State Fair 2017 and the entire rest of the SUMMER!

HELLO! Oh my gosh, it's been sooooo long since I've signed on. My deepest apologies (if anyone is still here!), but we've been busy enjoying summer. It has been one amazing summer filled with tons of fun things. Tomorrow we leave for our 7th vacation since May. We feel super blessed and we are grateful beyond words that we're able to squeeze so much in. 

This summer we: traveled to DC, visited my dad/stepmom in Charlotte, swam a lot in our pool and played a lot in our yard, went on a 2.5-week RV trip to S. Dakota/Montana, met my dad and stepmom at Wisconsin Dells for a fun little waterpark vacation, sent each boy up to northern MN to spend SOLO time with my parents, RVed down to Iowa for our yearly family reunion and thoroughly enjoyed another year at the MN state fair. The boys completed two rounds of swim lessons at an amazing local swim school and progressed hugely for the first time ever. We've been enjoying our house every chance we get and using our RV whenever we can. Elijah has enjoyed time with his horse Trixie every Friday this summer through the amazing autism/hard-of-hearing program at Haven Acres.

Our summer in a nutshell! Today we ventured to the state fair for our annual adventure. We experienced probably the most crowded day we've ever seen (yuck), but the boys didn't seem to notice. State Fair Day is Sammy's third favorite day of the entire year (so he informed us this morning), which explains the genuine smiles you see in the following photos. When I put him to bed tonight, he was sad. So so sad because his third-favorite day of the year is over. He is SO much like his mama.

Every year I have the boys don Oink Booth crowns and pose for a photo. These pics were taken five years apart. Sooo sweet!

Pronto pups!

I cannot believe we squeezed the boys into a stroller again this year, but there really is no other way. Elijah (understandably) walks at a snail's pace and I have no idea what we'll do in the years to come.

Sammy was so happy to meet Cowwy's "family." He loves his cows!

We take this photo every year, too. I love these sweet, smiley boys so much!

One of the things I love so much about Elijah is his sense of adventure. He is always willing to try new things, despite having a medical diagnosis of "severe anxiety." He hopped onto this fast kiddie ride by himself and even threw his arms up in the air!

Squished, but smiling!

This is my favorite photo from the entire day. Sammy does not like anything that is remotely fast, so he hugged Elijah tightly from behind for a splash of comfort.

On the menu for the next few days: time up north with my sisters (back in the RV, woo!), both boys starting a NEW school (yikes!) and time for me to get work done! This next week will bring enormous change for all of us, so please pray for smooth sailing. Thanks for peeking in! IF there's anyone peeking in. Now that fall is just around the corner, I'll be here more often. Promise.