Summer Fun, Happened So Fast

Why hello there! Hope you have all been having a great summer. We sure have! Here's a bit of what we've been up to since my last post:

For a week over July 4th, the Campbell Family headed to my aunt's cabin near Birchwood, WI. It was SO much fun! We got to hang out, read, play, boat, swim, and all kinds of fun stuff. My sister's blog has a great post about it, but here are also a couple of pics.

We loved spending so much time with Grandpa, Grandma, Great Aunt Pat (above with Claire), Aunt Jill, Uncle Jason, Uncle Greg and especially Cousin Lily! Here Lily is below on the pontoon boat......and with Grandpa, watching Ryan and Greg set off fireworks for us. It was a great time, and hopefully the first of many annual family trips to the cabin together!

Next, we went to National Night Out in the beginning of August in these cute dresses our neighbors Jon and Katie got us. They have twins, too, AND a 1-year-old, so they are busy people.
Also in August, we got to go to two big celebrations in one weekend. First, my Aunt Joy and Uncle Joe celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! That's them below at their wedding, 50 years ago.

We all got together at their daughter Kim and her husband Larry's beautiful house to celebrate. There was delicious food to eat, pictures to look at, many people to talk to, and polish golf for Claire, Abby, and Lily to play.
The girls and I then headed to the Woyaks for a sleepover playdate. There wasn't much playing for the little ones when we got there because they all went to bed, but the growups got to play! The girls got some play time in the next morning and then we all headed to Uncle Greg's new apartment in the afternoon to celebrate the Campbell women birthdays: Mama's is the 14th, Jill's was that day (the 16th) and mine is the 23rd.Abby really liked the video game area of Greg's new apartment - she's just like her daddy that way! - and all the girls loved going swimming in the outdoor pool. Sadly, there was one casualty as Greg accidentally left his phone in his pocket when he jumped in the pool, but we managed to get past that and still have a wild and crazy time! And of course, it's not a birthday without presents! There were tons of good ones opened that day: gift certificates for me (exactly what I wanted), a Wii fit for Jillo, and pictures of the granddaughters for Mama. Hooray for birthdays!We also got a couple of visits from Grandma and Grandpa Lambert this summer. They came first at the end of June (above) - over their wedding anniversay no less! - and then again in August. It's always so fun when they come visit (lots of Settlers of Catan after the girls are in bed) and I love when the girls get to spend time with them. Of course, it just isn't a visit from Grandma and Grandpa without a trip to a chinese buffet - yum! Claire and Abby especially loved the jello. One of the main reasons for Grandma and Grandpa's August visit was the girls' baptism, which took place on August 23rd (my birthday!). Yes, most people don't wait until their children at 18 months old to have them baptized, but what's the fun in doing things the normal way??First Lutheran Church in Columbia Heights is a church my extended family has gone to for a long time, and since Ryan and I don't yet have our own home church, we went there for the Baptism. It was a very nice service and the church was so nice to us. The men of the church carved these very nice chests for Claire and Abby to each have to put in momentos of their faith journey, and the women made cozy blankets for each girl. Here Jill and I are with Lily, Claire and Abby in front of a door in the church that bears our Grandma and Grandpa Stinson's names.After the Baptism, Aunt Pat hosted a lovely little party so the family could get together and celebrate. We don't get all sides of our family together too often, so it was nice for everyone to be able to see each other and catch up. It was really a very nice day! By now, you're probably thinking, "Wow! How could you possibly squeeze any more excitement into your summer?" Well, it's just not summer without a trip to the MN State Fair! This year was extra exciting because our friend Val and her adorable daughter, Kendall (above), came all the way from Maryland to join us! Her husband (and our good friend) Jon couldn't join them on the trip because he's too busy learning to be a doctor. Whatever, Jon!Sean, Kari and Zach Shipman were there (above, on left) and so were Bob, Michelle and Jenny Dettmer. That's Jenny below, trying to look like she doesn't know the crazy woman next to her. Ha ha! Just kidding, Val! Val tried her first ever corn dog at the fair, which would make anyone giddy with excitment.We tried out the Reptile House, Dinosaur World, and the Butterfly House. Okay, well, I actually didn't go into any of those places, but the people who did thought they were pretty cool!

All in all, it's been a great busy summer! That about covers the main events. In between each event, we've stayed busy by running through the house with blankets...... playing in the bathroom sink......and talking about Daddy! Seriously, he's our new favorite topic. The girls love him so much! And who can blame them? Here's Claire expressing her undying devotion to a picture of Daddy.

Enjoy the last few days of summer, everyone!