Summer ...

Swimming at the neighborhood pool EVERYDAY, piano camp, swimming lessons, staying up until ... well way past bedtime, fire flies (although very small in number with the drought this year), swimsuits as clothes, hot weather, going through a bag of popsicles every few days, friends in the house all day ... mom is barely getting dishes and laundry done, but I'm still smiling, I think it is really summer :)

Summer in Indiana ... you just never know what you are going to get.  For a few weeks it was dry, but cold - too cold to swim.  We even tried to go to Conner Prairie and ended up staying indoors most of the time.  Still a very entertaining place!

 We got to have cousins visit for a few days while their parents were hunting for a new home ... in Nevada!  While we will miss having them so close in KY, we had a great time playing with them.  Six kids kicked up the craziness around here, but it was worth it!  We made monster puppets (from http://www.sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com)

 We went to the library for story time, and the splash park in Zionsville ...

 and played outside a lot!!!

J.D.'s cousin got married a few weeks ago.  The kids were less than thrilled with the ceremony (although I thought it was beautiful - Brian and Emilyn make an incredible couple!) But, once we got into the reception room, and the kids realized there was a sundae bar, as well as centerpieces of large glass vases full of candy, with buckets that the kids could collect candy in and take home ... they were in sugar heaven!  Thank you Aunt Gail!  They loved it :)

 We tried a new recipe - roll up jell-o.  Very cool, quick side dish to make summer dinners a little more exciting (when it's hot, we have sandwiches a lot around here ...)

 And last week we went to an Indians game - packed dinner (sandwiches again!), spread a blanket and had a lot of fun!

The cool weather has disappeared, and we've got hot and humid ... and very little rain.  So, the pool is where its at, EVERYDAY!  Miss Lilly is now missing her two front top teeth, and looking very much like a seven year old.  Master S played a duet in church yesterday with me - he was hardly nervous and did a fabulous job, don't worry I made up for it with my shaking hands and feet!  Big D is counting the days until pre-school.  He asks every night if after next week he gets to go ... slow down summer!!!

Horoscope

I am not one who generally takes stock in what the horoscopes read every morning, but I do occasionally read mine, just out of curiosity, and every once in awhile I am surprised at how acurate it is, or how ridiculous it is.  Today, was an exception ... it reads:

"Yes, the whole world is crazy, but your part is exceptionally bananas now."

This was after reading the paper, which included articles on Egyptian and Syrian unrest, World Economies at Crucial Stage, Indiana drought, Gay marriage, Obama vs. Romney, and the Sandusky trial.  There is certainly an overload of crazy in the world ... but I think exceptionally bananas is a pretty acurate description of our house and how I feel about my life right now too!

Last weekend we made the trip to Bowling Green, KY to see J.D.'s sister and her family.  They will be moving soon and we will miss having them so close to visit!  The cousins had a great time playing, I got to make a trip to Whittle's with Bess (an incredible fabric place), and we celebrated her birthday too :)  On the way home, we stopped to see Mammoth Caves, since we may not be going that way again for awhile.  I'm so glad we stopped!  What an incredible place!  We could have been there for several days and not seen it all.  Here are the kids waiting for lunch at the cafe there ...

 Yes - Master S looks less than thrilled ... he was hungry.

 This is the mouth of the entrance to the cave - there is nothing little about this place.

 The kids - just a little excited to be inside a cave.  Apparently there are over 365 miles of cave there, with an anticipated discovery of double that ... amazing!

 The three of them after - they all survived and even thought it might be fun to come back and see some more again.  If you are ever in that area of the country it is definitely worth stopping for a few hours to see (if not a few days.)

 Big D reached a milestone this week - he finished out his first team sport experience - soccer! 

 It was a huge success for him and he even made a goal this season!  Yea!  (That was a first for the Flora family, he is a little bit more aggressive than his siblings - maybe that has something to do with being the youngest ...)

 He absolutely LOVES his trophy!  It goes everywhere with him!

so fast

Recently overheard at our house ...

(Big D talking to his Dad, & handing a wheel to him)
Big D:  "Dad!  I was going so fast, that this wheel fell off my bike."
J.D.:  "Really?!  That's pretty fast ..." (looking at the training wheel)
Big D:  "Yeah, I was going so fast, the wheel fell off my princess bike!"