The Vlach Six: A Wonderful Summer Gone By....

Catching fish (and frogs!) with daddy

We've been having so much fun all summer long with with our Wednesday adventures, July birthdays, and Thursday Jazz in the Parks that I've barely sat at the computer all summer. And truthfully, life has gotten a lot busier since John got up on two feet. With September underway, here are a few other highlights since early June:

We took an awesome Stay-cation! Since we still have so much to explore right here where we live, we thought, Why leave? We tried out new restaurants, visited museums, threw a party with the neighbors (sausages and croquet. Awesome), laid a flagstone path from our gate to the front door, and Rob and I went on several dates!
A Fourth of July Parade and fireworks! The Whitefish Bay parade marched about 200 feet from our front door. It was a thousand degrees but the candy (Madeline) and the firetrucks (Charlie) won them over. The night before, we watched the City of Milwaukee's spectacular hour-long firework display from the lovely air conditioning in my dad and Ning's high rise apartment. Then Madeline and Charlie had their first ever sleep over. They were so exhausted, they didn't even have the energy to giggle and get into lots of trouble.
Swim Lessons: Every Saturday morning, Rob, Madeline and Charlie rode their bikes to the high school's indoor pool for swim lessons. Madeline can actually jump off the diving board and swim to the side of the pool! Rob went in with Charlie for his class while he practiced jumping in, blowing bubbles and dunking his head.
Ice Cream Social. Pleasantville confirmed

Whitefish Bay had an ice cream social! The whole town came out for a sundae in the park across the street for our cute little library. The municpial band played while hundreds of kids ran wild and played in the fountains. I'm pretty sure we've gone back in time; the Cleavers probably live down the street. If a cheerful milkman knocks on the door tomorrow, I won't be surprised....
Every other Friday all summer long, the preschool Charlie attends hosted a playdate; it's been a wonderful way to help him prepare and for us to meet new fun people.
Playing in fountains! Ice cream to follow

We've taken breaks from the heat by getting drenched at the fountains at Bayshore Mall, right by our house.
Rob got out fly fishing several times this summer. He took the kids a couple of times too and they even accidentally caught frogs on the line!
Seeing Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum (my favorite!) at Summerfest with my dad and Ning was amazing!
The Olympics! They were fabulous! One of my favorite moments of the whole summer was watching the women's soccer semifinals with Madeline while the boys napped. She couldn't believe Alex Morgan made the winning goal with her head!
Codie, my friend from Nashville, was visiting Milwaukee while her husband had meetings at Miller Field. Madeline and I ended up getting to watch a game from the owners box with them!
The kids and I visited Rob's office at the FABCO dealership and went out for a special lunch-with-daddy.