Am I making myself clear?

In honor of my birthday today, a video staring 2 of my favorite people that I'm lucky to be celebrating the day with.

We're going camping now we're on our way...

If you were born into a Christian home in the 80's, and grew up watching Psalty The Singing Songbook VHS tapes in the early 90's as I did, then you are probably singing along with me to the above tune that is playing in my head as I write this. Who didn't love the camping episode, it was a classic!

Anyway, last weekend we went on a short camping adventure with all of John's siblings, spouses, and children to Delaware State park for a night of "roughing it" in the Ohio wilderness. We brought Eli along and left Norah with her great-grandparents because we weren't at all curious how fun it would be to sleep in a tent with a 1 year old.  We enjoyed a beautiful day Saturday boating, hanging out at the beach, and only being responsible for a single child. Eli soaked up the time with his cousins and was a sweaty, dirt-covered maniac the entire length of our trip. 

Saturday night we enjoyed torrential rainstorms while we slept-some of which leaked under my corner of the tent-and took turns peeling Eli's sweaty body off us as he insisted on sleeping on top of us despite the stifling heat of a muggy August night. We learned that our two-man tent really is only for 2 men and that its time to upgrade to something bigger. I can't say I got much sleep, but it was fun family memory and I'm really glad we went. 

We were up at the crack of dawn Sunday morning and had the car packed with our wet-muddy gear by 7:30am heading straight to the nearest Bob Evans for some delicious greasy food. 

Can't wait till next year and for Norah Dee to join in on the fun.

The boys: Max, Gabe, Eli, and Shayden....all shoveling handfuls of Cheetos into their mouths

Our tiny tent that is really cozy for two, and really crowded for 3

Enjoying the hillbilly street festival put on by the park Saturday night

Notice Eli's feet off the ground? These boys danced till they dropped

Abby, Sam, Gabe, Jen, and Max

Nothing better than a gooey s'more by the fire

Gabe and Ron roasting marshmallows 

 
Breakfast at Bob Evans early Sunday morning

Never the cheap date, I upgraded from regular ole' coffee to this delicious 400 calorie latte'

Of course we made sure Eli ordered something healthy to eat

Summertime Fun

The month of July in the Costello household has been busy with a side of crazy. For 5 weeks we hosted a French teen named Agathe in our home, and I served as her tour guide of Columbus, surrogate (way too young to have a teenager) mom, and gateway to the all-American lifestyle. Although I (thankfully) don't live the life of a Desperate Housewife on Wisteria lane, which is what Agathe told me she was expecting to experience when I picked her up from the airport, I can be a bit desperate at times and I too have been known to romance the good-looking landscaper, who just happens to be my husband.

We enjoyed having Agathe here with us and I think life in the States really suited her as well. She took quickly to drive-thrus, ice-cream, and fresh smoothies for breakfast. And even though my life really isn't a 24-hour a day fun factory as she might think, we tried to give her as many cool experiences as we could and spoil her with the best American hospitality we could offer.

During the last two weeks of Agathe's stay, my sister Sarah and her family came for a visit from France. The time went much too quickly, but we packed in as many activities as we could and had so much fun with them here. We did lots of swimming, shopping, talking, eating, and laughing. We went boating, ziplining, wine tasting, zoo visiting, fountain playing, movie watching, and concert hopping. I didn't always have my camera with me but I managed to catch a few memories of their time here. Saying good-bye to the Hoblet family on Saturday morning was really hard because there isn't a "next time" planned yet for when we will see them again.  But I am thankful that we got to have two weeks with them and the kids. We miss them already.

So these pictures are random and out of order but I wanted to post them before I forget.

 Boating on Alum Creek

 Annual Girl's Slumber Party with Callie and Lily

 Westerville's Summer Concert Series: British Invasion concert

Riding bikes and eating dessert at Grams and Gramp's house

Fun in the pool at Grandma Jan and Papa Bob's house

Kid's day at the Columbus Commons

Cheering on the kids at Genoa Township's first annual 1K kid's race

Taking all the cousins to see the Cars 2 movie at Easton

Playing and picnicking at the Bicentennial Park fountains 

Columbus Clipper's Baseball game

And just for fun, my whole-lot-of-sassy, makes me laugh all day long, sweet baby Norah.