What could be more fun than packing up five kids and trekking from Wisconsin to Lake George, NY at 4am on a Friday? Doing it after staying up late the night before to celebrate your sister’s surprise engagement! Worth it. (Although who was ACTUALLY surprised?! Lol)

We learned a few things. For example, we have always been asked for all the kids’ birth certificates before a flight. Apparently, when you cross over from 4 to 5 and one of them is a slightly fussy infant, they don’t want to see any paperwork! They just want you to go away. It’s also very exciting that all four older kids can walk through an airport now without assistance. Bonus! (I was asked if I’ve been in the military. Herding more responsive and stamina-driven little people is one step above cats.) Also, at 3 1/2 all of our children cross over from needing help with their little computers to not wanting to talk to us until the plane lands. We’re OK with that. Finally, children under six who do get up very early and do not nap at any point are terrifying to take to a classy party, even when it’s a classy family party. I now have much more sympathy for my mom’s terror when dealing with all of us at young ages in Paris. Everyone kept telling us how adorable they were, and Dave and I just kept staring into each others very wide eyes and mild panic.

All of that said, we had a wonderful time celebrating Sam’s wedding with the whole family, and exploring a new part of the country with the kids. As an added bonus, Leah Lucile got to meet her aunt Leah and my teacher Lucile. How cool is that? After celebrating the wedding, we celebrated Dave’s parents 50th wedding anniversary. Speaking of goals, they set a high bar. It’s great to see that snarky humor, passion, patience and intelligence are a strong foundation – since that’s all Dave and I have to work with anyway. We are still catching up on laundry and at work, and have hit that “oh my god how is it August?!” point of the summer. But inspired by our great time with people we love, we’re going to revel in every minute of summer that remains.