Summer Catch Up

Okay...I'm going to try to limit the details here, since I have no idea if anyone is actually going to read this.  :-)

In early June, Shawn and I went to Denver!  The main reason that we went was to watch a rugby tournament, so we spent most of Saturday and Sunday doing that.  There was a lot of good rugby, and there was the added bonus of getting to watch the matches with a bunch of good friends.  I still had to work while I was there, unfortunately, but that gave Shawn some time to hang out with Jarid in the mountains, and I did have the chance to meet up with a few good friends, too.  Our last day there, we spent a good chunk of time with Shawn's mom.  She volunteers at the Denver Botanic Gardens, so she took us there and basically gave us a private tour.

We found what I think may be our new "go to" hike not too far from here.  It's the Lake 22 Trail, and it's beautiful!  It actually reminds me a bit of Colorado once you get to the top, where there's a lake (hence the trail name).  There was even snow to play in on the 4th of July!  Satchel enjoyed the snow.

The downside of the summer happened in June.  I found out on June 15th that I was pregnant, but I confirmed the following week that it was another early miscarriage.  (The first was in January.)

But anyways...we had a fun party at our house in late June with a bunch of our friends, and we did another hike in July.  This hike was rainy and cool (of course), but it was still really pretty.

In late June, I learned that I had 5 vacation days that I had to use by July 31st, or I would lose them!  So we planned a couple things.  Shawn, Satchel, and I took a 4-day weekend and explored the Olympic Peninsula.  We spent the first two nights in a beachfront condo, and we did some "car camping" (in a campsite) the third night.  It was cool and foggy most of the time we were there, but we still had a great time!  Satchel was able to go off-leash on the beach, and he was ecstatic!  We're very fortunate that he doesn't seem to have any intention of running very far away from us.

For my other vacation days, I left Shawn at home.  :-)  I went to St. Louis to stay with my friend Jane...and all of the other Hydra members decided to come to St. Louis, too!  So I basically got 5 days to hang out with my best girlfriends from college.  It was awesome.  Since we were last together (for Shannon's wedding last summer), there have been two new additions...Rachel's Libby is on the left, and Shannon's Kateri is on the right.

Jane's daughter Theresa was my little buddy for the weekend.  I spent a large part of my time hanging out with her, carrying her on my hip, and flipping her upside down.

Unfortunately, Jane's youngest, Lucy, got sick over the weekend.  The last night all five of us girls were together, I didn't think to take a group picture, so the closest I got was four of us.  :-(  But we all had a great time, and I'm looking forward to our next reunion...probably in a couple years.

I think that's actually more or less gotten you all caught up!  Work was absolutely crazy for me for a couple months there, and Shawn was pretty busy, too.  But the summer session is winding down for me, and Shawn's big project was completed...so hopefully things will slow down for us now!

I know I've said this before...but I'll try to get back to posting more often.  :-)