Summer Vacation, Part IV

July 16 - July 31

In the days following our tree fiasco, we decided to finally check out the pool situation in our community. We've lived in our town and paid quarterly HOA dues for 3 years, but never got around to trying out the pools. All I can say is, WHAT IS WRONG WITH US??? Ok, so they're not quite as resort-esque as the pool we had at our apartment years ago, but there are 4 rec centers and they all have decent pools. I can't believe we've been so dumb the previous summers! We've spent many days discovering 3 of the 4 pools, some days with friends and some days on our own. It feels so much more like summer vacation when I'm poolside. Noah has gotten pretty comfortable in the water, and despite a few good underwater scares, he seems to enjoy his time there. And that's good, because it's a requirement of my children that they must enjoy the water like their mommy!

Riding the alligator

During the last week of July, we spent the beginning of the week up in Breckenridge. My dad has a timeshare there with Marriott resorts which he has to book nearly a year in advance. It turned out that other plans prevented him from being able to use the week he reserved, so he offered it to us for free. Yes please! The villa we had was on the top floor with mountain views from every window, and was bigger than our first apartment. There was plenty of room to tuck Noah away in a quiet and dark spot at night, and despite a little fear initially the first night, he had no trouble sleeping and napping there. We spent the days walking the town, going on a hike, and riding the gondola. At night we ate good food and relaxed in our villa. It really felt like a mini-vacation, which was great since we haven't been on any real vacation since December 2005. (Yes, we go back to MN a lot, but that doesn't count in my book.) We didn't stay the whole week because Noah had an appointment to check his kidneys again. (I can't remember if I've said much about this, but at my 20-week ultrasound the doctor had pointed out extra fluid in Noah's kidneys. He's had them monitored ever since.) And the appointment went great. Everything finally looks normal, so no more ultrasounds! Yay!

Hiking is fun when you don't have to hike!

Enjoying the pond by our villa

On the gondola

Also, we bought a new camera. A Canon DSLR. So you can expect some higher quality photos finding their way to this blog in the near future!

So that's about it for the end of July. Work is only about a week away now, so this is usually the time of year when I start to feel a little blue. This year though, I don't plan on counting down days and feeling depressed. Instead, I try to look at it like this. How many other professions would allow me to take 10 straight weeks off in the summer to do with as I please? I am so incredibly lucky to have had this time with Noah and Brian!

Like Dr. Seuss said, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."