SHARE
Tomorrow school starts which officially signals the end of summer in our house. Don’t get me wrong, I will not be crying a river when my darlings head off to the first day of classes tomorrow, but we have had a ton of fun. I’ve shared a lot of it on my blog already, but there were some fun things we did that I documented on my iPhone. This is my summer phone dump!
1. Summer Toes – I think I mentioned this before, but this is going to become our new tradition. Just hours after the last school bell rang for the year we were settled into pedicure chairs readying our toes for summer. This is where having three girls is a real advantage!
2 & 3. Beach time with the Boys – Early on in the summer we met Joelle and her boys for some beach time. I had such high hopes for this outing but it turned into a fail because we forgot snacks. The kids all lasted about one hour. It took longer for me to drive there! Next we will bring snacks.
4, 5 & 6. Hiking – This summer was interesting because of the age range of my kids. Yes, I realize the age range does not ever change, but this year I really felt it. It is hard to find things to entertain a 7 year old and a 12 year old at the same time. A trip to the park is only fun for the younger. A shopping trip is only fun for the older unless it involves a toy store. So I inserted hiking trips into our summer fun. I’ve never taken the kids hiking before so this was an adventure for all and we really enjoyed it. Okay, I think the dog and I enjoyed it the most, but it got us outside, got us some exercise and it gave some kids the chance to chat my ear off while others made magic wands out of sticks.
7. Lost Teeth – I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this on my blog before, but it is our tradition that the girls call my Dad when they lose a tooth. I’m not even sure how that started. Probably an off hand comment my dad made to Jill when she was close to losing her first tooth, but the tradition has stuck. If my Dad hears a girlie voice on the phone line the first question he asks is ‘Did you lose a tooth?’
8. Golf Camp – Kate and her good friend Annie took a week of golf lessons through our community center. It was fun to hear about Coach Nick wearing the padded velcro target suit and watching the girls wearing batting helmets during driving practice. The girls had a great time and are looking forward to it again next year.
9. Soccer Camp – Ellie and her two besties Elle (we call her Other Elle at our house) and Madelynn joined her for a week of soccer camp put on by our local professional soccer team, The Sounders. The girls picked up all sorts of new drills and tricks they can use when they play soccer together this fall.
10. Harry Potter – This was the summer of Harry Potter. We started our summer by finishing the first book and watching the first movie. We continued our summer fun by reading the 2nd and 3rd books and watching those movies too. I have so enjoyed reading those books out loud to the girls. Instead of watching their one alotted show in the morning they would beg me to read during breakfast. I would read to them after lunch until it was my nap time. (Yes, MY naptime.) And I would entice them to fold laundry by reading while they folded. They liked the books so much they would fold my laundry and Allen’s too just to keep me reading. One afternoon we pulled out our Bananagrams game and put together this little hommage to our friend Harry.
11. Neighbor Camping – Our second annual trip took us to Deception Pass State Park for two nights. What a magical place! Since I have a personal ‘No Camping’ policy I drove up early on Saturday morning to meet the crew. There was a group of 25ish and we spent the day on a 3 hour hike (you may now start humming the Gilligan Island’s theme), afternoon swimming in the lake and a beach BBQ for dinner. All of that was followed up with a campfire that included s’mores and a jiffy pop-a-thon.
12. Wild Waves – It is always a sprint to the end of summer and last week was no different. We packed in trips to the lego store and sleep overs. We also spent 7 hours at our local water park. We went with some great family friends and had a fun time. The weather was perfect and we followed it up with a trip to Gig Harbor to stay at their cabin. The little slice of heaven this cabin offered after the craziness of the water park was just what we all needed. That was a perfect way to cap off the summer.
All the girls are thrilled with their teachers and classes for the up coming year so we are excited to get the party started. Stay tuned this week for first day of school pictures!