6.0

When planning our 6 year anniversary weekend - it was a mess, to say the least. We just couldn't decide what we wanted to do. But then camping came up in conversation. Interesting. I love camping. I grew up camping. The issue? We didn't have a lick of camping gear. Then began the hunt for the right tent, lantern, camp site, etc....

Location: Cook's Forest. Campsite: Locust Lodge/MacBeth Camp Grounds
As we drove the 1.5 hours it took to get there, we pretty much drove in the rain the entire trip, and were trying to beat out even darker clouds that were following us... This place was amazing. So green. So quaint. This campground was definitely a LOT smaller then the others, which is why we decided on it, and we were happy we did. Here are some pictures:

We got set up, and hauled our belongings into the tent - just in time. We decided on an "electric" site just for this very reason. We brought along our portable dvd player. Boy, did it come in handy. We had a slight break around 8pm, and we quickly made dinner...

And since we were basically on the Clarion River (picture below):

We canoed!
We originally planned on doing the 10 mile trip, but it was too expensive. So, 4 mile it was... it was breathtaking....the weather was perfect. We had such a good time. (And I'm aware that these pictures look familiar to last years anniversary weekend because we canoed Lake Erie. Oh well. Maybe this is a new tradition...)

And everytime...

My husband is a doofus.

We ended up leaving a couple hours after canoeing - the air was so thick with humidity, that we both just couldn't take it. The 1st night of not sleeping was enough. Regardless, it was the best camping trip I've ever been on. Why? Besides the obvious of just being out in the forest with my best friend - they had clean bathrooms and showers, and the camp crew (the MacBeths) were so helpful and pleasant.... We already can't wait to go back in the Fall.

The anniversary weekend continued with a date night to the movies. Church on Sunday, and a visit down to the yearly "Discover Presque Isle"

What a crazy week this has been.
JW on a mini-tour.
I feel like I should get into what kind of crazy ordeal they've gone through, before they even hit the road - and then it continued...but I'm just glad to put it behind us and just pray God uses these boys for the next 3 days. Without another glitch? That would be amazing.

I do, however, want to talk about the ordeal in this house - her name is Cali. What is wrong with her? Allergies. What is she allergic to? No clue. But we're officially on the road to finding out. About 93% of her life, she has been scratching, rubbing, gnawing some part of her body...and we've done just about everything. I think I even posted last fall about taking her to a dermatologist about an hour and a 1/2 away in hopes they had answers. Unfortunately, because she was still considered a puppy, they really didn't want to do too much. Hoping "she'll grow out of it." Gave us a prescription, and told us we were to keep them posted as this summer came along... Well. It's so much worse this year. After speaking with her dermatologist, we are having blood drawn and then shipped, and tested in their office. (Shhh, she has no idea. And I'm pretty sure she'd go squeeze herself under my bed if she found out.) Thankfully we can just have her vet here do the drawing of the blood, and then shipping it off.
I am scared to hear what the results are...new food? New laundry detergent for us? Throwing out of the new mulch that was put in our backyard just months ago? I have no idea what to expect. We love her, and just want what's best for her - so we'll accommodate...
Look how cute she is:

And yes, she's sleeping on my pillow. She's a very clean baby-doggie and I just love her oh so much!

The weather has been tremendous!!!!! Other than a few thunderstorms, we've truly had great summer weather so far. Not that I've taken advantage of it. I haven't been to the beach yet. Shocked? I know, I am too. No tennis or bicycling or running. I'm hoping to make it out to the beach this weekend...but guess what? It's supposed to rain on Friday. BOO! Of course, the weather is great up until then...while I'm at work. Maybe I'll just bring my beach gear with me to work tomorrow, and head over there afterwards.....sounds great to me!

This past weekend was a ton of fun! (Except the actual 4th of July holiday...I'll get to that later)
Friday, Autumn, Taiya, Carly and I went to the 11am showing of Eclipse. We think, it's been out 3 days, it's the 1st showing of the day, how crowded could it get?! Autumn and I casually got breakfast at Cracker Barrel and took our precious time heading over to the theater. As we pull up, around 10:30, Autumn says "What the crap?!" Two lines. TWO LINES have formed outside of the theater. Is this a joke? We get in line. And we feel completely and totally silly. We're 30, standing in line for a movie made for teenagers....We weren't the oldest of the bunch, let me tell you...and there were even some kids there, 10 & under. To me, inappropriate. Whatever. I had bought our tickets a few days before, so we were covered...and it seems a majority of the people needed their tickets still. We got good seats, and were very, very happy about it. The movie was good. Why they make movies based from books - and then change things and leave stuff out, is just beyond me. I wish I could ask someone...
Regardless, it was a good time.
That night, the Q's came over and we hung out. Dan, Jon, and Adam were there as well. Sean was M.I.A.!!! It was soooo great to see the Q's, and spend time with them. Everytime they're here, I instantly have to remind myself I'm in Erie. And that they still live in CA. It just doesn't make sense that Shan and I have switched states...
Saturday was a blur. I really can't remember a dang thing! I do remember the Q's and Adam coming over again that night...and we did s'mores out back. Did I take pictures of this? Nope.

Now, the 4th. Everyone else had places to go, people to see....annnnnnd we didn't. We tried to be okay with it, but as we started hearing the fireworks going off, we felt a little left out. There really wasn't anywhere worth going to, to see fireworks...the last 2 years, we've gone to the Lake, but they didn't do that this year....

Welp. It's July. Anniversary Month for us Hartmans. What are we doing? We have no clue. Every year we do this to ourselves. We've come up with either camping, Niagara Falls, Williamsburg...and I just recently thought to go to Chicago. With Neil just coming back from tour the weekend before, he won't want to travel too far. So, who knows what we'll end up doing.