Days with the Dorans

While everyone else was out watching soccer, Sean and I planned a fun day of our own. We started with the highlight... playing with his friend, Sean T! The Seans are great friends and were so excited to see each other. Because it was rainy, we opted for a movie. We saw Ice Age which was cute but I think the best part of it was seeing the boys laugh and have fun together. After the movie, Sean and I made a plan to eat. I threw out some restaurants he likes but he vetoed all my ideas and went for.... McDonalds! I tried to change his mind but when you're competing with an indoor playground on a rainy day, you're going to lose!  He got a Happy Meal (of course) and made some friends in the playground while I watched him turn the floor into lava and back to water by the push of a magic button. I love his creative mind. Our kids have all been awesome like that! When you buy a Happy Meal and eat "in," you get to go back up and get a free little cone. Sean went u...

 Jeff was SOOOO excited to go to the Big House to see some football~ but not that kind of football.  Jeff is a HUGE soccer fan. He played himself but still loves watching the professionals (and of course his kids too). It was rainy, so he went out early to get some ponchos, but thankfully they didn't need them. It was Real Madrid vs. Chelsea. Jeff HATES Chelsea so he was rooting for Real Madrid. Real Madrid won AND it didn't rain so it was a great afternoon!  They also went out to lunch and had some quality time together. I should mention that it was Jeff and the 3 Bigs (not Sean- he just photo-bombed that first picture). Jeff's brother and sister were also there but it was so crowded he didn't get to catch up with them.

Just because I took some pictures of ourselves... And no~ I don't wear make-up or do my hair in the summer.  Lucky to have a guy who loves me no matter what I look like! Go Tigers! It was another great game!

Marty has come so far from last summer when he wouldn't walk at all on a leash and last fall when I tried to walk him before school and he would be scared of a flag blowing in the breeze from its pole (we went on a LITTLE walk but he wasn't a good walker). We walk EVERY day now~ usually 3-5 miles depending on time. I've loved it because Ang and Ty moved to our neighborhood so Ang, Carson, Marty and I walk each morning. We have a route now that we walk regularly which includes a stop at Marty's girlfriend's house. It is so sweet as we walk up the hill to see Ellie sitting pretty waiting for Marty. Then she lays down and he slows down but always goes straight for her yard. If she happens to not be home he looks back to see if by chance he can spy her. It's adorable and between our walks, his fun with Ellie and playing at the lake, Marty is getting a TON of exercise.  He's one lucky (and HAPPY) pup!

 My friend at work sent out an email asking if anyone wanted her old bunk beds. I didn't respond because my boys were good with their twin beds that my brother AND my dad had when they were little. Then she posted another picture on facebook and I showed the Littles and they said, "YES! THAT BED IS AWESOME!" So here they are the third family from our school to use this bed. I only had to buy a new mattress (full) for Seany and promise to pay it forward when they're done with it~ though I think they may be keeping it for a while

My brother is a HUGE Dave Matthew's Band fan and has been to tons of their concerts, while Jeff and I have not. We love live music but aren't too keen on paying the jacked up prices. So if you see us at a concert, it's usually because we've gotten a good deal on Groupon or something. Danny told me that we MUST go see DMB live and talked us into paying top dollar for tickets. He said, "We're old now. Let's sit in the Pavilion." I don't feel old and am perfectly cool with sitting on a lawn to save some moolah- especially since no one sits at concerts anyway! We did some tailgating in the parking lot and ate some Panera for dinner and then purchased an over priced beer from a stand where some of our dance friends were working (gotta support our fellow dancers). We had a GREAT time and the concert was awesome! I have to admit my brother was right on this one. Though I still will not admit to being "old" and not able to hear a co...

 It was so nice to get a visit from Matt and Cindy and meet their kids! Matt is the son of my parents' best friends, Veronica and "Papa Dave." Matt brought Cindy to the mitten before they were married but we haven't seen them since.  Matt said we had two kids the last time they were here so we figured it's been over ten years for sure! They now have two kiddos. Marissa is Maddy's age and Nikolas is Timmy's age. It was fun to see the different personalities and spend time with everyone out on the lake! The girls got along swimmingly (as did the boys) and we spent lots of time swimming, boating and having fun. They had a few out of town adventures but their home base was the lake which Marissa told me was her favorite part of the trip! Dave and Veron were also in for a few days. If only Matt's sister would have come with her husband and two kids we would have had a huge reunion! We'd love to see them again. We had a great time! ...

 So I gave my dad some grief. Jeff and I are no longer season ticket holders but my dad still has two seats. It seems whenever he needs someone to go to a game he asks Jeff or my brother. I was excited when he asked ME to go with him. We had dinner at Coach's Corner where I tried the WORST drink ever (that cherry cola thing) and then we were off to the game for our $2 peanuts, $1 scorecard and (I won't tell you the cost) two REAL beers. We had a GREAT time. The Tigers played GREAT and bonus, I FINALLY got to see some fireworks (since I missed them on the fourth). We had so much fun that I think he may just ask me again one day... Right Papa? :-)

 I've been bugging Ali to cut her hair for a LONG time.  When she was little she had the most adorable little bob~ but then again... she's not so little anymore. She wears her hair long mostly because she has to put it in a bun for dance. The last time I donated my hair I donated 11 inches and you only need 8.  Her hair was much longer than mine was so I knew she could donate 8 inches and still have plenty for a bun. Still when they cut it off I was worried because it looked so much shorter.  It looked SOOO much healthier though and she said she really liked it. The first thing she did when she got home was put it up in a bun and sure enough... it worked! Her hair looks so much healthier and thicker now than it did before!  I'm so proud of her and pretty sure she'll be donating again! I recently gave blood again and I feel like between giving blood and donating my hair I'm able to do a little something for someone that could make a big differen...

It felt SOOOO good to be home with my boys and have us all together again! It's been rather hot and we've spent lots of time at the lake but decided to take in a movie we all wanted to see.  It is actually the second movie we saw (the first being Finding Dori which we loved). We aren't usually big movie goers but Jeff and I both got some fandango cards so we were able to go to the movie free. I'm new at buying movie tickets online and I actually bought us 3D movie tickets. It was a GREAT movie and fun watching Sean reach out to try to touch what was on the screen.  We were the only people in the theatre and to me it was the perfect way to spend an afternoon!

 I am now going to attempt to write about our trip to Nashville for the Dance Masters of America National Competition. I say attempt because in the 10 days we were there, a lot happened. We stayed at the Gaylord resort which was HUGE (9 acres)! It had beautiful gardens (including a river with a boat... INSIDE), shops, restaraunts and more! There were dancers from all over the U.S. and we also saw people from Canada and San Juan. We roomed (and drove) with Amber (Al's dance buddy) and her mom, Julia. The first night we were there they had a welcome party with the theme, "A little bit country, a little bit rock-n-roll." While Al is not a fan of country music, "country" was an easier look than the rock-n-roll.  Each day the girls (and boy) had classes for four hours, competitions in the afternoon and then in the evening the title holders from each state competed. We had 3 dancers from our studio represent our state and they all made the top ten (our ...