Crazy Days of Summer

I took this picture of Sophie after church on Sunday, she fell asleep while drawing. 

School starts on Monday. This summer has been so busy, going back to school might feel more like a rest than work.

Based on the picture, I think a rest is needed.

Ice Cream Evening

This was an evening that felt so idyllic. After dinner we drove Phoebe to the corner ice cream shop to meet her friend. We all got a sweet treat and I brought the other two home to enjoy the ice cream in the backyard. I was overwhelmed with how thankful I am that we live here and were making happy summertime memories.

Jump Around

While the girls were at camp and Cooper was out with friends, Topher and I spent an afternoon at a trampoline park. It was an hour well spent.

Lazy Days

Summer break so far has included turning off alarms, swimming at a friend's pool, and spending many hours at a different friend's house today. I think we're off to a good start.

Jump Right In

A few weeks ago a friend told me that she'd asked a mutual friend if she could bring her kids over to use their pool. They had a great time swimming. And for some reason this kind of broke my brain. Our friend had said the words "You guys are welcome to swim anytime" but I hadn't really believed her. It felt like one of those empty offers that people say. She actually meant it though.

 I've been thinking about it ever since and finally texted this week to ask if we could do the same thing. She said yes!

We had a fun few hours in the pool this afternoon.

An Artist's Best Tools

Sophie and Topher have been trying to finish their library summer reading program charts. Finger painting was one of the boxes to check off. We bought the paint a few weeks ago and I kept putting it off. Well, today was finally the day.

Sophie was very artistic and conservative in her paint usage.

Topher loved the gloopy feeling of it on his fingers. And he loved smooshing the colors around. It's been ten hours since he painted and the paper is still wet in a few spots. Thankfully, it appears to be as washable as the box promised, otherwise multiple surfaces in my house would now be much more colorful.

Where Are the Lazy Days of Summer?

This has been our busiest summer, maybe ever. We don't have any big trips planned, we've only done a handful of things for our summer theme, and we aren't dong any major household projects.

Why is it so busy?

Normal stuff. Girls camp, high adventure, FSY, youth conference, library activities, the occasional park visit with friends, and weekly church youth night. Add in newer things like Cooper's cross country practices and Phoebe's harp lessons and it feels like we've been running at top speed. I spent most of Wednesday in my van, driving kids places and waiting for them to finish whatever I had driven them to.

Today I laid down for an hour of quiet time and I woke up two hours later, shocked that I had slept at all. That's how worn out I am from the summer so far.

I love summer. I'm not wishing it away. But, man, I am tired.

Fortified

I came home from an errand this morning and found both boys hanging out in this blanket fort.

Topher is easy to find, can you locate Cooper's feet?

You Would Not Believe Your Eyes*

You're never too old to catch fireflies.

*Finish the lyric.

Summer Reading

School's Out for the Summer!

So Long, Farewell

Saturday was nearly gone when I realized it was the last day of summer and I hadn't been outside at all. Bryan was driving Cooper and Phoebe to a church activity, so I called Sophie and Topher downstairs and said we needed to go outside and say goodbye to summer. We were out there for as long as it took me to harvest a small mixing bowl full of cherry tomatoes. Sophie and Topher bounced a few beach balls and ran around. Then we stood on the edge of the deck and called out, "Goodbye, summer!"

Sophie said she thinks this should be a new tradition. I think it will be.

A Snowy Treat

Sophie got to help with the end of summer party at the library. She was given the very important job of running the snow cone machine. She had fun and there were many kids that benefitted from her role.

One Sweet Day

Some of our friends have annual passes to Hersheypark. They invited us to join them and offered to share their guest passes with us. Unfortunately, Bryan had to work, but the rest of us took them up on their generosity. We got there when it opened and stayed nearly an hour past closing time.

Once we found our friends we split into two groups, big kids and little kids/parents.

Topher loved getting to hang out with his friend Violet all day.

Topher told me that he would hold Violet's hand so she wouldn't be scared on the slightly bigger rides. I didn't point out that Violet is a daredevil and would be fine. Rather, I appreciated his sweet gesture.

Sophie split her time between the younger group and the older group. When she was with the younger kids she got to spend time with her friend Lily.

Gillian did a good job leading the big kids to all the rides they wanted to go on.

Meredith (Gillian, Lily, and Violet's mom) does not like rides that spin. I love them so I got to take Topher and Violet on spinning rides while Meredith happily waited.

During this adventure I learned that Meredith has a secret superpower: she can beat the Whack-a-mole game. She won the first time she played and Violet chose this Kiss as the prize. When Meredith saw how much Topher wanted a prize of his own, she bought another round of the game for everyone and swiftly won again. The two candy themed stuffies had adventures for the remainder of the day thanks to the imaginations of Topher and Violet. Hershey Bar now has a place of honor on Topher's bed.

I had stayed on mostly tame rides all day. Topher and I spent almost an hour in line for a slightly more exciting rollercoaster in the afternoon, but otherwise we leaned toward the little kid rides. At the very end of the night Peter and Gillian helped Meredith take the younger kids on one more ride while I joined Cooper and Phoebe and rode a real rollercoaster. The kids all think it's funny that I'm the rollercoaster parent. I guess they feel like that fits with Bryan's personality more. Nope, that's my job.

It was a great ride.

At the end of the night we walked over to Chocolate World and went on one more ride. It was a Disneyland-esque romp about the making of Hershey's chocolate, complete with singing cows and talking a Hershey's Kiss. Our kids prefer the chocolate that Bryan's company makes, but the ride was fun.

One of the perks of their membership includes pictures from all the rides. Meredith shared these with me. It was fun getting to see how the big kids spent their day.

It was a long, fun day. We're glad we were able to squeeze in this adventure!