What I've Been Up to This Summer, Part 2

Here I am three weeks after my last post. Since it is the last partial day of summer, I suppose I better update you on the rest of my summer activities!

Before I start though, I would like to note the absence of two of my favorite bloggers, Dot from "Picket Fences" and Heather (Rue) of "Rue's Peanut Butter and Jelly Life" who have apparently left the blogging world during the last week or two. Though I don't know if they will ever see this, I would like to tell them both that they touched my heart when they shared their lives with me and the world, and that they shall be sorely missed. I hope they both come back sometime. Since I can no longer access their blogs, I didn't get to see why they decided to stop blogging, but I want to say that I do understand if they felt that this was best for them. There is NOTHING more important out there than our families, and I feel that this is why they left.

On a happier note, my sweetheart Mike has let me post his pictures on Facebook, so I am sharing a few here now too. We have been dating for just over 4 months now. I really don't like this first picture of us, but its what I have.


Here are a couple pictures I took of him on one of our boat trips. Isn't he cute?



One of the places I got to go this summer was to Jellystone Park at Barton Lake, Indiana, near Fremont. This was a working vacation (as an aide), but so much fun! This is where I got to stay, in one of their deluxe cabins. This picture is from the website.


I took this pic of the lake.


The ceilings were so high! I love pine, so I really liked the cabin interior.


Each cabin was decorated a little differently. I would have loved to "borrow" these curtains for my own home. Of course, I didn't.


One of the camp activities was a luau, so I got some Hawaiian shirts, which I hung with my jacket in the living room.


There was a picture hanging on the wall which I loved because it reminded me of summers spent at Clear Lake nearby during my childhood. More on that in a bit!


The rest of these cabin pictures are from the campground's site, linked above. This is how the cabin where I stayed looked too.




I would love to go back there again someday, but with my own family! It was a lot of fun.

Here I am helping out at one activity.


This was a part of another activity, which was great fun! There were also three pools, and of course, I spent time in one of them!


After three days at camp, I drove home, passing Clear Lake, Indiana, where I spent every summer until after I was 12. My grandparents had owned a cottage here, which my father later inherited. Eventually, they sold the cottage, which broke my heart, but now that I have been a parent struggling to make ends meet, I understand why they did it.

Anyhow, our cottage was just 6 lots down from the public beach. Here is a view from the bluff overlooking the beach.


Then views to the left, and right.



Here is the beach...open to the public. I remember it looking bigger when I was young!

Oh, how I miss that lake and the old cottage, now long gone. My visit sure tugged at my heart and brought a few tears to my eyes.

I made another stop on the way home to visit my sweetie and his children. We decided to take a little trip to George Bible Park near Montpelier, Ohio. There is such a pretty pond there. It's so peaceful.



We took a walk around the pond. Her is Mike in the woods, looking like he is none too pleased that I have poked a camera in his face. Can't help it...he's so cute! Actually, it was about 97 degrees that day and we were sweltering.


Here is his pretty daughter in the park.


And his son standing on a log.


Another pic of his daughter while in the woods.


His son peers into the pond, maybe looking for frogs and minnows.


As Mike and I sat and rested, his son decided to pretend he was airbending/breakdancing at the edge of the pond.


I also took some scenic pics. Pretty yellow flowers!


View from the pond's edge.


A closeup of a green walnut.

Despite the heat, it was a fun day!

Toward the end of August, my sweetie Mike and I and his children took off for a day at Pokagon State Park near Angola, Indiana. This is a lovely place. They have a beach for swimming, picnic areas, and hiking trails. In the winter, they have tobogganing. In case you wonder where my boys are during all these activities, mostly at work, or declining to come along.

We decided to hike trail number three. I was really uspet that I forgot my camera because there were so many beautiful things on the way! This is picture is from this website. These are wetlands near a small lake that we passed on the trail.


Our destination was an overlook called Hell's Point. I found this picture here. It was worth the almost 2 1/2 mile hike!


Following our hike and a picnic lunch, we cooled off in beautiful Lake James and relaxed on the pretty sand beach. I found this pic here. I would love to go back next summer, even if just to spend the day on the beach. The water felt great!


I'm so glad that I had such a wonderful summer, and that for the first time in over a decade, I had a summer filled with love!

But now summer is hours from being officially over, and I am so thrilled to be moving on to autumn, my favorite season!

Until later, enjoy these (hopefully) cooler days! In this part of Ohio though, our first full day of fall is supposed to get to 88 degrees.