The Adventures of Nate & Steph: Summer lovin' and other tidbits.

Salutations blog world or any soul who happens to stubble upon my ramblings. I had to take a temporary leave of absence from our blog because life got insanely busy. I can only handling juggling so many balls at once and the blog ball got dropped. Actually I dropped it and kicked it off to the side. I am now ready to dust off this blog and jump back in to update you all. I've got my headphones on, british indie-rock music blaring, lets do this.

Back in May I was rushing to a meeting at the art museum. I had Amelia with me because it was one of those days where you can't find a babysitter for all the fro yo gift cards in the world, and I fell down some concrete stairs. You know those stairs that are shallow and wide? not the "normal" dimension for stairs, yep those are the ones, they "tripped me up" quite literally. They shall now be known henceforth as "death stairs". I knew I was in bad shape when I couldn't walk it off. Sometimes you can walk off a rolled ankle or at least limp, not this time. There are so many frustrating things that happened that day but also so many nice things, mostly friends dropping what they were doing to help me out. I'm so grateful for friends. Being away from family you really rely on your friends, and its nice to know they are there for you when you need them the most. Even when they have to put you in your place because you are too prideful to ask for help. After a grueling 3 hours at the doctors office the results came back that it was not broke, although we all wished it was, recovery would have been easier. Instead it was a level 2/3 sprain with major ligament damage to ligaments on both sides of the ankle, and possibly a broken big toe on the opposite foot. Because Amelia was with me she loves to talk about it. It happened weeks ago and she will still bring it up saying "Mom fell down the stairs and went boom. Took a ride to the doctors in the blue car." I love the fact that I went "boom".

I really could have been blogging at that time since I was on mandatory couch rest but since I also had Amelia to entertain it would have been impossible. She would have insisted on helping type and therefore the post would have looked like this: "Hi guys, my day has beenajd;fkjgo;ijadfoigj aiojdfgkjsdfkjgoieartjlakdfjg". So, as fun as that would have been I chose to read and watch movies instead. Also it should be noted that klutzy people on crutches are hilarious and dangerous. I don't think I need to elaborate on that one, just know that its miraculous that I did not injure myself further. My ankle is doing a lot better, still not functioning 100% but working on it. Stairs are still tricky, incase you were wondering.

We ventured up north to the city of slightly cooler temperatures over Memorial Day and spent time with family. Amelia fell in love with my grandparents pond and had a blast trying to feed the fish flowers. I had the chance to visit with some old roommates at a bridal shower, it was awesome to reconnect. Nathan had a chance to visit his grandma, he's been looking forward to seeing her as they have a special bond and I'm glad we were able to fit in the schedule. We tried to see as many people as we could, its always tricky trying to find a way to see everyone. If we missed you, don't be offended, we will pencil you in for next time, it doesn't mean we love you any less.

Summer is upon us and we are trying to enjoy it without simultaneously bursting into flames. Amelia is constantly asking to go to the park at the most inopportune times i.e. 3 o'clock in the afternoon when its 100+ degrees outside. So we are working on playing outside in the early morning or evening when its much cooler. Nathan's picked up tennis again and plays weekly. We've been having some bbq's, going to the splash pads, and hanging out with friends. Typical summer fun.

I am current teaching a Medieval art camp at the museum for the next few weeks. I went from being the assistant art history teacher to "here you can have the whole program" with 5 days to spare before camp started. So for the last 3 weeks (or so) Medieval art has taken over our house. I've been pulling late nights trying to have everything ready and thank goodness for express shipping. For a moment I thought "wow this will be awesome, I'm in charge. I can teach what I want (mwhahahaha, evil laugh entered here)". That thought lasted for approximately 2 seconds as all my responsibilities hit me like a ton of bricks. I just finished up the second week and things are running relatively smoothly. I think Amelia has caught Medieval fever though, she's constantly asking to play with my castle replica blocks, watching 'How to Train your Dragon' and 'Brave', and playing/pretending to be a dragon. I'm very grateful for Nathan, he's kept me sane as I've pulled this camp together. Plus, he listens so politely as I gush on and on about how wonderful Gothic architecture is. Poor guy deserves a trophy.

Just a few fun things about Amelia, incase you are curious about our "red tornado". Amelia loves animals or lizards and is constantly asking "can I pet it?" to whatever animal she sees. Poor kid would probably love a dog but I love breathing more. She's really into the color blue and yellow and loves to say "Phew, close one" as she wipes her brow. She's not afraid to climb up to the big slides on the playground, in fact she likes climbing everything. She continues to think she can do things older kids are doing. She tried to ride a 7 year olds bike and got a pretty good scratch from the chain after it fell over on her. Her favorite books are still her pirate books she got for her birthday, we read them at least twice a day. As much as she is a tomboy she is still a drama queen. It definitely keeps us on our toes. Speaking of toes, she does not like to wear shoes, she's a barefoot beauty through and through. She takes them off within 10 minutes of going somewhere. Its our daily struggle.

If you've forgotten what we look like, here are some photos from the last few months.