Life Lately

It's become more and more challenging for me to find 20 minutes of time (and let's be honest - energy) to update our digital memory book that is this blog. I have a whole month of summer to make up for. Here's what we've been doing...


Enjoying the 4th of July with a major Rech Family reunion - all siblings (and cousins) were in town and many days and nights of fun and laughter ensued. We spent the actual 4th of July up at Uncle Dean and Aunt Mary's lake house on Beaver Dam Lake. Hayden enjoyed (and I mean really enjoyed) her first jet ski ride although I failed to capture a pic of her actually on it. She played all day with the gaggle of kids that were there and was (over?) enthusiastic with the sparklers once the sun went down. What a fun 4th!

The rest of the Rech Reunion weekend included lots of quality Aunt and Uncle time!

Of course we made our annual pilgrimage to the Wisconsin State Fair where  we spent a solid 12 hours enjoying the animals, the rides, the food, the Kids From Wisconsin performance, and the people-watching.

Many, many weekend hours have been spent up at the outdoor pool that is affiliated with the gym we belong to. It's an amazing place - so much for families to enjoy and so well maintained. A number of Hayden's friends from daycare are members and we are never lacking for friends to swim with!

The VanCronkhites invited the whole family up for our annual Droese weekend at their lake house in July. Although the weather was a little iffy,  we made the most of it with lots of hours logged on the boat and in the water. I wish I had captured more images from this fun weekend. No judging that we had our kids watching a video on the boat - we were out for loooong rides!

Hayden has been excited to have a new friend living next door to us this summer - Cash is a 5-year-old boy who is often running through the yard, riding scooters around the block, or watching cartoons with Hayden. It's been so much fun for me and Steve to watch her enjoy this new friendship.

We have been giving our zoo membership a workout including this members-only evening at the zoo.

Lake Park added a new bandshell this summer and Wednesday nights are dedicated to kids music. Hayden and Steve danced along!

As we're approaching Hayden's 4th birthday, she's becoming responsible for helping more around the house. I know it's just because it's new, but it's really nice to have such enthusiastic help with the dishes after dinner. Only one broken plate so far...

Hayden loves all things that are affiliated with princess and 'wedding girls' so I brought my wedding veil up from its storage bin. She really loves to wear it!

And last week I took my first trip to Seattle - was there for work but managed to do a bit of sightseeing. What a great town!

Not that long ago, Hayden told me 'Mommy, I wish the weekend was 6 days long.' and I can't say I disagree with her. We've been having so much fun this summer.