Serendipitous

On Tuesday evening, I was feeling a little overloaded with extra un-expected kids over for several hours and the need to pack for Michele's for a few days.

So, I decided to retreat to the computer and download some new music for my i-pod - this time with a country slant. The CMT channel is often on at the gym where I work out and it has enlightened me to the fun of Julianne Hughes, Carrie Underwood and so forth. I pulled out some older favorites from Colin Raye and Martina McBride and now I have 45 minutes worth of music - with 3 songs in particular that have me easily in tears regarding how fast my little girl will grow up (All American Girl, Think About You, and This One's for the Girls).

At about the time I was wrapping it up, Mikayla asked if I could join the rest of the family out front while she rode her bike and John and Brayden passed the football. How could I resist? So, I took my new music with me, sat there on the lawn, involved myself in a few tosses with Brayden, applauded Mikayla's new skills and realized once again just how blessed my life is.

While I was out there, I felt that an appropriate task would be to make a list of things I don't want to let the summer pass by without accomplishing. I've never done this before, but there are all sorts of little moments that I love about summer, and I thought it would be fun to list them out as some goals to make sure they happen. Here are a few of my favorites:

• - treat the kids to shaved ice outdoors
• - make s'mores (often)using our new firepit
• - watch fireworks from out front on lawn chairs
• - hit the bounce house in the old skating rink outside of Corvallis
• - stay up late reading books with Michele (with fun tv on in the background) while the kids lay all over the living room floor, happily asleep and exhausted from Camp Harlow (this year all 5 will be gone during the same week - so we can nap while they are gone)
• - bumper boats and go-carts on the Fourth at Camp Harlow
• - re-visit West Coast Game Park Safari
• - listen to Dave Mertz lead guitar worship, under the stars, around the campfire, at Colin's camp-out
• - go camping
• - eat cherry crepes at Original Pancake House
• - take girls fishing with Grandpa
• - sunset walks around our neighborhoods with Michele
• - outside patio birthday dinner at PF Changs
• - lots of time in the boat
• - bbq's involving baked beans, pretzel salad, and corn on the cob

That's enough for now, but I'm keeping the list close by so I can keep accumulating..... How about you, what are some things (big or small) that you want to see happen?