5 MORE GET UPS!!

Only 5 more days to get up and get out of bed to go to work until I am on SUMMER VACATION!!!  I know that there are many out there who are saying, "Oh! It must be nice to be a teacher and have the summer off!"  Well, to be honest, "YES!! Yes, it is!!"  But that was my choice.  We all make choices in life and those of you who really want to say that to me....you should have chosen to be a teacher!  :)

I love teaching!  I love my job!  I am SUPER lucky to have my job!  I love working with my students.  BUT I am SO READY for summer vacation!!  As teachers we NEED this break to rejuvenate for the fall.  And who are we kidding...the kids NEED it, too!

Summer vacation means so many things for the Stape Fam.

1)  It's birthday month!! Both Gus and I will celebrate our birthdays in June.  I CANNOT believe that my baby will be THREE!!  Just seems so surreal!  I have been so incredibly blessed the past 3 years! I am such a lucky girl!  A few days after Gus turns 3, I turn....ummm....a year older.  But as my sister and I will tell you, that means CAKE!!  Who doesn't love birthday cake?!?

2) We get to be home together as a family all summer long!  How cool is that??  We get to be together and play.  It really does not get better than that!  I love that Joel and I both work in education.  My parents did, too, and it was awesome that we got to spend so much time together.  We always knew that there would be family trips or activities in the summer.  I just love that we get to spend so much time together.

3) I have more opportunities to do things that get put on the back burner during the school year.  This blog for example!  Unless there is earth shattering news...which isn't very often in our family, I often forget about posting new info.  As I look back on the past 3 1/2 years (I KNOW!!) that I have been blogging, I did a lot more blogging in the summer.  Clearly due to having extra time.  So watch out world....it is almost super blogging time!

4) CRAFTS!!  How many of you are on Pinterest?  You can find all of my pins HERE.  This is one of my new obsessions!  I have been pinning away and getting TONS of ideas but having no time to follow thru with them.  So....here we go!  I am ready to get my craft on!!

5) Home projects.  Now that we have been in the house for over a year, I am ready to really organize and get this place in order!  I feel like life has just been speeding by and instead of taking time for these projects, I choose to play with Gus.  I mean...who wouldn't??

6) Travel....a little bit less.  This year our goal is to cut back a little bit on our traveling.  Every summer we live out of a suitcase.  The goal this year is to cut way back on it.  Beyond visiting grandparents, and my trip to Atlanta for the Thirty-One National Conference, we will be staying close to home.  I am SO looking forward to that!

7)  Wedding bells!  My sister is getting married!!  And I can't wait!  We are beyond excited for her and Nate and can't wait until the big day arrives this summer.  (I am sure you will hear more about this as the day approaches.)

Lots on the Stape Family agenda but we are very excited to get through the next 5 days so that we can begin our summer of fun!!

Gus goes to Gramma and Papa's

As much as I would like to think that our son sat and twiddled his thumbs and counted the hours until we returned, I know that he actually had a lot of fun.  Gus (& Gramma) kept a journal and took a bunch of pictures.

Helping Papa get his fishing boat ready...didn't get to go fishing this time.

One of my favorite things...the dog cage.

Made Gramma read me every book on the bookshelf.

Got some work done on my tool bench.

Pushing my car....much more fun than driving it.

Long walk up the driveway to Gramma and Papa's house.

I really like rocks.  Lucky for me, Gramma and Papa's driveway has plenty for me to pick up along the way.

At the Hudsonville Fair with Gramma and Aunt Annie.

Holding a prize zucchini.  (When Momma was my age, she took a bite out of the prize pepper!!)

See ya next year, Hudsonville Fair!

"Now where did I put those keys?"

Cheering on the Fennville Blackhawks with Aunt Annie's cheer team!

"Umm....I need some help here folks..."

Didn't get to ride the tractor this time but helped Papa outside and got to play with his ear muffs.

Helped Papa, Aunt Annie and Mr. Nate set up the tent and get it cleaned up and ready for Labor Day weekend.  I don't get to go this time...maybe next year.

Xanax and Espresso

Warning....this is going to be long...

Now that I am home, I am ready to talk about it.  When Joel and I were planning our trip to Seattle for Joe and Jane's wedding there was no question in my mind that we were going to take Gus with us.  I made the flight and hotel arrangements with him as part of it.  I even searched out tourist spots around Seattle for little ones.  So when we decided that Gus would be staying home, it took me some time to come to terms with it.  It wasn't until today that I realized that it was a good idea to let him stay home with Gramma and Papa. 

