You want me to go camping with you? Do you know me at all?

My friend Blake invited me to go to the Milwaukee Brewers game on Saturday. I was a little nervous about the weather because it was cold, windy, and rainy when we got there but no worries! The stadium has a retractable dome! We were safe and sound and warm.When we got there, we immediately got our Chicago dogs and went to our seats. We had AMAZING seats right behind third base. I decided my favorite player on the team was Prince Fielder. He seemed to be the popular guy and you know how I like to jump on the band wagon. And besides, with a name like Prince, how could I not be a fan?

Here's a shot showing the roof of the stadium. I have to admit it was a little weird watching baseball indoors but it was still awesome. I'm pretty impressed with myself for the number of MLB games I've been to in my life. I've been to a couple of Dodger games, I worked with the Braves' spring training at Disney (and even got to watch the World Baseball Classic), I've been to a Cubs game, and now a Brewer's game. Next week....I'M GOING TO A YANKEE GAME!!!! Blake and I are heading to NYC for "Blake and Ashlee Take Manhattan." Can't wait! We have a lot of good stuff planned so stay tuned.

Last weekend we went camping at Mississippi State Palisades State Park. I'm not sure what got into me and why I wanted to go camping (not one of my favorite past times) but I actually had lots of fun! Jodi and I slept in the big tent and the boys, Jesse and Steve, snuggled in the baby tent. I'm so glad Jodi has all the hookups for me.

The first night was a little rough because by the time we got there everything was soaked! It had been raining all day and all of the wood was wet. Jesse is amazing though and got our fire started. We huddled around the smoke for a little while before we headed to bed.

I had to add this picture just because it cracks me up so much. Jesse's face is priceless.

Making breakfast was kind of hilarious. We started about 8:30 and were ready to eat by 10:00. The stove was on a slant so our pancake batter spread out and that's how we got our oblong pancakes (don't worry, most of them weren't this burned).

We went hiking which is actually enjoyable around here. There are no mountains to hike up and everything is so much more green. Here's a view of the Mississippi. It's surreal to me to be so close to this river. I probably can't explain why I love it so much but just know that I do.

Jesse was really into the plants. He often stopped to give us lessons about what we were seeing.

Jesse's very observant of everything around him. I blew past nasty little guy but Jesse called me back to see it. Huge NASTY millipede.

After hiking, we went to play in the river. Jesse built an awesome sand castle and even decorated it with seaweed.

We're probably the whitest people ever to be on that beach.

Well, Steve was probably just the most half-white person to ever be on that beach.

I could have played on the beach all day. Water is so relaxing to me.

That night we finished off our trip with hobo dinners and s'mores. It was a beautiful night and the stars were incredible. Thank you Jodi, Jesse and Steve for letting me go with you! I guess camping's not as bad as I thought. It's the cleaning up and packing to go home that I could do without...

It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about over the last month, I just haven't had any time! My summer has been jam packed and I wouldn't have it any other way. Here's my attempt to give you a recap through pictures of the last month.

I went fishing. This is a miracle in and of itself. I even had to buy a fishing license! Here are the girls, Wendy, Jodi, and Kara, getting ready to go out on the boat.

I wasn't really sure what to do once I caught them. I just handed them off to anyone else to unhook. It was all I had to put the worm on the hook, I wasn't ready to actually touch a fish.

Up until this point I was only catching blue gills. Jesse said this is a crappie and I was the only one to catch one that night! It was the last fish that I caught and we were heading to shore since our boat was flooding so I decided to actually try to get him off the hook. Well, he was a slippery little booger and when I tried to grab him he flipped around like crazy and got off his hook. Remember how I said our boat was flooding? This fish, that we lovingly named Danger, decided to swim around the boat. I couldn't get him out until we docked and got the water away from him. I eventually scooped him up and threw him back in the water.

And THAT is how I unhook a fish.

The 4th of July was fantastic. This was my fantastic view of the fireworks. We decided to stay in the burbs and avoid the city crowds. It was actually really fun and reminded me of the fireworks at home.

After the fireworks we went to my friend Jessica's house for a bonfire. We made s'mores and roasted starbursts. They were really yummy!

We went to Nauvoo, IL for a church history trip. We had so many people that we stuffed a big old van and a couple other cars and made the five hour journey down there. We were all pretty pooped at this point.

We stayed in a house that looked like a castle! I wish I had more pictures of it but at least I got Blake sleeping in the tub.

We walked around the city and enjoyed the local sounds,

games and activities,

and the beautiful scenery.

We got a chance to go to the Nauvoo temple and do some work. This temple has an amazing history. The saints built the temple right before they made the trek to Utah. It burned down after they left and was recently rebuilt almost exactly how it was made the first time. It was an amazing experience.

It's a beautiful temple.

I went fishing again. I couldn't believe it either. This was my favorite thing Jodi caught. Jodi and Jesse actually caught bass this time so they were really excited. I made no further attempts to get the fish off the hook.

Sorry this picture is sideways, I'm too lazy to fix it. I went to a wedding of a fellow BAP where Elvis Presley was a special guest. It was amazing.

I've been making new friends too...

Actually I have been making more friends. I joined a flag football league at work and I'm currently kind of obsessed. I am bugging my friends to practice with me so that my team can see how good I am and hopefully they'll actually throw to me. Better yet, when they do throw it to me, hopefully I will catch it.

I have a lot more random updates to fill you in on but that will be for another time.