we're off!

in a few hours matt and i will be in our final pre-trip scramble. then we'll hit the road to orlando, park in our favorite remote parking lot (it's called 'park, bark, and fly' - also features a kennel for your pets to stay- how great is that!), then hop on the plane to ohio.

i love the fourth of july on the lake. swimming with hunter while he retrieves apples out of the water, tubing, knee-boarding (can't you see i'll really be showcasing my talent! ;) having amazing meals on our deck, seeing family and all being together again. and, oh! the fireflies that come out at night makes it seem so magical and calm.

this week has been a frenzy getting ready for the trip - even with so much planning ahead, i find myself still in my pajamas with matt on the porch painting his surfboard! it's turning out really great, in case you were wondering! elisha, thanks for the color suggestions - i think we made the right choice.

ok. now to get some stuff done so we actually CAN leave...

turtle watching

elisha's here! i picked her up from the airport in the blazing heat of the day. poor thing - alaska would never feel this hot in a million years of summers. ( i won't get into global warming debates on this ;) We watched the brazil vs. japan game, then went down to the pool. We brought a beach ball to play with in the water, which turned out to be a huge mistake. as it turned out, as soon as we were stepping into the pool, this little girl said, 'can i play with your beach ball?' how can you say no to that?! but then, we found we also couldn't say no to her demands that we play with her. and i do mean demands. she ordered elisha and i around that pool for so long! and if we didn't do something, she would sit on the top step with a pout and declare 'we're just going to sit here until you get in a line!' quite the boss. after being held captive for 45 minutes, she left, and we were free to swim wherever we wanted. oh the freedom!

at 9 pm, we met the exleys at coconut point on A1A. with flashlights and water bottles, we took off down the beach looking for turtle tracks. it was a beautiful night, really starry and a warm breeze off the ocean. and then we saw one! these turtles are amazingly huge. plowing their way back to the ocean after crawling out of the water, digging a hole, and laying 100 eggs! we got to see one turtle laying eggs - by standing behind her, she didn't even know we were there...it was amazing.

in august we'll have to go back to see all the hatchlings making a run for the ocean, because i want to cheer them on - they have such bad odds of making it. so we've found another really fun thing to do in melbourne...i'll post some pictures of it later!

star party and a slow saturday

we went to the star party last night...there were about 8 different telescopes pointing on saturn and jupiter - it was really impressive. the main telescope required climbing a ladder just to get to the eyepiece! when i climbed up, though, i was rewarded with an up-close shot of jupiter and four moons. really cool. before that, i was looking through a small telescope, and all i could see was a blur - so i yelled to matt that it must not be on...he told me later that some dude was standing over the other end, trying to see in the other side! well no wonder...

we're going to carissa's 16th barbeque and beach party in a few hours, but for now, i'm still in my pajamas, drinking tea and taking it easy. there's something so wonderfully quiet about saturday morning.

i was inspired by mark's recent blog, so while we were in ocala yesterday, i picked up several manila envelopes of old letters from wheaton. so i'm drinking tea and reading old letters - stereotypical i know, but i'm having a blast (from the past haha)!

return of the pink sandals

we found a pair of pink sandals like the ones i lost in the intercoastal waterway today! hurrah! we're in ocala today. after youth last night, matt and i took dawnie and savannah on a 'double date' to twistee-cone. we got home at 10.45 and by 10.57 we were packed and on the road to ocala. we're good at this packing thing...

our days this week have been mostly like this. wake up 7.30, watch the 8.55 world cup game while doing regent work. watch the 11.55 world cup game while doing gomissiontrip work, then the 2.55 game...it is taking up quite a bit of our day as you can see! but the next time this event rolls around, i'll be pushing 29 so i thought i should carpe worlde cupe IF you know what i mean!
it's been a nice schedule.

back to melbourne tomorrow. we're going to a 'star' party with telescopes! i'll keep you posted.

'locked' and a table for two

we're home. we walked into a sweltering apartment - i guess we'll be thankful when we get the power bill this month, but for the first few hours, we could hardly stand it.

we had a great trip home. when we arrived at the orlando airport we stopped at the macaroni grill in terminal a. i started laughing so hard when matt asked for a 'table for two', because we had a mountain of gear behind us! 2 bookbags, a computer bag, purse, duffel bag, a huge suitcase, matt's hockey bag (i could easily fit inside) and two hockey sticks. we were quite a sight! all of our stuff took up a whole side of the booth and spilled into the aisle. i felt very materialistic at that moment...

on the plane, i tried to silence my phone, and i guess i got distracted by the shrill screaming in my ear from all the kids going to disney, and i accidentally 'locked' my phone. i didn't even know it was possible to 'lock' a phone. it kept asking for my four digit pass-code, and would only let me dial '911' or other 'emergency numbers'. needless to say i tried every four-digit code that would mean anything to me, with no luck. on the drive home we had to stop at a verizon store where they told me to simply enter the last four digits of my phone number. duh. i can't believe i didn't think of that! oh it's good to have my phone back!

ella taking it easy

ella's first day

marley and me

i just finished marley and me. it should come as no surprise to those that know me that i closed the book and started sobbing. i came upstairs for dinner with bleary eyes and blotchy skin after wailing for 15 minutes. i had to restrain myself from buying a yellow, mis-behaved dog tonight. i knew i would love that book! if you like dogs at all, please read it.

we leave tomorrow, after our 2 week stay in chicago. ella is getting cuter by the day, so i'll post some pictures for you to see.

we're considering buying cable again for the world cup. seeing all the soccer 'greats' sure makes me wish i would have practiced a little harder at ol' forest high school! haha.

ella!

ella delaney girden has arrived! after 14 hours of labor, she came at 22 inches, and for the kicker: 9 pounds 7 ounces. she is such a doll! kaileigh did a wonderful job. we're off to the hospital now to see our niece. pictures later!

lap 1

while we're waiting for ella to come, matt and i thought we'd get into shape a bit. we decided to take a few laps around his block to ease into it. after 3 minutes of running, we rounded the corner, and out of nowhere, the sidewalk crease caught my shoe. everything slowed way down as i did the pinwheel move in the air. the next thing i knew i was sprawled on the sidewalk. of course i started bawling while matt was caught between laughing and helping me up. when i looked down, i started crying even harder...there was a ruby red, silver dollar sized spot on my knee where the sidewalk had scraped the first two layers of skin off. did anyone else see? oh yes. several families were out in their yards, kids riding down the sidewalk. (i'm now jealous of their gracefulness!) it seems like such an elementary school injury to have. a scraped knee (and hands) from a spill on the sidewalk. and it somehow doesn't match my almost-25 year old body. needless to say my plans for getting in shape have taken the back burner once again.