Once we decided that he was staying home, I refused to actually say it out loud since it made it more real.  For a week prior to leaving, I was a mess.  Could barely sleep.  I would spontaneously burst into tears thinking about the trip.  I was convinced that my plane was going to crash and that my little boy would be left parentless.  I have not gone even 24 hours without seeing him up until this point.  Needless to say, I was a mess.  So bad, that I ended up calling my doctor and pleading for Xanax or some sort of drug that would calm me down enough to walk onto the plane.  I have never felt like a drug addict before, but as I begged my doctor, I suddenly found myself in a position I had never been in...it was quite strange to be pleading with someone for drugs. I am not a huge fan of medicating myself so that I am not in full control, but it seemed like it would be for the best.  Luckily, my doctor is an angel she gave me enough to give me that extra little comfort to relax on the plane.  (Keep in mind- this control freak already has a hard time flying because she is not in control...so add the typical flier anxiety to the momma anxiety and we have one major disaster.) 

I won't go into the mess that I was when my parents came to pick up Gus before we left.  I will just leave you with this picture in your head....hyperventilating, sobbing uncontrollably, snot everywhere.  I was a mess!

In addition to Dr. Smith, God sent another angel.  Joel Maly's brother-in-law, Matt, ran into us in the airport.  Turns out, he was on our flight.  (His wife and daughter flew out earlier in the day.)  And knowing full well that we would be with Matt all weekend, I knew I couldn't be an irrational wreck and make a fool of myself.  So I had to try to pull it together.  (Thanks, Matt, for understanding how crazy I am and still asking the man in our row of the airplane to trade seats with you so that you could sit with us!!)

We made it safely to Seattle.  (And I only cried twice after leaving for the airport!)  We waited for a long time for our luggage and for Enterprise to pick us up.  After waiting about 45 minutes for the Enterprise shuttle (a few drove right by us!)  Keep in mind I am already irrational...add annoyance and you will see what the poor girl at the Enterprise office saw when we got there.  On the upside...we got a vehicle upgrade and free gas!!

We toured around Seattle, saw the Space Needle, Pike's Place and lots more.  And by "lots more" I mean  A LOT of espresso shops.  Of course Starbucks is everywhere since Seattle is their hometown, but these Seattlites (is that even a word?) are VERY serious about their coffee.  There are these tiny little drive through coffee shops on almost every corner of the city.  Espresso everywhere...and yes, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

We spent time at Joe and Jane's house with the other out of town guests before making the trip 2 1/2 hours outside of Seattle to the wedding site.

Did I mention how much I love this man and just being able to hold his hand through our life together?  He puts up with my crazy and loves me anyway. 

Starbucks anyone?

Joel and I are spending a couple of days in Seattle for the wedding of Joe Maly to Jane Wong.  (We left Gus with Gramma and Papa.  Don't even get me started on that, I will burst into tears.  I miss my little man so much right now.)  We decided to head to downtown Seattle today and check out Pike's Place.  This is the location of the famous fish market where the men throw the fish around.  Unfortunately, we did not see any fish fly through the air.  But we saw a lot of fun vendors with fresh baked goods, fruit, flowers, cheese....all sorts of things.  My big purchase today....Starbucks coffee!  (Fun fact- did you know that Starbucks owns the company Seattle's Best coffee??)

Yes, we are those tourists that ask strangers to take their picture.

The famous fish market...fish didn't move.

Look at that bouquet!!  And it only cost me $15!  LOVE it!  We brought it to Joe and Jane when we attended their BBQ today.

And while we are gone....Gus went to the Hudsonville Fair today.

Aunt Annie spoiled Gus with his first sno-cone. I'm surprised I don't see an elephant ear hanging out of his mouth. :)

TORCH LAKE!!!

We were fortunate enough to spend a week up at Torch Lake.  Loved every second of it!!

Gus' 1st dip in the lake.  He wasn't so sure about it at first since it is cold...but eventually loved it!!

My Little Miss.  I LOVE how sassy this little girl is and how chaotic those curls can get.  Isn't she beautiful?!?

Gus and his mask...so he can go diving.  :)

Sunrise at the lake.

Two of my favorite boys!

All of the "kids" in the lake.

Gus FINALLY got to meet my cousin, Karen.  Loved spending time with her!

PEEK!!

Gus just adores his big cousin, Brendan!  They are so sweet to watch together!

Camera-shy, Alexis...I FINALLY got her to look at my camera!  HA! Gotcha, little lady!!  The Knight family came up with the Gyolai's and joined us for the week.  It was great to get to know them better.

Gus and his Aunt Sarah.

Gus getting a feel for the water.

Cousins!!  Love these kids!!  Can't wait until the Stoike kids come for the week and I can get a picture of all 7 of them in the lake!  That will be so fun!!

Had a great week with these 4 kiddos!