Let's Golf!

Today we golfed. We crossed one thing off our summer list. Hooray! It's crazy tomorrow is already the first day of July. That means when I say, "next month" it's the month we start school. But in the meantime we will play. Like today…

 Love this golf course for the real grass...

 Trying to make it go the right way!

 Great form!

 We came across many of these little guys. Clearly they are unfazed by us!

 And then a little fountain play!

We love summer days…especially in June. But we will love all of the ones yet to come!

Camp Week

This week the kids are off to YMCA day camp. They're exhausted and loving every minute of this week. 

They're separated into different groups because A is doing Horse Camp with her friend Lydia. So C is doing "regular" Day Camp with his friend Henry. 

A is absolutely in love with her horse, Spud. In fact, last night she couldn't fall asleep because she kept thinking about her horse! They ride for one hour every day and do regular camp things in-between. There was a mix-up with groups at the beginning of the week, so she and Lydia ended up in a group with older kids. I think it's been ok for the girls. As a result they got to try kayaking and zip-lining yesterday! Wow!

C was really excited about archery yesterday. He got to tie-dye a pillow case today and tomorrow he gets to go canoeing! He LOVES his Fort Time and described it to J and I today as "high as the ceiling and as wide as 2 bus seats." It's great! And we got to see a picture of him in his fort today!

Day Camp has been WONDERFUL for our kids. They have made new friends and tried so many new things each day. They are not afraid to go off for the whole day to play, sing, swim and get dirty (we've done laundry every night this week!). I love that they love it! And...J and I get a whole week of full days to ourselves! I'm not complaining...

First of the Season

We were here today for the first time this spring...

and we loved every minute of it! I picked the kids up from school and offered the idea of a picnic dinner if they finished their homework first. They were all for it. We were on our way 30 minutes later, picnic packed, ready to go.

We walked a bit at first to get to our usual spot. We forgot a blanket so we had to settle for a table. But it wasn't too bad, with a view of the lake and all. We watched the ducks, all of the dogs and puppies going for walks, and I watched as A & C scarfed down their dinner with the promise of ice cream to come.

The ice cream did come soon after-

and we had our first casualty of the summer. C licked his ice cream right off his cone and onto the ground. Boo-hoo. Really, he was very teary-eyed and almost started bawling right there. It can be hard for a little boy to lose his ice cream. Clearly we are out of practice.

After many licks later, the cones were gone and we were off to the playground. Not too bad for a school night!

They love the climbing net they have. I can't even begin to count how many times they went up and down. C even turned down the opportunity to play capture the flag with another little boy. That's how much he loves to climb!

On our way back to the car we were prepared to buckle up, start driving, and be on our way. That is until we saw a fox! A and I saw it first, walking across the road to the lake. She said, "C! Did you see that?! It's a fox!" Nope. He didn't see it. He was already in the car. So she climbed in, told him to get out, and he and I ran to see where the fox went. People were gathering by where it should have been. We kept a bit of distance (never encountered a fox in the open before) and waited. Pretty soon it comes trotting up the little hill, onto the walking path, then the bike path, with dinner in the mouth. We think it was a duck or a fish or something. We're not quite sure, because it was trotting in our direction. Needless to say, I turned around quickly and walked back to the car, looked back to see if it was still following, as it crossed the street. Quite the adventure as we were leaving!

The kids watched it in the woods as we drove slowly along the side, watching the crows begin to circle, hoping for the fox to drop said dinner. Then it disappeared.

All in all it was a great first visit to the Lake! We can't wait for many more to come...visits to the fairy house, bike rides, concerts to see, more playground time...the list is endless!

Pool Time

We had a lot of pool time around these parts this summer. Boy did we ever! J and I weren't quite sure about getting a pool pass at the beginning of the season, but I can tell you that we will be back and do it summer after summer after summer. See, our kids turned into fish. Fish with goggles. 

There was going down the slide. There was swimming in the shallow end. There was swimming in the "baby" pool-which secretly I'm sure the kids still love because of the water spraying everywhere. There were snacks eaten. Sunscreen was applied...and applied...and applied again (with no burns, might I add!). Friends swam with us too!

And swam they did! By the end of the summer the kids and their friends had all passed the swim test, no doubt due to the fact that we were at the pool 2-4 times a week. Passing the swim test means they all got to jump off the diving boards by about the middle of the summer. Hooray! That was their new favorite for the second half of the summer.

