This is the Life

I have to say...This is the life....Summer in Chicago.

John and I bought a beach pass for the year. It was only 100 bucks for the whole family and worth every penny. The beach on Lake Michigan is only 15 minutes away in Highland Park.

It is truly a gift. My coffee, blanket, computer, no one here but me and the sound of waves and seagulls....alone at the beach writing my blog. It is so beautiful out here. I will miss the “alone times”. School will be out in a week and the kids will be running around my blanket kicking sand in my face soon enough.

I am not going to grumble about not having a part time job today. I am going to enjoy my gift : )

I did find out that I can drive right to the waterfront..I learned by mistake when I saw the parking lot down here after I walked down about 5,000 steps from another parking lot.... and will have to go up about 5,000 steps to my car in a while. Hopefully I can talk Mom into coming this summer so she can enjoy the lake front. We shall see. Sort of hoping that dog of hers will kick the bucket soon (I know that sounds mean) but am tired of Molly ruining all the fun....

Anyway..on to other things. A storm is rolling in so I may need to run for my life in a few...

We made it through Holly's birthday party. She had fun but man oh man was it HOT that day. In the 90's. We took them for a walk to the park and all thought we would die before we even got there. I had ice chips all over the kids praying none of them would die of heat stroke. We played 'Hot Lava Monster'..Here is John trying to explain to the kids the rules...and none of them really cared what he was saying...

We made it through 1 game of 'Capture the Flag' and then called it quits. One little girl was complaining the ENTIRE time..”I'm not an outside person. I'm hot and I don't like bugs”. She sat on the bench asking me about 20 times when her mom was coming to get her. (She kind of reminded me of myself)..but annoying none the less.

After we got home, via Johnny and Joey pulling 2 wagons with all the girls piled on top of each other because they were too hot to walk, we had cake and ice cream and then I sent them all downstairs to the cool basement to watch 'Tangled'. They were quiet the whole movie. Here is a picture of all of them. And yes, almost every kid in Holly's class is Asian. You could probably name our school 'Chinese Christian School'. Not that it's bad or anything. Just kind of a weird fact....

On a great note-between Joey and Holly's party, they made $300 for Zambia. We were so excited. And parents bought the kids a gift as well even though I told them not too. (Holly got her fake mustache and beard she wanted) Here is a picture of her : )

The drums aren't bothering me yet, and the kids are already working on a 'number' for Christmas. Johnny has his guitar out, Joey is playing the drums (not Holly) and he is actually playing and not banging. He is watching You tube all day and has picked up a lot of stuff in a few days. I have this feeling Joey is going to be the drummer before Holly. Holly is screaming out lyrics (it's a hard rock number) that Joey wrote and Hannah is crying because she doesn't have a part. I need to figure out where she fits in. Hannah has been singing a lot lately in her room and I think she has potential. Reminds me of all my singing days at her age- down in the basement all those years ago singing to Olivia Newton John's 'Have You Never Been Mellow'. She has a beautiful vibrato and sings on key. I may need to work with her.

John's co-worker gave him 6 passes today to the Wisconsin Dell's Noah's Arc Water Park. John was elated. If anyone wants to join us, we have to use them by June 30^th. Let me know and we can meet you there for the day. The kids will be so surprised when we tell them. They love the Dells and it will be free! I LOVE free : ) Speaking of free....We are really going broke without me having a part time job during the week. I am applying at places and am getting nowhere. Hannah was pretty upset that I couldn't put her in a dance class this summer. I know she will survive. It's just that we are used to being able to sign the kids up for stuff and just can't do it this summer. The kids need to learn to adjust to the new lifestyle.

We are taking out a loan to fix up the house. I am painting it a pretty yellow color, putting on white gingerbread shingles in the front of the house and then putting on a hunter green roof with a ginger bread style roof shingle. I hope it looks cute. We are also replacing 2 windows, doing gutter work and insulating the attic. The house looks, quite frankly, like white trash is living here, and John agreed-- rotten wood everywhere and so on. We have to get it done. So that is our big project this summer. I am going to start interviewing roof people next week. John is going to pay Johnny to help him scrape and paint for a summer job. I will send pictures as the house progresses.

Well, I'm going to sign off with another funny story of Holly...

I heard her in my bedroom saying, “Sorry, I must have the wrong number”. I went in and found her on the phone with the phonebook. When I asked her what she was up to she said, “I wanted to hear people's answering machines! When they answer I just tell them I have the wrong number. I have heard some really cool messages Mom!....Oh...but maybe I shouldn't be doing this. It's kind of like a lie when I tell them I have the wrong number. I could just let them know I wanted to hear their massage machine.” OK—WHO DOES THIS FOR FUN????? Answer—My Holly : ) She has informed me she will be Abraham Lincoln for Halloween and will use her fake mustache and beard. She continued to ask me if the “shaving cream trick” would work on me while I was sleeping. I just shook my head and walked away. I'm sure that will be in my future some morning.

Sorry it's such a long blog..just enjoying my quiet time. I'm going to lay down now on my beach blanket and relax : ) (the sun came back out)

Bye!