Summer Family Fun!

Wow- I have only had a blog for a few weeks and already I am failing at it... I need to get better at this. So, here is my attempt to catch up on what has been going on with the Sears' the last few weeks.

I absolutely love the summer because it usually means more free time to hang out with family! We have been pretty lucky to get both Kyle's family and my family together in the last 2 weekends. First for Kyle's- With a new and large pool at his parent's house, we have had a lot of fun reintroducing Payton to the water, showing her how to "swim....kick, kick, kick...", and float around in relaxation! Payton loves her Grandma and Grandpa Sears, and has really attached to Uncle Sean, Aunt Jenny, and Aunt Allison as well. Makes for lots of fun times together!!

My family seems to be a little more spread out, with Ryan and Jo in Gary, Sheri and Derek in Middlebury, and now Eric and Tiff in Ft. Wayne...so, our times all together are getting a little more complicated. However, everyone has been "home" in the last 2 weekends at sometime or another, and I have truly enjoyed every second!!! Last weekend was filled with fishing, boat rides, tubing, eating, and lots of laughing! My whole family (well, minus Johanna and Kyle) enjoy fishing, so last Friday night we boarded the boat and enjoyed NEARLY hooking each other as we all fished. AKA casting and reeling in our poles as NO ONE caught a thing! haha! It was worth it though. And our two Non-fishers walked to the Root Beer Stand and brought yummy root beer back for the rest! It was a blast!! Last Saturday then was tubing day, as the little ones wanted to tube and the "big kids" took turns riding with them. After a long time of circling the lake, I decided I was hot enough to get my prego self in the water, so my mom and I boarded the tubes and enjoyed an "easy stroll" in the tubes. Needless to say, my mom is hilarious and we laughed really hard! Nope- no baby action after that...darn! :) But, it was FUN! Last Sunday evening we enjoyed some friends, the Minder's, and had our first campfire in our own new pit in the backyard, complete with smores!! Seriously, I think smores should be a food group in and of itself and it was fun to enjoy a beautiful evening with friends!

Let's fast forward to this week- if last weekend sounded busy, this week was CRAZY! Kyle and I were able to enjoy a few days away (Tues-Thurs) thanks to my parents who graciously kept Payton for us. We drove to Cleveland where we were able to enjoy the company of some more great friends- Justin and Meryl Masterson!! Tuesday we enjoyed watching Justin pitch a great game at the stadium! And, we even got to see my best friend, Carrie, and her husband, Dan, at the game! It was SO nice to catch up!! After the game, we headed back to the house and stayed up late playing games...something Kyle and I haven't done in a LONG TIME! I forgot there were two 2:00's in a day! :) On Wednesday, it was Kyle's birthday so we enjoyed an amazing lunch out at the Cheesecake Factory! Thanks Justin and Meryl! After a quick nap (due to the late night before....ha) we headed to the field for another Indian's game on a beautiful night! It was so fun just hanging out with Meryl and enjoying my husband! Once again, 2:00am rolled around as we played more games with the Masterson's. It is so fun to just do simple things and laugh with friends! And finally Thursday we got up and headed home because mommy (me) was missing her baby girl! :) It is amazing how much you can miss your little one when you are away, and how much they "seem" to change in just a short 2 days of being away. I know that time away for Kyle and I is SO good for us and our marriage, but it is never easy leaving my baby girl, and I just wanted to squeeze her the rest of the day once I got her back in my arms! I love that girl to pieces!

The rest of the weekend was back to great family time! Thursday night, Friday, and part of Saturday was spent with Kyle's family, helping remodel their kitchen and enjoying more pool time! Luckily we got out of the pool just in time to get out of the way of the storm on Friday! What a crazy mess! Payton is loving the pool and getting more and more used to the water. She, in my opinion, is getting a little "too brave," wanting to push away from us. Sure, she doesn't know what will happen if we let her go, but sure acts like she wants to find out. She is getting pretty good at her "kick, kick, kick!" She is too cute in her little swimsuits and I think we have gone through and entire bottle of sunblock already for her! She is truly our outside girl! Saturday night we were at a wedding of a buddy of Kyle's and Sunday we enjoyed a great church service with some combined family members. After church, we spent the day with my family at the lake. A yummy lunch, followed by tubing and boat time! Yes, I even returned to the tube, this time with my mom AND sister. They say they will go anytime I am on the tube because they know my dad won't try to kill the pregnant one! HA! Let me just tell you, the 3 of us can sure laugh! My mom decided, after watching the guys do it, that we should play "tag" on the tube, so we laughed while almost falling off the tube MANY times. Needless to say, when we were done, my stomach hurt...I don't think from tubing or the baby, but from laughing SO HARD! And no- once again - no baby action after that. Doesn't it catch a hint very well?!?! :) We ended the night with great pizza and dessert!

Have I mentioned that I LOVE my family?!?! Not only my little family, of Kyle and Payton, although I love the moments of the three of us just being together. I also am blessed with a family that I married into that knows how to have fun and laugh at each other. And, I am blessed with my own family, that has grown and multiplied into such a fun group of crazy people! I am truly blessed with lots of loved ones that I adore and look forward to MANY, MANY more times together this summer!