Oh Man!

I am almost too embarrassed to even post anything! Has it really been over 2 months since my last post? That is so bad! I don't even have any pictures to go with this post...just hoping to redeem myself a bit and play a little catch-up!
Our summer was so busy. We have never had a summer quite like that before! When it was time to send the kids back to school I thought "Wait a minute...where did our lazy summer days go? Where was our break and our relax time?" We were on the go from the day school let out, always shuttling kids to activities, camps, beaches, malls, movies, swimming pools, friends houses....the list goes on! I never seemed to remember my camera though. EVERY TIME when we would finally get somewhere I would think "Oh Man...seriously? I forgot the camera again! I finally gave up when the first thing I packed was the camera, for our trip to South Padre Island. When we showed up I went to get it out and take some super cute pics of the kids on the balcony with the ocean behind them...but wait, there was no battery!! Are you kidding me? I spent that night being mad at myself and then threw in the towel and gave up! Shawn reminded me that vacations are still all sorts of fun without a camera! (What? Does he even know me at all?? I'm sorry I don't understand what you just said!) I wasn't convinced but decided to go along with it anyway! Wouldn't you know it?! Shawn was right! It was fun...we had a blast!! No pictures to show for it but we made great memories anyway!
Summer ended just as busy as it started with Shawn taking a week long trip to Puerto Rico for ""work"" (that gets double air quotes from me!) My mom, dad, sister Carly and niece Cami came for a visit. That was sooo much fun! Then there was a mad dash to Walmart and Target for the school supplies that I put off buying! And of course I waited until Tax Free weekend to do school clothes...so we spent our last summer weekend in the stores with crowds and crowds of people!! Super fun! Actually now that I am typing I am remembering that after our extremely long Friday and the massive amounts of shopping bags that came through the door...the kids were sooo good and sooo helpful in making the day go smoothly that Shawn and I took them out to a nice dinner. (ya like how Shawn just sneaks in there for dinner...he was not around for the shopping, he always makes sure to have a "busy" day at work on back to school shopping days!) It was kind of an end of the summer/have a great school year dinner. The kids got all dressed up in their new clothes and shoes, they all did their hair (believe it or not, I didn't even tell them too! I was thinking it and was going to tell them but they beat me to it!) The excitement got the better of them when I told them where we were taking them! We went to Maggianos! One of the best restaurants ever! On the drive home from dinner we saw one of the coolest lightening storms I have ever seen. It was like a postcard!
Last but certainly not the least was my getaway...Shawn is wonderful and thought it was important for me to have a week to just relax and play before the crazy fall traveling starts for him. I went to Seattle and had the best time! I relaxed alot, played some, chatted with my mom, dad, brothers, and sisters non-stop (even pulled an all-nighter talking with my mom!), visited with friends, doted on my 2 super cute nieces and of course no trip to Seattle is complete without a trip to Monroe for the car races! One of the funnest I have ever been too! :) THANK YOU Shawners! It was just what I needed!
So no pictures to show...you will just have to take my word for it! It was one of the busiest, non-lazy summers ever and we had a super fantastic one!!!