Late Summer Fun / Gloria and Amy Birthdays / Start of School 2021

We tried our best to squeeze in a little extra summer fun before the start of school.

Oliver and Luke helping me clean up the van.

Amy and I were invited by some neighbor friends to enjoy a lovely day on a boat in Lake Michigan.

It happened to be same day as the Chicago Air show!  What a seat!

Gloria participated in a fun local theater production of Fame.

She did a great job!

Luke and I enjoyed a fun and fancy sushi meal.  A new favorite for Luke!

Back to school time!  Gloria geared up to start 4th grade.

Off to great year!

Our middle schools got ready next, to start 7th grade.  Oliver.

Luke.

Oliver and Luke.

Ready for a great year!

We took care of a large tree removal matter in our yard -- great to have done and fun to see happen.  

Gloria is back at it with soccer, and showing some amazing moves.

Star player!

This girl turned 9!  

We celebrated with a fun backyard party with friends.

The party featured fun craft projects -- exactly as Gloria loves.

It also included a fun egg in spoon relay race.

More crafts!

Rain showed up, but that only made the musical chairs event even more fun.

Pizza!

No party is official without a pinata.

Never send these two to Hobby Lobby and expect that you won't see a trunk full of fun new things.

More fun celebrating  

Fun around Oak Park.  Luke.

Gloria.

The birthday fun doesn't end!  Amy turns 43!  Fancy breakfast on the back porch.  A beautiful ,restful Labor Day for us to use as a celebration of Amy.

Amy and Luke.

Amy and Oliver.

Great present from Roop!  Thank you!

What a great birthday!

Florida 2021

 Though Florida is usually a trip we would do in late winter or early spring, this year we decided it was right for us to go for our summer vacation. Time visiting with family and the tried and true treasures of AMI were just what we needed.   

We started out our trip with a visit to Daven, Jenny, Katelyn and Tommy's house.  What an amazing visit!

Plenty of cousin time:  Oliver, Tommy and Luke.

Tommy and Gloria.

A whole lot of pool time, for sure!  

We were treated like royals!  Including yummy curry made by Jenny!  What a treat!

Are a few great days in the Tampa area with Daven and Jenny and family, we headed town to Anna Maria, one of our favorite places on earth, to enjoy a calm week with familiar sights and sounds.  

We were greeted with a beautiful sunset.

One new sensation:  warm Gulf water!  We have never been here when the water was so warm and inviting!

Happy to be back!

Lucky us!  We got some bonus time with Daven, Jenny, Katelyn and Tommy, who joined us for a day on Anna Maria!

Super cool cousins.

Dips!  Can't beat it!

Most important part of the day: sunset.

Super sisters!

Luke, Amy and Gloria.

A favorite ritual on AMI:  a visit to Donut Experiment, just around the corner.

Luke and Oliver.

Early morning walks for these two!

One of Gloria's many sand masterpieces.  

Amy arranged for us to go kayaking in a local mangrove park.  Amazing wildlife and adventure!

Back on AMI, these two.

Afternoon pool time was a ritual.

Another Gloria sand creation.

Amy planned a super fun visit to the area aquarium in Sarasota -- a new adventure for us in this are.

Oliver.

Gloria.

The main attraction here were the beautiful manatees.

Which we got to see up close!

Stunning creatures!

 Back at AMI.

Always a treat to walk to the beach.  

Luke all cool.

Sun artist!

Oliver, our beach guy.

Gloria and Chad.

Post beach stroll home.

Take out food was just right for us.

We greatly enjoyed all the fun at our beach house rental.  

Great place to enjoy a movie.

After a great 9 days, 7 on AMI, we walked out to the beach for one last perfect AMI sunset.  We spent much of the last year and a half dreaming and longing for a fun, restful vacation like this in the sun and were so glad we were able to make it happen.  AMI never disappoints.  Great that leaving AMI never really feels like a goodbye.