In a nutshell our summer was busy, productive and fun. Although it was our second summer with the kids we feel like it was our first. Last summer Xavier was recovering from surgery and was pretty limited and the kids had only been home a couple months and were no where near adjusted yet. This summer was totally different. Their world is so much bigger now and they aren't scared of that but are able to explore the adventures and surprises in it. Here are some random pictures of our summer happenings.
Xavier loves helping with anything that allows him to build. Here he is helping Paul put our garage storage shelves together.
On a number of hot days the kids would bust out water guns, the slip and slide and other fun water toys. Out of all of them, jumping over this rocket or trying to karate chop it without it falling was their favorite and occupied them the longest.
Fireworks on the fourth of July really scared the kids last year. This year they were finally comfortable enough to tell us so we stuck to smaller fireworks and they really liked it. They loved running, jumping, dancing...anything really through the smoke bombs. Their clothes were pretty smelly afterward.
The kids helped Paul a lot this summer. Here's X-man having fun and helping his dad at the same time. That's our recycle bin.
I still marvel at how the kids can play with something so simple for so long. One summer day they played with old sheets for hours completely content. Here's Sage pretending to be Batman.
This day was beautiful. We drove up north to visit my sister and it was a great summer day. Haven was extra sweet making sure to hug her baby brother while taking the picture.
There just happened to be some old cars in a downtown area we were visiting. The kids LOVE cool cars like this and always point them out on the road. They really liked being able to see them up close and get pictures with them.
The kids LOVE Auntie Lolo. Here we are getting a cool drink and a break from the heat.
I LOVE this picture!!!! Partly because I love my kids brown bottoms. I was not prepared for the heat while taking the kids hiking one day. We arrived at a lake and I let the kids swim in their clothes. Here they are afterward at my sisters while their clothes dry in the dryer.
The kids set up a few stores at the bottom of our driveway this summer. They came up with the idea all on their own and ran with it. On this day they collected blackberries from the yard, put them in zip lock baggies and put them on ice so they were cold like at the grocery store.
Haven built with wood for almost an entire summer day. She made furniture for her little ponies.
My mom and dad were able to visit from California and had fun playing with the kids. Here is the classic game of Uno.
Haven wearing Grandpa's glasses.
Grandma gave the kids an art class. They still practice some of the things she taught them.
Now that my sister lives close it is fun to have her with us when my parents visit.
BLUEBERRY PICKING!!!!! The kids ate so much while picking their lips turned purple.
My Sage and my Paul. This picking area was pretty big.
Here is another store the kids set up. They painted rocks and sold them as garden rocks.
Can you say "summer wrestling"? The kids made up a wresting game with rules and everything. They didn't even get hurt. They would just pretend to be hurt to have a break or try and cheat. They were pretty funny to watch.
This picture is totally for you mom. I'm just over 6 months pregnant here.
Here is Xavier learning how to use an electric sander to help his dad sand and stain the deck in our backyard. Sage and Haven had NO desire to do this.
Here he is helping Paul screw in all the supporting rails.
Before the kids went back to school and Paul went back to work we headed to Long Beach for the day. It was a long drive but it was worth it. We had a great last summer weekend.
After two hours of driving we got to the coast and our kids decided to play king of the hill.
Just me enjoying the beach with Haven.
We took a bike ride and the kids saw this and had to rock climb.
This bike ride was pretty awesome. It went 9 miles one way along the beach.
Here we are. My fleece is looking a little small. I'm just over 6 months prego here. I'm still feeling great. The best part so far is how much my little guy moves. I feel him doing whatever it is he's doing throughout the day. Sometimes so much it's distracting. That is a big surprise to me. I didn't realize a baby would move so much!!!
This is what a good part of the trail looked like. Beach grass on both sides. It felt like we were in a story. I had never been on a trail like this before.
The kids played basketball a lot this summer. It's a sport they used to know nothing about and weren't interested in and slowly but surely they now will play on our court for hours together.
Here are the kids on the first day of school. Haven and Sage started third grade and Xavier started fourth. They have so much confidence now that they didn't have before. They love school and come back with so much healthy energy. I really love that about them.
