staycation 2011

Apparently here in good ol' Oklahoma, we had the hottest July in the US (average temperature) on record. Ever (well since they've recorded it). I can confirm ... it was hot. And the heat just went on and on day after miserable day ... this past week has literally been our first break from the heat and this pregnant lady has been super happy because of it!

Anyways, I mention the heat because it affected our summer vacay with my family this year. We typically try to get away for a short weekend camping trip before school starts. Since it was pretty much unpleasant to be outside after 9:30 am every day in July, we opted for a little staycation this year the first weekend of August. Camping postponed. Basically we all gathered at my parents for a weekend of hanging out.

For my family, this is perfect. We aren't a group that likes to really do stuff. We enjoy just being. This drives some people crazy. I get that. Well, really I don't ... but I get that everybody's different. A schedule involving much more than eating together, laughing, chasing kids around, and just relaxing seems to be more than anyone wants.

And bonus, it's really cheap :) And for the most part air conditioned during the blazing OK summer of 2011.

Pictures.

Jumping on Grandma and Grandpa's trampoline.

Dancing to princess music with Aunt Dan.

We went swimming and I am sad to say that these will likely be my last swimming pictures from the summer cause I am betting our pool is closed as it's now after Labor Day. And by "our pool" I mean my aunt's neighborhood pool ... but it's basically ours since we are usually the only ones there :)

Juliet negotiating Aunt Dan's distance away from her. This happened every time she swam and always took a while as Aunt Dan was never far enough away ... we are clearly holding her back :)

Play by play swimming pics. Can see a video here. Big girl can swim to the count of 5 or so.

Juliet and Aunt Dan. Can definitely see they have similar face shape here (chin dimple too!).

Eating some fruit snacks poolside. Grandma had painted her nails. About 5 different colors.



Beet Beet had some fun with Aunt Di's sunglasses.



More swimming pictures?

ok ... if you insist. I'd have other pictures, but this is all Juliet did for the 2 hours we were there. Keeping her head above water for more than seconds at a time was next to impossible. Everyone kept looking at me like "make her stop or take a break or something" ... wasn't going to happen.

Negotiating with Daddy :)






And after coming up long enough to take a breath, she'd swim back to the steps again. We definitely got our moneys worth out of swim lessons this year.



Group shot.

All in all, I'd say it was a successful vacay ... I mean staycay!!