Summer Fun

Monday, June 23, 2014

I have been looking for some small fun activities for this summer. You know, for those (very few) days when we have nothing else to do! I found this post from Lolly Jane, and thought it was such a great idea.

I decided on some categories (at home, in town, out of town) and came up with some fun activities that Dane and I would enjoy.

I will be honest, coming up with the list wasn't all that easy. I am not convinced that Dane will agree to do any all of them, but it is worth a shot.

This little project was really easy. I just found some popsicle sticks and a mason jar Wal-Mart, and used some paint that I already had around the house. I picked a different color for each of the three categories and painted each popsicle stick. Once the paint was dry I wrote the activites on the other end of the stick.





Simple as that! Once Dane and I have a plan free day, we can just pick an activity from the jar! (Who am I kidding...we don't have plan free days, but the jar is really cute! Maybe we will get more use out of it next summer!)

We're Expecting

Saturday, June 21, 2014

We are thrilled to announce that Baby Fletcher is due to arrive in December 2014!



I cannot even begin to express how excited we are about our growing family. Dane and I found out on Easter morning that we were going to be parents. Let me tell you, it is not easy keeping that secret from your entire family...especially on a holiday! Despite the fact that we are the worst secret surprise keepers ever, we did manage to wait!

When we finally told our family, we wanted to be creative. We have babies on both sides of our family, and we decided that a onesie that said, "BIG COUSIN" would be the perfect way to tell our parents and siblings! Everyone was so excited, and Hattie even modeled the onesie.



Shortly after this picture was taken, she spit up all over it...we know how she feels about being a big cousin. ;)

We are so lucky. We are surrounded by such a loving group of family and friends, and it is wonderful knowing that our baby is going to grow up with all of these amazing people in his/her life!

Now...its time to prepare for baby!

Starved Rock Adventure

Thursday, June 05, 2014

A couple of weeks ago Dane surprised me with a trip that he had planned! I have been wanting to go to Starved Rock State Park for a few years, and we never got around to it. So, I was thrilled to find out that we would finally be going!

We left right after work on Tuesday, and made the three hour drive north. When we arrived at the lodge, we noticed that the parking lot was very empty! Other than the staff we may have been the only people there. Creepy? Maybe, but the hotel staff was super friendly...and our room was very nice. Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Resort has a lot of summer attractions that families would really enjoy, and I am sure they are very busy all through the summer. The water park doesn't open until this weekend, so we didn't get to visit that part of the resort.

I was a little worried about whether or not we were going to be able to hike the next day. There were severe storms predicted and 100% chance of rain.

When we woke up Wednsday morning, the parking lot was covered with puddles and it was misting out. A little mist wasn't going to stop us! It was actually the perfect day for hiking through the park. It was a cool 65 degrees, and the waterfalls were flowing! We did get rained on a little bit, but we really could not have asked for a better day!













We walked a little over 4 miles (mostly stairs), and got to see some really beautiful scenes. It was such an enjoyable trip. Dane and I had a really great time hiking, and it was great to spend some time together. I really hope that we can make that trip again soon!