Summer Vacation Week 3 Pictures

The mud at Country USA and this was one of the better spots.  This also used to be grass at one time!

 My up close and personal view of Rascal Flatts!

 My 9 year old nephew swimming at the Badger State Games.

 My nephew with his medal from the race that qualified him for Nationals.

My 6 year old niece all ready for soccer.  She'll be coming with my parents to visit Colorado this weekend.



My 9 year old nephew (the swimmer) pitching.  Quite the pitcher too!

 My 10 year old nephew up to bat.

 My 13 year old nephew up to bat.  This was the night he hit the in the park homerun.

 Our garden!  It really took off while I was gone.  Things are even beginning to flower!

Summer Vacation Week 3

Week 3 of summer vacation was the busiest one yet.  I spent the first half of the week cleaning the house, cleaning the carpets, doing laundry, watering flowers/garden, and going to the gym.  On Thursday of last week, I headed to Wisconsin for 5 days to see my family and friends.  Talk about busy!!  I got home yesterday and need a vacation from my vacation, but don't have time.  I need to get the house cleaned back up again because my parents will be here on Saturday! 

My time spent in Wisconsin was certainly memorable.  Last Friday night, I went with a friend of mine to Country USA - it is a HUGE music festival that goes for 5 days.  My godfather is a DJ on the country radio station that sponsors Country USA and was able to set aside two reserve seat tickets for me.  I wanted to go on Friday because my favorite group, Rascal Flatts, was headlining that night!  One thing you should know - it rained everyday in Wisconsin last week.  The rain finally stopped late Thursday night so the Country USA grounds were nothing but mud and standing water (I don't believe I've ever see so much mud and so much mud on everyone)!  I wore my dad's knee high mud/rain boots and they were mud about 3/4 of the way up!  The grounds were so wet and muddy that we had to park off site and get shuttled in.  The campers got pulled out by a local farmer with his tractor when the festival was done.  Luckily the reserved area where we sat was gravel.  Anyway...once my friend and I got there, we met up with my godfather in the Y100 Country Club tent to chat and see if he was able to get meet & greet passes for Rascal Flatts.  He was unable to do that.  However, when Rascal Flatts came into the Country Club tent around 10:30 that night to do their quick interview, my godfather let me inside the gated area to take pictures.  I was about 5 feet away from them!  When the interview was done and since my godfather and I were pretty much the only 2 in this area, I was able to high five them and shake their hands!  It was FUN!  Then my godfather took me behind the scenes where all the artists that were at Country USA that day autographed various items (t-shirts, guitars, album covers, etc.) and gave me an autographed Rascal Flatts t-shirt!  Talk about an experience! 

The next day, Saturday, I was off to the Badger State Games to watch my 9 year old nephew swim.  He was hoping to place in the top 3 of his swims that day, but since he is one of the younger and smaller 9 year old's in the 9-10 year old division, he kept taking 4th or 5th.  If he placed in the top 3 that would qualify him for Nationals out in San Diego in August.  He left the Games that day disappointed, but happy knowing that all of his times qualified him for state at the end of July.  Saturday night my parents and I went to a local place for yummy calzones and then to my sister's place.  Sunday morning we were back up bright and early to go back to the Badger State Games to watch my nephew swim again.  In his first two races he came in 4th and 5th again.  His final race was the 100 meter butterfly which he'd never swam before.  With a time of 1:37:24 he came in 3rd place qualifying him for Nationals!!  Everyone was shouting and jumping for joy!  He will get to swim at Nationals in San Diego in August!  I was so proud of him and so excited that I was home to see it.  After swimming, I met up with a great friend of mine for lunch outside along the Fox River.  It was wonderful!  I did a little shopping afterward and headed back to my parents house.  When I got home, the plan was to go boating (me, my parents, brother's family, and sister's family) on Lake Winnebago and then eat dinner together at a place on the lake.  However, my sister's boat decided not to work when they got to the loading dock!  So, we turned around and went back to my parents for dinner instead.  It was so nice to spend time with my brother, sister, their spouses, nieces, nephews, and parents!  Monday morning I finally got to sleep in a bit and then went to the mall for a little shopping.  When I got home, it was time for a quick dinner and then off to see my nephews play baseball.  I got to see my 9 year old nephew (the one that I watched swim all weekend) pitch a half an inning and then it was off to another venue to watch my other nephews.  My 10 year old nephew had some great hits and great stops as a catcher.  My 13 year old nephew hit an in the park home run!!!  His first ever and I was home to see it!  We celebrated with ice cream afterwards!  Tuesday morning, my parents made a nice breakfast, I said good-bye to everyone and then it was off to the airport to come back to Colorado.  I'm home now doing lots of laundry and getting the house back in order for my parents to come on Saturday.  More than likely my 6 year old niece will be coming along with them!  FUN!  Pictures of my adventures will come soon!  Hope all of you are enjoying your summer break as much as I am.  I really need to get on top of ordering a few things for school this week too!!   

