Jeepers!

Oh my goodness ~ it has been WAY too long since I have been able to post and the culprit (this time) can't even be blamed on lack of time, but rather a hard drive in crisis and no access to a computer or Internet for the past 11 days! Ack!

To make a long ( and not very interesting story) short, our hard drive jumped overboard and despite our best efforts we were unable to restore our computer without loads of help ~ the kind of help that takes time and plenty of it! The kind of help that treats your computer to an extended, all expense paid holiday with the local Computer Guy who promises a 24 hour turnaround but fails to take into account the feisty nature of said computer! LOL

And its a mess ~ oh yes, it really is! Thankfully we were able to back up our key files, photos, etc. but we now find ourselves with a completely foreign looking desktop, missing icons/favorites, different functionalities that will need careful exploration as time allows ( which is pretty much never) and inboxes overflowing with emails that require attention. AND that's not mentioning all the blogs I simply can't wait to visit ~ YES, you guys ALL know who you are and YES that was single hardest thing about being "unplugged" for so long ~ missing updates on your families and adventures AND missing my almost daily emails with my folks! Suffice to say my weekly phone calls to my Mom became a bit more frequent and quite a lot longer than usual. (grin).....and yes, that's actually a silver lining of this whole thing!

Just before this all began I was experiencing a bit of "bloggy block" and was stymied on topics for a post. Trust a forced time-out to remedy that right away! LOL Naturally over the past week or so I have wanted to share so many things.....mostly just the little moments of our days.....and oh, pictures too!! But they will wait........mostly I just wanted to post something quickly tonight and then get down to the business of checking in with all of you!! Yay!!

Please know we are all doing great and though Lauren technically still has 2 days left of school, our summer fundamentally began the weekend before last when we ended up with most of neighborhood kiddos dashing through our sprinklers and little pools, shrieking with glee while they tried to stay cool in the almost 90 degree heat! When I think back on my childhood, those moments of spontaneous fun with the kids on the block always leave me a bit wistful and always smiling. Could there be anything more innocent and joyful than that? Oh and Tyler?? LOVES that water and plenty of it, once again this year!! He's not picky either ~ he likes it in any form, at any depth and at any time of the day! :)

Happy summer one and all! If you hear someone shuffling around a bit on your "bloggy" doormat, don't worry, its just me!! :) Now I just hope I can't find everyone and stay awake long enough to visit!