Halloween fun.

There is nothing better than Halloween.  Oh, wait.  Christmas or my birthday or summer time.  Hmmm....let's start over.  I really like Halloween.  Fun with friends, trick or treating, candy, and a late night usually even on a school night.  This year Hadley was a butterfly, Oliver was superman, and I was a USA soccer player.  It was my way of dressing up without having to really change out of my usual clothes. 

 After about five houses, Oliver thought he had enough candy and was confused why he couldn't just sit and eat it.

 Even though our trick or treat party was mostly boys, Hadley found some friends wandering around.

Meet season for Hadley.

Hadley loves gymnastics.  Probably more than anything, definitely more than me.  She is competing level 2 again and has improved so much from last year.  But I think her favorite part is her brand new sparkly leotard.  Her first meet of the season was at BUGS and I went to cheer her on.  It wasn't too bad but there were a lot of girls there.  Her next meet was in Plainfield.  Nana went with Hadley and mommy so the boys were off the hook and we played at the lake.  It was her best meet ever though.  Her all around topped 36 points.  (I guess that's good.)  All I know is she came home with lots of medals and an all around trophy.

Traveling.

Florida is a favorite destination of ours.  This summer we decided to do something a little different and went to Naples for TWO WEEKS.  That is a lot of pool and beach.  We were lucky enough to be close enough to some friends of ours so we had a lot of time at the beach with friends.  It was hot but the water kept us cool.

Sunset on the beach.  Always an end to a great day.

Friends in Florida

Daddy joined us a little bit later.  We were so happy to see him.

I did a lot of fishing off the beach.

We took off for a long weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado to see one of mommy and daddy's high school friends get married.  We did a lot of vacationing with a little wedding fun mixed in.  We took a gondola up the mountain and hiked one day.  Oliver was a trooper as usual.  We zoomed down the mountain on a little sled.  Daddy was quite nervous about it but it was so much fun and since I was the oldest and there are three kids.  I got to ride up the chair lift by myself and then down the mountain on a sled all by myself.  Perks of being the oldest, I guess.  We did a lot of swimming in the hotel pool but the coolest swimming adventure was at the hot springs just up the road from our hotel.  There were pools of hot water on the edge of a mountain and they felt like hot tubs.  It was pretty cool.  Now I need to convince mommy and daddy to head back when there is snow on the mountain for a little skiing.

My favorite time of the year.

Summer time of course!  No school.  Lots of lake time.  Lots of time at the pool.  Lots of time outside.  Lots of time being home and being eight!  This summer I went to two camps.  Had a blast at both of them.  Hadley did team camp for her gymnastics team.  She loved it.  Oliver learned to swim.  Without bubbles, he never wants to wear bubbles again in fact.  Here are a few highlights from my favorite time of year....

Slip and sliding.

 Oliver is learning but there was not a lot of sliding.

 Oliver loves bubbles.  The stickier the better.

Lake life.  Lots of fishing.  Swimming.  Water sports. And late nights.

The fair.  Best night of the summer.

Another lake.  Another fish caught.  Actually this was Hadley's first ever fish she caught on her own.

Camp Laughlin

Smores.

Summer isn't summer without ice cream.

Soccer camp with my bud.

Friends make summer better.

IU basketball camp.

 A few more pictures from gymnastics camp.  Each day was full of spirit.

 Hadley learned to water ski.

I took Riley to dog school.  She can sit like crazy.