Summer Vacation Week 2

Week 2 of summer vacation I was able to slow down a bit and even got a nap in one day!  I did spend some more time planting and weeding at our garden.  On Monday, I planted the marigolds around the perimeter of the garden.  Our garden really took off this week as well.  My husband and I notice a change every day when we go and water.  We are complete rookies when it comes to gardening so it has been so exciting to watch all of our vegetables grow!  In the pictures you will notice all the standing water at our garden - it's called flood irrigation.  We were told we cannot over water our garden and so far so good!  Now it's keeping those pesky weeds away, fertilizing (all organic), and making sure it gets plenty of water.

I also did some work on our yard at home.  I planted a few shasta daisy seeds so hopefully they will grow in our perennial garden area, the annuals I planted last week are looking great, and the lawn got mowed/trimmed - I love mowing the lawn!  However, with all this rain I'll be needing to mow it again tomorrow!  The dogs have enjoyed all their time outside with me as well.

I spent some more time at school this week as well.  There really is a lot to do to get a new classroom ready for kids.  I did a few things at home to get ready for the start of a new school year as well.  The book boxes that the kiddos and I use for guided reading groups all needed a good wash so, 5 dishwasher loads later they were all washed and ready to go back to school.  The curtains got washed as well.  One day this week, I will take all the book boxes and curtains back to school and water my plants again.  I'll probably need to order a few things for the new school year this week or next as well.  There's always something to do!   

Week 2 was capped off with a trip to Casa Bonita.  Not my favorite place, but our niece turned 8 and loves it there.  She had her party in the theater and she was able to go on stage with the magician.  That was a lot of fun for her and she was grinning from ear to ear!

Week 3 I'll be busy too.  Time to clean up the house a bit, wash the dogs, mow/trim the lawn, and head to Wisconsin to spend time with my family and go to Country USA to see Rascal Flatts.  I'm sure I'll have some fun pics from my adventures in Wisconsin.  I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer too!      

Summer Vacation Week 1

Hello!  I hope everyone is enjoying their summer vaction.  Week 1 of summer vacation was packed with fun!  The Sunday after school was out, my husband and I took off for Scottsdale, AZ.  My husband had a business conference at the Hyatt Regancy Resort and Spa.  What a place!  While my husband was busy with his conference, I was able to work-out, soak up some sun, shop, and get a pedicure.  In the evenings, it was nice to spend time listening to music at the outdoor restaurant.  Feeding the wildlife was not recommended - even though the mama duck tried to eat my husband!  It was so relaxing and nice to get away for a few days.  The scenery was breath-taking as well. 

Once we got back home, we hit the ground running!  In May, my husband and I decided to plant a vegetable garden at a local Parker community garden.  However, for the past month our garden was watered, but not weeded.  On Saturday we had a project - a lot of weeding needed to be done!  Many hours later, the garden was weeded and many more vegetables where finally planted.  Cross your fingers and hope our sweet corn, beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, romaine, carrots, potatoes, peppers, jalapenos, mini-pumpkins, and cucumbers all make it.  This is our first attempt at gardening!  I just need to finish planting some marigolds around the garden.  On Sunday, we bought all the soil and flowers needed to beautify the outside of our home.  So many hours of planting, but so worth it!

Besides some gym time, watering the garden, and watering the flowers I wonder what else week 2 of summer vacation will bring?!  I hope you are all enjoying your summer vacation!

P.S.  I even managed to spend a few minutes at school this week watering my plants and looking at all the work ahead of me to get the new classroom ready for kids!
    

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