Whew! What a summer!

Well the past few weeks have been a whirl-wind! Robert and I went to Hot Springs, AR for a weekend trip that we won at the Attache silent auction. We went and did the whole bath house experience. It was fun and definitely different. There was a motorcycle rally going on that same weekend, so the "peace and quiet" I was hoping for was definitely not there. Those stupid things make so much noise! UGH! It was really irritating, but we stayed in Hot Springs Village which was about 25 minutes from downtown, so we at least got peace at night. Then the weekend of July 4th we went to Orange Beach with Robert's mother and brother. He came in from New York for the weekend and we all rode down for a quick beach run. We stayed 2 nights and had 2 days of beach time. Caroline was so cute. She absolutely LOVED the water. She would get one of us to take her out there and she wouldn't come in until we made her. And then she'd bat her eyes at the next adult and was right back out there within minutes. :-) She built sand castles and found shells. We ate some great seafood, which we miss alot, and got to visit with some greatly missed friends as well. It was a fun trip though it was quick. Then we had one day home to unpack, wash clothes, and repack for our trip to Los Angeles. We left on Wednesday and Caroline stayed with my parents. She couldn't have cared less that we were gone - never even wanted to talk to me on the phone! Little rascal. But we had a BLAST! We went to 2 Dodgers games and they won both times. We also took a tour of the stadium one morning, and that was really cool. We got to go on the field, in the dugout, in the press box, in club level box seats, walk down the players' hallways.... really cool! We learned lots of neat little facts, most of which Robert already knew and answered when the little tour guide asked, "who knows the name of this random player from this random event in 1963?" ROBERT. Amazing how many Dodgers facts he knows. Then we got to go on the field after the Friday night game to watch fireworks. Pretty cool. Standing right where Andre' Ethier stretches his, ahem, muscles.... nice. :-) We got lots of great pictures and fun little souveniers for Caroline. They had a Dodgers Mr. Potato Head! She loves it. We spend the rest of our time sight-seeing all the "must-see" California sights. The Hollywood sign, Grauman's Chinese Theater (Jennifer Aniston had just done her hands and feet!), Beverly Hills, Rodeo Dr., Griffith Park Observatory, Randy's Donuts, we got it all in there..... even did some shopping in the fashion district and got some great deals. I thought I was going to have to buy another suitcase just to get it all home! But we crammed it in and carried some on the plane, so it all got home safe and sound. And the weather was PERFECT! The days were barely 70 degrees and the nights were even cooler with a nice breeze almost all the time. Our only complaint was our hotel situation, which wasn't a big deal bc we don't spend time in the hotel when we go to new places. I just need a place to shower, sleep, and lock up my stuff while I'm gone - although air-conditioning would have been nice. It was a bit warm, but not anywhere near what you would think it would be like trying to sleep in Mississippi without air. There was a cool breeze and we had a big fan so it wasn't so bad. So L.A. was definitely a great trip. So glad I got to go and do the whole Dodgers thing with Robert. He's such a big fan and I'm glad I got to share that with him.
So now it's almost time to get back to the same 'ole routine again. Band stuff starts in just a few weeks and before we know it school will be here...! Time flies when you're havin' fun! So it's been a great summer so far even though it's winding down. And although things are still uncertain with Jack we're all trying our best to stay hopeful and positive that things are going to work out the way we're praying they will. So please keep praying - hard.