Summer over already?

We had a lot of fun this summer. We have seriously been all over the country the last month or so. It started with a trip to Utah to camp in the Wasatch National Park near Park City for a week with my family. We did all sorts of fun stuff. Boating, hiking, fishing, campfires, shopping, 4-wheeling, Olympic Park (zip lines and alpine slides), and all with nice clean bathrooms and showers and an air conditioned camper. How much better could it get?

Lincoln loved it. I'm not sure I've seen another kid who loves to dig in the dirt and play with sticks quite so much. We also stopped to see Ty and Shelly and the boys the night before we left.

After the camping trip we came home for almost two weeks and then left for Michigan. We stopped along the way to go to my Great Aunt and Uncle (JoAnn and Gene Calhoun) in Nevada, IA for their 50th wedding anniversary party. I love them! Lincoln warmed right up to Uncle Gene (all kids do- I guess they just know what a nice man he is). Then we went on to Chicago. Hotel Jones was open for business. Seriously, it was awesome of Nick and Kristin to let us crash at their house. It was fun to see the kids together. We tried and tried to get a picture of all three of the kids together, but Lincoln just wouldn't sit still.

Next stop, Michigan. It is so beautiful there. We stayed for about 4 days. We went to the coolest park I've ever seen. There was a lake and awesome playgroung and a splash pad. Lincoln had a blast. Grandma and Grandpa Jones are really busy, but they're doing great. Oh, and get a load of President Jones here.

We stopped at Nick and Kristin's again on the way home. Lincoln did great in the car. We got home 3 days before school started again for Chris so it was kind of a scramble to get everything that needed to be taken care of done, but it was so worth the trip. Let's see, we got home on Friday, school started Monday, and Lincoln and I left again the following Saturday.

My brother, Montana left for his mission on Sept. 3. I think that Montana and Lincoln must have been friends before this life. Lincoln loves him so much. After Montana was set apart, Lincoln practically leapt out of my arms to him and didn't want to come back. He was perfectly content to just stay with him. He didn't even want to come back after we walked outside to the car.

I have a feeling that Lincoln will just pick right up where he left off with Montana when he gets home in 2 years.

Now were're finally home and will be home for a while. It's been really fun, but it sure is good to be home. This picture pretty much sums up how I feel. Yes, he is in the bathtub. Chris is still working at the U.S. Attorney's office and school is going pretty well. He is really busy, but he's hanging in there. The cold weather is coming our way and I am quickly realizing that we're going to have to find things to keep Lincoln busy. I think all of the traveling has caused his language to just explode. He is talking more and more everyday, but he is still asking "What is that?" constantly. I guess he just wants the names for everything. Who knows? Well, that is a serious travel log, but I want to remember as much as I can and since I'm not a very good "journaler", the blog is the next best thing!