Thursday, August 31, 2017

The Most Magical Summer Ever, Vol. 3?

Ha! I tricked you. You thought we were done. But we aren't done wrapping up summer yet! These are all the bits and pieces of our summer that didn’t fit neatly into a category. Those are the real sweet moments, aren’t they? The ones that don’t have a label or a name or a time, but that just happen and you want to remember them forever. 






























And our summer wrapped up with a lot of good family time … 







The Most Magical Summer Ever, Vol. 2

I know y’all are on pins and needles waiting for the conclusion to The Most Magical Summer Ever. Without further ado … 

Vacation and Summer Sleepover
Ok, so we’ve finally reached the much-anticipated vacation. A friend of ours invited us to her destination wedding in Cancun and we were happy to hop on a plane, enjoy a few kid-free days and celebrate her beautiful wedding. The kids, meanwhile, were happy to spend some quality time with the grandparents. Henry went to my parents’ house and the girls went with Scott’s parents. We decided that all three might be too much for one set of grandparents, especially since one of those three was Henry. Henry asked about us one time and after that, seemed fine with his new living arrangements. The girls had a grand time, too. And Scott and I — well, let’s just say it was AH-MAZING. We woke when we wanted to wake, we leisurely got ready, leisurely ate breakfast, leisurely swam, leisurely walked, leisurely … leisurely … leisurely. Exactly what the doctor ordered for two parents who hadn’t been away from their kids for any extended amount of time in more than five years. 






Camping
A couple weeks after coming back from that leisurely vacation, we took our annual camping trip with my side of the family. In addition to camping, we also celebrated my parents’ wedding anniversary and my nieces’ birthdays. I didn’t grab many pictures, unfortunately, but it was a delightful trip!







Volleyball Camp
This is one of those activities that the girls signed up for at the beginning of summer and then complained about it when it finally rolled around. Scott took them to a few volleyball games last fall and they were pretty into it, so we signed them up for a couple of camps to see how they liked it. The first day of camp was the only day I had to drag them there. The coach was fantastic and they had so much fun, they didn’t complain the rest of the week. Each day they had some contest (crazy shorts, crazy socks, crazy hair, etc). This was crazy shirt day and Claire won!



County Fair
Growing up, I loved the county fair. There was something about the livestock, the carnival rides, the funnel cakes … it was an exciting few days during the monotony of the summer. The girls are developing a similar affection for the tradition. Henry loved it this year, too. Maybe a little too much. When it was time to leave, he threw an embarrassingly huge fit. I just dragged him out by his toes, smiling and nodding to all the people wondering if I was kidnapping that child. No, no, he’s mine. You think I’d kidnap this hot mess? Hopefully he’s a touch more reasonable next year. 












Parks

Oh, the parks. We played at parks like it was our freaking job. We hit all the usual ones, then the less usual ones, then the water ones, and we even hit one in a nearby town. After we tired of the traditional parks, we started in on the school playgrounds. We were interested in finding out which school had the best playground. For a small fee, I’ll let you know how they ranked.