Summertime FUN!

Wooo--eeee!  What has happened to me and my blogging?  Phew...it's been a long time, so I'll try to catch up on our summertime fun!  It's been great!

- Bear Cub has been going to summer camp for 3 days a week and having FUN!  It's good for him to stay on a routine and stay busy ... to stay OUT of trouble!  ;) 

- Drumroll, please....I am officially PART TIME with my job!  Wahooo!!  As of July 1, I am now just grading support at my virtual school.  I worked my bootie off in June to finish up as many of my students as possible, and those that were not set to finish, were transferred to another teacher.  My phone is now QUIET all day long, I grade for a few hours while BC is at camp, I have my evenings FREE with my family again, and I feel at peace.  This what I needed...and not just me, but my little family here, too!

- I turned 24 (+ 10) in June and had a great lunch out with Aunt J, Mimi Bear, and BC. 

-Daddy Bear and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on July 1...and set sail on the high seas on July 2!  We enjoyed every second of our 4-night anniversary cruise.  We sailed to the Bahamas and back...it was GORGEOUS, peaceful, relaxing, quiet, fun....ahhhhh...just plain wonderful!  :)  We came home feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world!  (BC had tons of fun with Mimi & Aunt J...thanks again to those lovely ladies for all that help!)

- We NEEDED to come home refreshed, as it was time for Bear Cub's birthday party 2 days after we returned!  We had a "Reptile Discovery" party here at our house.  9 kids from his class came, along with their parents, and our family....wow...we had a house and yard full!  It was great.  :)  Mr. Bruce came (the reptile party guy) and brought all kinds of cool reptiles for a presentation.  It was hotter than ALL GET OUT that day, but luckily we had some tent coverage and plenty of cold drinks, so it was great.  The kids were mesmerized.  And for BC...it was a dream come true.  BIG reptiles...in his own backyard!  He told me later in the day that it was "a birthday party that he would always remember."  Now that simple sentence alone made all that planning, cleaning, preparing, and then cleaning AGAIN, worth it!  I was so happy that he had such a wonderful party with his friends...the human kind and the reptile kind.  :)   So now, we are officially parents of a 6-year-old!   WOW.

-July 13 was BC's Happy Adoption Day!  5 years ago we stood in front of a Russian court, declaring our love for him and our intent to parent him.  He was ours...finally!  What a day!  Happy memories and always, a special day of the year for our family.  :)

So, that pretty much brings you up to date on the news in our life here!  Along with all of that, we continue to swim, go to the library, visit with family, have friends over, and somehow stay SANE!  LOL! It's a good life.  :)

Enjoy the pictures!!  Happy Summer to you all!