The deep end is where you found our fish kids. No more going where we can touch. They were all about the diving boards, doing flips under the water, jumping off the sides...all things to be done in the deep end.

Yes, our summer was spent at the pool. That is when the kids weren't at camp, church or the cabin. The pool was definitely a highlight for everyone. When asked what their favorite part of summer was, the pool is usually their answer. And that is the best answer to give with so many good memories made together!

Family Bike Ride

Family bike ride around Lake Harriet!

We checked another thing off our summer "to do" list today. We rode around Lake Harriet today.

Woo-hoo! It was great! If only you could have been a little bird around our house this summer, you would know that our kids asked about every single day, "Can we go on a bike ride around Lake Harriet today?" Usually the answer was no, simply because it was too hot this summer! We are finally in a nice stretch of weather around these parts, where we have enjoyed temperatures around 70 degrees; perfect bike riding weather for a pair of 6 year olds!

We started out on the sound side of the lake where we made our way to our first stop, the Fairy House. At least that's what we call it in our family.

Others call it an elf tree. There is a tree, as you see, that has a door at the base. It opens and there you can leave things for the fairy: notes, jewels, flowers-anything kids (and adults) wish to leave.

We haven't ever left anything for the elf/fairy, but from what I've read, all notes are answered! About 1500 a year to be exact! Hopefully that will be another post...but that was our first stop on our bike ride.

After one more break,

we were finally to our half-way point where they were motivated to get to because I said there was a prize. We parked our bikes and I had little eyes peering up at me, wondering where the prize was. In comes ice cream! Did you have any doubt? I didn't think so. Ice cream cones eaten, and we were on our way back to the car, with not too far to go.

Did I mention how well A & C did while riding around? Fantastic. WAY better than I thought they would have done. We were in single file the whole way,

because many a bike riders (and rollerbladers-who knew?) were going far faster than we were.

In the end, the kids requested that the next time we go we make 2 laps because 1 laps was far too easy. Note taken, my seasoned bike riders. 2 laps it is next time!

Fun for all!

Summer day filled with fun for all!

Today was another great summer day! Albeit the weather turned out to be WAY different than the meteorologists had predicted (do they know anything??), we made the most of it anyway. See, summer is supposed to be filled with lots of outside play with friends, filled with laughter, trying new things, swimming, playing games...you get it, right? That's exactly what today was and our kids loved every minute of it.

The day began with a playdate for C with one of his favorite friends from kindergarten. It was a Wii playing, TV watching, playhouse playing, Lucky Charm eating filled morning. Then we move to the afternoon where we swam, jumped off diving boards, slid down slides, sat on fountains, swam with Barbies, dove for rings, and tired ourselves out...that being the kids because it was raining during some of this time, which didn't phase the kids at all! See for yourself...

Then on to more play and dinner with good company.

Kids on one side of the table, which worked out well because we could wedge them in-no escaping here!

Then on to a movie night with a dessert stop half way through-ice cream, of course.

See, these are the days I want to remember when we are full-board into school and activities; when we don't have a moment to spare to even think about what we could be doing or were doing in the summer. You know those days, when they seem so scheduled we're not even sure of what's next.

Yup.

I want to remember these summer days with swimming, playing, jumping, laughing, sharing, eating and being together. Thank goodness for friends and family that make days like this possible.

Library Ride

First bike ride to library today!

We rode our bikes to the library today! I'm not sure exactly how far it is, but I bet it's about a mile there. We're trying to build our stamina to be able to ride around Lake Harriet. That's still a goal for the summer. The kids have been asking since the beginning of the summer (already 2 months ago!). This was good practice today. There were hills and a few breaks, but the kids still did great!

After picking out books, they got them in their backpacks and proceeded to ask us to wear them home. The limit was 6 books, but the bags were still pretty heavy!

I love trying new things like this with the kids. Today's bike ride was C's idea. He was so proud of it and so surprised to hear me say, "Yes!" to riding bikes. It was the best of both worlds, really, because A wanted to go to the library and C wanted to ride bikes. That's how he came to bringing both together. Love those kids. Love that they love books and love that they love bikes! Doesn't get much better!

And so continues my days of writing 6 word stories...have you read them all yet?

The New Favorite

There's a new favorite at the cabin.

Can you guess what it is? 

Ready, 

set, 

 splash!

Ready, 

set, 

splash! 

Did you guess yet? 

Of course you did! 

It's swimming in the middle of the lake! 

I have a feeling we'll be spending A LOT of time out there this summer, loving every minute of it too!