Full Summer

Whoa, this has been a full, busy, crazy summer.

As you know if you read this blog, my wife was diagnosed this summer with Chiari I Malformation, a brain/skull/spine malformation that one is born with. She was having awful symptoms and at times could barely walk before the surgery. Now she is back to normal. The only issues she faces are with the surgery and recovery, not the original symptoms. All her original symptoms are gone. What an unbelievable experience over the last 3 months. We feel so blessed.

My middle son, Elijah, played baseball this summer and loved it as usual. He's the athlete of all the kids. I coached again this year, and I was the pitcher. It was Bittie Ball, so the coach pitches to the kids at this level. I really appreciate Woodstock's effort to put together a great youth baseball program. Our other kids were enrolled in Woodstock summer events, but all had to be cancelled because they conflicted with Molly's surgery. Too bad, but totally worth the sacrifice.

Our typical weekly fun happens at the Woodstock Water Works park. With season passes we not only go as we like, but we were also able to attend the late-night event for season pass holders. That was a lot of fun. How many cities our size have a great place to play like WWW? Not enough, I would say.

We've also spent time at the local Classic Cinemas theater in Woodstock for Harry Potter and Ratatouille, enjoyed the Dick Tracy Days parade, and other fun stuff in downtown Woodstock. And I don't want to fail to mention we enjoyed our first 4th of July in Woodstock. Usually we are in my hometown with family, but we were in town this year. Loved the whole experience at Emricson Park.

We just hit Six Flags this Monday. It was a hot but great day at the park. Since my wife can't ride anything jarring, it was up to me to man-up and show my ability to ride most of the rides with the kids. Unfortunately I had a stomach bug and felt like hurling all day. Didn't hurl though. Nice. Love being less than an hour from a great theme park.

Like most of you, our best fun summer experiences happen right around our house. Our kids have played catch, baseball, tag, races, ridden their bikes or scooters or skateboards, have found bugs and dead things and chased cicadas, played with friends and neighbors, and we all have done a million other things just by being home. It has really been a great summer, all things considered.