Summer Lovin'

It's been 3 months since I have blogged! My plan for the summer was the pack in the most family time that I could and then meant doing less of everything else. Callie started school this week and Matt and I are back at work. Our summer flew by and our family had one of the best summers ever. We started off in May with our annual Europe trip. Matt and Callie both had their birthday's on this trip. It was so special to celebrate these most important days under some of the most amazing scenery I've ever seen.  This trip peaked Matt's interests and covered several countries in Eastern Europe. I have to say, Eastern Europe is beautiful. If you ever have the chance to go..jump on it. We went to Budapest, Krakow, Prague, and Vienna.

Here are just a few (out of the 700 pictures I took) of the trip.

 

Sitting at a historic castle overlooking Budapest

 Traveling the world with Callie is awesome, but sometimes she gets tired. Matt ends up carrying her at some point on most days.

 Boat ride in front of the Parliament in Budapest. Isn't it magnificent?

This is the city square in Krakow. Krakow was my favorite place we went. It was quaint and the people there were so friendly. This rainbow appeared after dinner and everyone was amazed about the perfect placement over the church.

 

 

After we returned from Europe, we basically washed our clothes and flew to Arizona for a week packed with fun with my dad. We had a delayed connecting flight which created one of those lovely moments where you are sprinting through an international airport about to die. We barely made our flight!

 

 We toured the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. This was my first time visiting the canyons. They were incredible. This is my dad and Callie wanting me to hurry up with my photos so they could play.

 Arizona is hot. Duh right? Well, I didn't realize how hot 113 degrees really was. Luckily, my dad's condo has a few pools and we pretty much lived in the pool. It felt great! Callie would rather swim than do just about anything. In fact, as we pulled up to the Grand Canyon and all its wonder she said, "It is just about time to go back home and swim yet?"

 Before we came to Arizona, I asked my dad if we could go to Alice Cooper's restaurant, Cooperstown.  I kind of love/am totally creeped out by Alice Cooper. ANYWAY..he has a hot dog on the menu called the Big Unit (I know, I know) and its $25. The restaurant was great, and all the other items on the menu looked really good. We will go back next time we are there. Oh, and the waitresses all have eye makeup like Alice Cooper used to wear. Hilarious.

I just love this picture. My parents are obsessed with Callie. She brings out this joy in them that I had never seen until she came into our lives. This is at a little picnic spot outside of Phoenix.

My family. The three of us have grown so much in the past 4 years. It's amazing really.

 

 

So, after the Arizona trip ended....we came home, washed our clothes again, and went to the beach with my mom! I had heard such great things about Folly Beach and wanted to check it out. It was the most relaxing trip. I read a few books, watched Callie play, had longs talks with mom, and Matt and I enjoyed walking a few miles each day with Jack.

 

 We brought a ton of games to the beach house. Apples to Apples is our family favorite. We also love Funglish!

 I snapped this picture really quickly at the Folly Pier. Let me say a word about Jack's first beach trip...he hates the ocean. In every photo I took of him, he looks as if we are abusing him.

 Callie and my mom bought these floats and played in the ocean for hours. I sat in my beach chair and read. Oh, how peaceful it was!

 This was at a great little restaurant right outside of Folly. We sat outside and caught up on life for a  while. I was so blessed to get a whole week by the sea!

Saying goodbye to the beach!

 

 

So, that was our summer. In between these trips, Matt and I researched seminary schools. God is working in our lives so much right now. We feel him leading Matt toward seminary and pastoral studies. We are still praying and waiting on that right at this moment. We were also blessed to be able to travel to Georgia to spend time with Matt's aunt and uncle. We traveled so much because when the semester begins, our lives are 100 miles an hour. We barely have time to catch up with each other about our days. In the blink of an eye, Callie is 8 years old and it is so important for us to build these memories with her.