We interupt this blog...

We are having major technical problems at our house. Like, my computer is so broken, it won't do anything other than a blue screen. I know you're on pins and needles, waiting for the final installment of "Summer's Finally Here", but you'll just have to keep waiting.

However, thanks to a rare stroke of genius on my part, I talked Jeff into getting an external, back-up hard drive last month, so no pictures or files were lost. It's like I knew that computer was going to fail me!

Fall arrived today. And I think I'm sad about it.

Summer's Finally Here! - Part 2

So, with Krista here, I decided I was brave enough to do the 12 hour drive to Oklahoma to visit my (and her) Auntie Carno, Uncle Reid and several of our cousins. Jeff wimped out and only drove one way with us, then flew back home. He's definitely aware that he got the better end of that deal! I know I already posted about the Oklahoma tubing events here and here. But we did lots more than tubing. Delaney celebrated her 5th birthday, we visited a soda pop store on the historic Rt. 66, we sewed, we played games, we swam in their awesome pool, we bbq'd, we ate out, we had a seriously great time. Next summer we will be going for much longer!

How gorgeous are my cousins? In fact, my neighbor commented to me when Krista was here, "Is your whole family good looking? I've met many of them now, and they are all gorgeous!" I agree, and if I were Krista or Adrianne, I would love this picture just because I look smokin'!


Here's a cute pic of Jackson. This is one of my most favorite of him.


I had to include this pic of my cousin Taylor for two reasons. First, he was super hospitable and let us crash the weekend before he was set to take the bar exam. So, yes, he was trying to study with the Clark+1 circus in town. Second, you know you're a real man when you can pull of purple sunglasses. Even Delaney was jealous.


I think I've well documented how clingy Addison is. She will not go to anyone (well almost anyone). However, she loved my uncle Reid and Taylor. In fact, she would love it when Reid would come home. She'd go running and then he'd proceed to spoil her for the rest of the evening, carrying her from room to room, playing piano for an hour with her on his lap, etc. And, as Taylor would sit studying in his room, if the door was inadvertently left open, she'd be in there, vying for a spot on his lap. It totally cracked us up because Reid and Taylor are both 6'3" or taller, but the bigger the better for her, I suppose!


Thanks to our Nuttall family for such a fantastic 5 days! And, for the record, it was totally worth the 12 hour drive.


For Father's Day, me and the kids gave Jeff tickets to a Kane County Cougars game. They are the local minor league team and Jackson and Delaney love going to the games.

They have fireworks at the end of every game. I guess the music and fireworks were a little too loud for Delaney.

After the game and fireworks, the kids can run the bases.


A fun night, with fun kids. We wouldn't have it any other way.


Stay tuned for the final installment of the Clark family summer events. Then I will finally be caught up! Yeah!

A little blue eyed blonde

Summer's Finally Here! - Part one

Well, summer has finally arrived in the arctic Midwest. It didn't come in June, didn't come in July, didn't come in August, however, September has brought forth some beautifully warm weather. We have just experienced 6 straight days of 80*+ weather. I am not exaggerating when I say that I'm sure we didn't have 6 straight days of sunny, warm weather all summer.

So, now that summer is here, I thought I'd better catch up on our summer activities (I think this may turn into a multi-part series). Maybe my excuse for being a slacker all summer comes from the fact it never actually felt like summer? I wish that were the reason. But, no, in fact, we were just busy like everyone else, and I never found the time to sit at the computer. Time that I know our long, cold winter will surely provide!

Summer brings an increase in sports activity in our home. We started off the summer with a gymnastics performance by Delaney. She is on the pre-team at our local gymnastics place and loves every minute of the 240 that she spends there each week!

Balance Beam is her favorite event. Here she is with her Coach Jordan.

*all the pictures are blurry because no flash was allowed, as to not disturb the athletes*

Baseball started for Jackson. It's his favorite sport to play and he really took a liking to pitching. In the early summer he was on the Yankees team. Here he is in action. A little boy on his team said, "When Jackson's pitching, he's in the zone!"

Of course, summer in the Clark household means Krista's coming to visit. We had a blast while she was here. However, we realized that we'd never taken her into Chicago to visit, so we took a Saturday and headed down.

Here's Delaney and Krista on the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier.


At Navy Pier, there are lots of kiddie rides to go on. Delaney chose the Lighthouse ride. She was too little for the swings, so this was her big event!


My favorite ride when I was a kid was the swings. Jackson doesn't quite share the same love for this ride that I do. However, Krista and I managed to get him on it (white knuckles and all). "I think I may have enjoyed it by the very end" was his comment once we were off.


Not to be forgotten, Delaney and I took Addie on the carousel. She loved it!


Here's where the day got interesting. Don't the clouds look nice? See, I'm not exaggerating about our lousy summer (however, many are probably sick of hearing about it). Our kiddos favorite thing to do in the summer is head to Millennium Park and run through the fountains. The day was maybe 65* and those clouds didn't look promising.


Our kids were not to be deterred! They didn't care how cold it was. Here's a picture of these funny fountains. The people pictured on the fountsins sit strait faced for about 3 minutes, then they pucker up, and away they blow. The kids think it's hilarious.


Last year, when we went downtown, Addie was just a fresh little chick. She just dipped her toes in. This year, she got to run and play in the water.


This picture is just a reminder of how crazy we were. Do you see everyone in the background in jeans and sweatshirts? I'm sure they thought the parents who were letting their kids in the water were crazy (or neglectful?).


After the fountains, we went to the "bean" in Millennium Park. It's a huge, silver kidney bean that's fun to take pictures next to.


Last, but not least, we ended the day at Buckingham Fountain. It's been closed for quite a while for re-furbishing so it was fun to see it again. Note that Addie is not in the picture. That's what happens when you take a 12 month old into the city, all day, with no nap.



In wrapping up part one of our summer, I have to include this photo. Jeff and I joke that we have two left green thumbs. We are terrible at keeping any plant alive and therefore have decided to stop wasting money on landscaping, and just worry about what is already in place. However, some front bushes had to come out this year. And, I love hydrangeas. So, a "Better Homes and Gardens" article convinced me I could do it. Back from Home Depot we came with three bushes and look what's happened! It's not only alive, but blooming. Its a good day in the Clark house.