Blogless Summer

It's been about a month since school got out and about a month since I blogged. You would think that I would have more time to do things with no job to run to in the morning and keep me occupied throughout the day, but that hasn't been the case. Life as a "stay-at-home mom" is busy, and we rarely actually stay at home. We started the summer with a road trip to Michigan for a family reunion. It was the first time that I attempted to take the kids in the car for a distance of more than 2.5 hours. It was a long ride, but thanks to borrowed DVDs, the big kids did great. Quin wasn't quite as content and has put up a fuss about being strapped in his car-seat ever since the drive home. I don't think he thought he'd ever get out of that seat.
We've spent time at various pools and beaches. It's been a warm VT summer with temps in the 90s this week. Our most exciting beach day was spent trying to outrun a storm on Lake George in New York. It was the 4th of July and we spent the day with friends and their two kids on the beach and then took their boat on the lake. A storm came up out of nowhere, and we tried to head back through it to get off the lake, but with high winds blowing rain and bits of hail sideways, Dave couldn't see, so we turned around and headed further south. We spent about an hour trying to stay ahead of it. The waves were about 3 feet, the rain was coming down, and I was a little worried, not that we'd die, but that we'd end up in the lake. The adults all donned life-jackets, the kids were curled up on the floor, and we just kept heading south with about two dozen other boats, including a coast guard-pulled-boat that had taken on too much water and sank. It eventually calmed, we found a place to get gas and use the bathroom, and then we headed north on a much more peaceful lake. It doesn't seem so bad now, but at the time it was scary, especially having five kids, including a baby with us.
Along with fun, their has been work. I've been painting, staining, and laying down flooring. The painting is hundreds of linear feet of trim for our new garage, the staining is trim for Quin's new bedroom, and the flooring is also for the bedroom. I'm looking forward to the completion of these projects, but know that there will just be more to follow.
Today is Saturday, and I may or may not try to hit a few garage sales this morning. I'm currently undecided.