's
- Breakfast visit with Grandma and Grandpa Blake
- Dinner at Lauren and Adam's house with Lauren's parents
- Girls night with Kara and Heather on the Omni balcony
- Hanging out with the Wards at their house late night
- Movie date with my Mom
- Being with my Mom on her birthday and Mom and Dad on their 36th wedding anniversary
- Crashing my Dad's sales meeting with Rosie
- Photo shoot with Rosie at Picture People
- Canning tomatoes with my Mom at the farm
- Fireside laugh fest with friends at the lake
- Reminiscing with Jon about this time last year (tiny baby, three years of school left) and dreaming about this time next year (toddler, one year of school left)
