Summer Wrap-Up

Before I move on to our end of summer trip, here are the rest of our pre-Michigan happenings:

We got summer dollar passes to our new local movie theater. They showed a different kids' movie each week for 12 weeks. It was a highlight to sit in that brand new air-conditioned theater for a couple of hours each week. We went with friends and had our system down; 1 large popcorn, 1 refill, and 9 paper bags to divvy it up. We were a little movie and popcorn-ed out by the end of the summer.

We also spent a lot of time at the waterpark. There is this awesome pass you can buy here that not only allows unlimited access to a few different waterparks, but also includes admission to fun centers (rides, skating, bowling and mini golf), minor league sports games, theater tickets (we took advantage of an outdoor musical back here) and countless other local events. And it's basically a steal with different deals that pop up all the time.

We went to the waterpark almost every week to cool off from the crazy heat. Originally, I thought it would be impossible with three kids, but I always went with friends and we just switched off who went on rides. It ended up being surprisingly manageable, minus Nash running off once and giving me a heart attack.

We also left all the kids at home with sitters one Friday night and went on a triple date to the waterpark. It was delightful to go on all of the "scary" rides and not have to worry about little ones running off.

Blake took another two weeks of swimming lessons right after he finished his first round. We ended up liking the quality of the program at the indoor pool better, but he loved to be in the water regardless. And a highlight of the outdoor pool was the gigantic twist slide all of the students got to go down on the last day of class.

Blake also made great strides with reading this summer. He attended a brief reading class at his school each week. We didn't care about transforming him into an ultra advanced reader, it was more about keeping him motivated to read each day since he was being held accountable. He loved marking off reading sessions on his chart and earning prizes at school. We completed our library's summer reading program as well.

Troy jumped in full throttle to church responsibilities. He got to experience his first bishopric night at Girls' Camp. His report after the event was that it was more organized and also way more emotional than Scout Camp. The bishopric all wore matching hats to go along with the camp theme.

It isn't all serious business though. The men that he serves with are very adventurous and they went Flyboarding together. They balanced on top of water-powered jet packs and were thrust into the sky. Next time, I'll definitely be joining.

Summer wouldn't be summer without the annual neighborhood carnival at church. A morning filled with breakfast, bounce houses, rocket launching, a fish pond, sno cones and larger-than-life cotton candy.

Of course, none of our summer activities would be possible if our baby wasn't such an angel. Crew was born at the perfect time of year to be carted around day after day, perfectly content to squeeze in naps in his carseat and quick feedings in the car as we hopped from one event to another.

I was pleasantly surprised that he didn't slow us down at all. Next summer will be a completely different story once he is less portable, but I'm so grateful for all that we were able to accomplish this year. And that I got to smother him with kisses throughout each adventure.

Double the Fun

Our good friends moved out of our neighborhood this summer. But they still live in the next city over, so we met up for some of our favorite summer activities that have morphed into traditions the last few years.

First was the water canyons downtown (previous years are here and here).

All moms pick up their camera first before stopping their children from slurping up river water, right?

We were laughing so hard that Blake had to join in the action too, of course.

One of our identical twin friends chopped her hair this summer, which I have to say, makes it much easier to tell them apart.

We also spent a day at the zoo with the same friends. I can only handle so much of the zoo, so going once a year for the boys' sake is enough. Our friends were so nice to share their season passes with us.

Nash loved that there were three giraffes, just like he is three. I love how he holds up three fingers.

The highlight of the zoo, ironically, is always the carousel. We squeezed in a bird show this time around that was pretty fascinating as well.

Double the outings, double the friends, double the fun.

Bounce House Extravaganza

This week I’m taking a little trip back in time to chronicle our summer days before they wash away and become foggy.

First on the agenda is our bounce house extravaganza.

Troy has a knack for finding interesting Groupons and he found a deal at the beginning of the summer for a bounce house rental.

At first, I thought, What in the world am I going to do with a gigantic bounce house? But then I remembered that I was in charge of hosting playgroups in July and it would be the perfect opportunity to put that thing to good use.

We had to do a little date rearranging after glass shattered all over our backyard (more on that here), but once we got it all cleaned up, we set up the bounce house the night before the big event. The boys were out before breakfast the next morning getting the most out of that bouncy heaven.

I learned that when "bounce house" is mentioned in the playgroup email, there is bound to be a good turnout. I counted 36 kids that came to play over the course of the morning. 

Playgroup is just as much for the moms as it is for the kiddos. It's always nice to be at a house instead of a park so we don't have to worry about our children running off and we can sit in the shade and chat.

I was really worried about having enough activities to keep the crowd occupied since not everyone could fit in the bounce house at once. I set up lots of water stations for additional entertainment.

The water guns were a hit.

As was the slip 'n slide.

I had about 500 water balloons on hand. I set up the boys' sprinkler head with tiny spouts that are perfect for filling up water balloons. I cranked down the water pressure so the kids could fill them up themselves.

Everyone was thoroughly entertained for hours. Phew.

Crew woke up in time to supervise clean-up.

Having an enormous bounce house take over our backyard for a day was one of the coolest things on the planet in my little boys' eyes.

First Day of School, Take Two

Nash started preschool today, a few days after Blake started Kindergarten.

Even though their schools are within a few blocks of each other, it was quite stressful getting them both to their respective schools on time while battling the morning traffic. I'm hoping things will calm down in a couple of weeks when parents aren't crowding the parking lots and walking their children into school. 

Regardless, I'm so happy to have them both in school again. I'm excited for the structure it will bring back into our lives and for the one-on-one time I'll have with Crew while they are away.

And Nash is pretty psyched that he gets to have the same teacher that Blake did when he was in three year old preschool. Now if we could just avoid the inevitable coughs and colds (or worse) that will start hitting us approximately every three weeks from here on out...