Summer...so far

I can't believe we're already well into July!  What the hell happened to June??!

This summer has been quite eventful so far.  We started off June with a family vacation to Mackinac Island.  We drove up to a small town called St. Ignace (on the UP) and stayed there for 5 nights.  We spent 2 good days on the island itself, and it was beautiful!  On our way back, we spent one night in Saugatuck, MI.  VERY nice area!  Overall, a great vacation!

Upon returning, I threw my back out.  That's been a 4+ week ordeal so far.  Just awful.  Then last week, I bit my tongue.  Seriously, the stupidest thing I've ever done.  Both back and tongue are healing, though not as seamlessly as I'd hoped.

Jackson's enjoying his summer so far!  We spend a good number of afternoons at the pool (after nap, and usually only for an hour or so).  It's been nice to do that!  I haven't signed him up for classes through the park district this summer--I kind of wanted to just enjoy HIM without having to shuttle him from one place to the next each day.  Some days are really low key--we might just stay in and watch a movie.  I wanted to relax this summer before he starts preschool in the fall.

The most exciting thing has been that Jackson has started private swimming lessons here in town.  He's only had 3, but we're seeing such a huge improvement in him!  His teacher is a high school student who has her own pool, and she teaches pretty regularly in the summer.  I wasn't sure about her at first, but after only 3 lessons, it's safe to say she's good at what she does!  The lessons are only a half hour each, but it's so concentrated, and there are no distractions, unlike at the pool.  In just a few short weeks, we're now seeing him hold his breath and go under water, and tonight at the pool, he was actually swimming to us!!  It was incredible!  He's not perfect, but just what we've seen in this short time gives us a lot of hope that he's going to do nothing but improve.  I'm so proud of him!

We're headed this coming weekend to Waynee World--the first in several years with ALL of us.  The last couple of years, my brother and his family have had a hard time going up with the rest of us because of sport commitments, etc.  This year, they're really making an effort, in part because we never know how many more of these weekends there will be, and also because the kids have SUCH a great time with one another up there!  It's just not the same without all of them together, and the older they get, the harder it is to get everyone together.  I think we (the Iaco's) will end up with 2-3 weekends up there this summer, and boy do we love each and every one of them!

As I mentioned, Jackson will be starting preschool in the fall.  This will be his first of 2 years in preschool, and he'll go for 2.5 hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  This is it--the start of his school career.  I'm sad about it in a way, but excited for him.  But damn...my baby's growing up!  How did that happen?!

More rain expected this week.  I suppose it's better than having a drought in the area.  My garden is loving it!  Stay cool!