Summer/ary

A lot happened to us this summer, and this is the giant post that sums it all up.

We rearranged all the furniture in our bedroom. It doesn't look finished enough to put on the blog yet, but I will show you the beautiful new view from the bed, which looks out on a crape myrtle tree.

We saw a huge barred owl in the backyard. Also a couple of different kinds of hawks and a kite. This was the summer of raptors.

We went to Bloomington, where I got to visit my family and some of my friends. And I also got to eat some delicious Indiana-grown vegetables.

We brought my parents a floating jellyfish that lights up with insane disco lights. I felt that they needed to own it.

It attacked Mimi.

And it looked surprisingly lovely in the twilight.

David and I were really excited to visit the new basketball facility, Cook Hall.

There are lots of cool things to look at inside.

It's like an IU basketball museum.

This is the entry hall.

And this thing behind David is a column that will light up whenever IU wins a game.

We even got to sneak into one of the courts and watch the players practice.

And we saw the special golf cart that is used to drive basketball recruits around town.

I went on a road trip with my parents.

We drove to Huron, a small Ohio town on Lake Erie, to visit our relatives Mark and Ellen. They have this great house in Huron.

It's in a cute and friendly neighborhood.

Just looking at the houses makes you feel like you're on vacation.

Their neighborhood shares its own private beach.

It's a great place to swim.

While we were at Lake Erie, we went to a winery.

Here we all are -- Mom, Ellen, Mark, their grandson Connor, and Dad -- enjoying some locally-made wine.

We also went to this amazing cheese store.

It sold all kinds of cheeses and meats.

Seriously, it was an unbelievable amount of cheese.

Then we went to this fruit and vegetable stand, where we were greeted with slices of delicious melon.

We bought some peaches that had been grown in the surrounding orchard.

And I was tempted to buy lots of other things.

We walked around a nature preserve.

On another day, we took the ferry to one of the islands in Lake Erie.

We spent an afternoon on Kelly's Island.

We drove around the island in a golf cart.

We saw an artist's studio full of sculptures carved from the rocks that wash up on the shores of the lake.

The sculpture garden outside the studio is disturbing and interesting.

My favorite part of the island was the Glacial Grooves -- incredible shapes and pathways carved into the rock of the island by the glaciers.

You can walk over the grooves on a rocky bridge.

I was fascinated by the patterns in the rock.

And by just how huge the grooves are.

So gorgeous.

I also loved the dire prediction scrawled on this informative sign.

I had a great time in Ohio.

Eventually, David and I drove back to Florida. We saw beautiful cloud formations from the car.

And a rainbow.

Poppy was very happy to see us when we got home.