So Long Sweet Summer…

Last night I stayed up way too late for no real good reason other than nerves, excitement, disappointment and so on.  Then, worried I’d sleep through my alarm clock, I woke up way too early this morning.  So I got up and played So Long Sweet Summer by Dashboard Confessional as loud as I could, dabbed away my tears and got ready.

You see, today brings big changes in the Laune household.  I head back to work and Trent officially start GA-ing and two a day football practices at Concordia. 

So last night we celebrated the end of summer with an impromptu trip to Dairy Cone for ice cream.  Made my day a little brighter… 

So long sweet summer…

{The Launes}

Staycation or Bust…

Trent and I spent the last few days on “staycation.”  In theory, it seemed like a great idea, but at times, it really did seem to be  a bit of a bust.

We started out Saturday with swimming and then planned to go to the Storm Chasers game at Werner Park.  I was excited because I hadn’t been to the new ballpark yet and also they were going to have fireworks after the game.  It was a beautiful night so we headed out to the ballpark.  We thought about buying tickets online first, but didn’t figure it would sell out so we’d just buy them at the gate.  However, when we got to the game they were only selling tickets for the grass berm.  There were so many seats that weren’t taken and we had to sit on the grass.  Without a blanket.  Strike one. 

So we were taking in all the sights of the baseball game when a storm began to brew to the west. 

Midway through the third inning there was a major downpour but no lightning.  Then in the fourth inning the lightning and thunder began to come so we decided to go.  Strike two.  Fireworks were not looking promising.  So of course we were hungry and close to 0ur favorite restaurant…El Bee’s…so we stopped by there for dinner.  El Bee’s was definitely the highlight of our night!  Thinking things were looking up, we headed home only to get stuck in this…

Strike three.  No worries, nothing serious.  Just a little fender bender on the shoulder that stopped traffic for miles.  Ridiculous!

Thankfully the rest of our week didn’t go quite like this.  I was not very good about taking pictures though.  However, it include lunch at Platte River State Park…Trent’s favorite place to eat in the whole world.  Swimming at Mahoney…where I discovered that you have not truly lived life until you have experienced the wave pool, shopping at Menards and Border’s and sitting in a ginormous chair!

We ended the staycation with s’mores at Trent’s parent’s house.  I bought all the fixings in case we went camping, but cooked them over the fire pit instead.  

Somehow we convinced this little one to eat a s’more!

While it was not a total bust, Trent is already planning Summer Vacation 2012.  He had fun, but traveling is a necessity.

Now, Trent and I are both getting ready to head back to the real world.  I will miss you summer vacation.  Until next time…xoxo

{The Launes}

Game Night…

It’s official…we are on “staycation.”  If you are unfamiliar with a staycation, it basically means that we are sticking around here and doing some of the touristy things that we normally wouldn’t do.  It also involves a lot of eating out!  We started it off Friday night after I finished up summer school and took an apparently much needed 3 hour nap.  We had no real Friday night plans so we jumped at the chance to head to Lincoln and play Acquire with the Vests, our go to couple.

If you have never played Acquire before, you should.  They introduced it to us about a year ago and we’re addicted.  We introduced it to several others and the consensus seems to be the same.  I’m not really sure why I like it.  There’s not a lot of conversation, I rarely win and I am pretty sure my blood pressure is off the charts when I play!  However, it has kept me up way past my bedtime many times over the last year and Friday night proved no different.

Acquire Game Night…

It’s on like Donkey Kong…

Trent reaches for his stock after making a game changing move…

Maybe this is why I love the game so much…sometimes I win!

Jessie won once too…

Thanks to the Vests for having us over, for the delicious snacks and for putting on Big Brother After Dark!  Now back to staycation…

{The Launes}

Girls Night Out…

With the new school year quickly approaching, there were only a few nights left for a girls night out that has been talked about since last September!  We originally planned it to celebrate the end of the school year, but our schedules never meshed.  With only a few possible dates left, we jumped on Wednesday night.

I picked up Maggie and Naomi and we headed into Lazlo's to meet up with Barb.  I teach with an amazing 1st grade team.  The only problem is that after having four sections last year, we will only have three sections this year.  That meant one of us had to go.  While I am thankful to be staying in first, I am also sad that I am losing my next door neighbor to kindergarten.  Good news is that she is still my sister in-law outside of school so I will still get to see her plenty!

It was good to see everyone again and catch up on life.  That doesn’t happen very often during the school year.  Of course most of our conversations go back to school and getting ready for the new year.

Next up on the agenda is vacation…or staycation.  Not sure which one yet and it officially begins in 13 hours.  Never have I been so indecisive in my life!  Where it the world are the Launes?  Stay tuned…

{The Launes}

National Watermelon Day…

Happy National Watermelon Day!  August 3rd is the official date of this “holiday.”  I don’t know about you, but I love watermelon!  I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

To celebrate National Watermelon Day I found a cute little treat on another blog.  It looked like oodles of fun, but I needed someone to share it with.  That’s where my summer school kiddos came in.  They gave me a reason to make the cute little watermelon look alike treats. 

A little lime juice in the eye later, these tasty little treats were ready to go.  Some of the kids loved them and some of them didn’t go for the leftover lime taste at the end of the Jell-O…to each their own! 

Now it’s time to get out and celebrate the few remaining days of summer vacation with a little BBQ and some watermelon!

{The Launes}

Okoboji…

Summer is winding down quicker than I can squeeze in all of my summer to-dos’s.  Friday night we made  a last minute decision to go to Okoboji for the weekend…my favorite lake to go to!  However, if you  know me at all, I am not spontaneous.  First I panicked a little and then decided that there won’t be many more summer weekends so we should just go.  So Saturday morning we packed our bags and jumped in the car to make the four hour drive. 

Trent’s aunt and uncle have an amazing “cabin” out there that they so graciously let us stay at.  It is a very modern house, and beautiful on the inside.  It’s fun to watch boats creep up in front of their house, point and chat about it, snap a picture and then take off!  

The weekend included…Napping in the hammock…

Playing on the jet skis…

Soaking in some sun…

Beautiful views…

A delicious dinner…

Pondering life…

More fun in the sun…

Sister in-law love…

Time spent with family…

And a man on a boat…

But, all good things must come to an end. 

Now, it is officially August.  That means one more week of summer school!

{The Launes}

New Car…

After many months of car shopping, Trent and I finally got a new car…a 2003 Ford Taurus… Be. Jealous.  We were in definite need of a new car and didn’t want to break the bank so the Taurus seemed like the biggest bang for our buck.  There was a Crown Victoria on the lot too, but I put the kibosh on that right away!  As you can imagine I am not crazy about the car, but Trent starts football in just over two weeks so we needed something.

Trent and I decided to test out the new wheels with a trip out to visit Rip and take him swimming on another super hot day.  As you can imagine, Trent was less than thrilled that I insisted on taking his picture driving his new car!

We headed down to the creek so Rip could cool off.  I love taking pictures when Trent has no idea!

 

{The Launes}