August

Michigan beach trip
Starved Rock
Troll Hunt

We started out August with a trip to Michigan. Some friends of ours have a family beach house and this is the 2nd time they've invited us and other families to join them for a long weekend. It's an amazing house with a gorgeous view. We have a wonderful time together.

Less than 2 weeks later, I took the girls camping at Starved Rock, a state park just about an hour outside of Chicago. Unfortunately Mike had to stay home and work. We joined several other families who were also making the trip to see the Perseid Meteor Shower. Turns out this was one of the hottest damn weekends of the year. It was sweltering. And we had "strategically" picked campsites out in a field so we could see the meteors which meant no shade during the day when it was 100*.

We did our best to keep cool. We hiked in the canyons and played in creeks. We'd never been to Starved Rock before, but it was beautiful and I definitely want to go back.

The girls had lots of fun adventures. They were real troopers. But it eventually got so damn hot, we looked up a community pool near by and went swimming. I don't think we would have made it all three nights otherwise.

We got to rent a kayak, explore small islands, hike around looking for bugs and animals, play with friends and even see some meteors!

Towards the end of the month, we went out to the Morton Arboretum for the first time. We wanted to check out their Trolls exhibit. An artist built these gigantic trolls out of wood and natural materials and scattered them throughout the park. They will be on display until they naturally decompose, which I think it's pretty awesome.