Bye-Bye Summer

As summer comes to a close I wanted to share some of our highlights, I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the experiences.

Me and my girl at the Truckee Fourth of July Parade.

Emry turned 8 this summer.  She had 2 friends spend the night, Mac-n-Cheese for dinner and Jay's Tiramisu for dessert.  Hard to believe our adventures in parenting started 8 short years ago.

Ayden took swim lessons this year and did wonderful.  We all had such a wonderful time walking by the pond to the pool each day, it was the epitome of warm summer days.

You have probably seen this Brady picture in a previous post but I had to share it again because I think it is my favorite photo of the summer.  It was taken after B had been playing with shaving cream in the backyard.  You have let your children do this right?  And yes, I have allowed shaving cream inside on the table top and the big tub.

In July we went to visit the Tutus (Tammy's parents) and Uncle Mike at Lake Nacimiento.  So much fun and fond memories of summers on the water.  I actually skied for the first time in I don't know how many years.  It was choppie but the urge struck and had to be acted on.  We found a perfect cove of warm shallow water for the children to swim and play in all afternoon--perfect.

The little fellas hanging out with Uncle Mike at the lake house.

While visiting the lake house we went to the Paso Robles Mid-State Fair.  The children had a great time on the rides and seeing the animals but Jay and I most enjoyed the giant pretzels we ate (thanks Tutus for introducing them to us) and the Franchesca Botichelli concert.

No summer is complete without a really giant ice cream cone.  On the way home from Lake Nacimiento we stopped in Stockton at the Ghirardeli Outlet for old fashioned soda fountain treats.

The Littles love going outside and our water table received a lot of use--from water, to mud, to bubbles, I filled it up every day.

Ayden spent many days building tracks out of Hot Wheels in the sand box while the little ladies make concoction after concoction from the sand box and the surrounding weeds and plants (think soups, salads and cakes).

Goodness, my house is being taken over by paper airplanes.  Ayden spent one afternoon making plane after plane for his friends.  So neat to see his skills and patience advancing.  We will be trying our hand at other paper folding activities this school year (think beginning Oragami).

What is this you ask?  A bowl of dirt, Dirt Cake that is.  One evening at dinner we were talking about dirt cake so we decided to invite a bunch of friends over for a dirt cake and water balloon day and hence I think a new summertime tradition has begun.

Donner Lake--August 2010

Hiking in Shirley Canyon--August 2010

Down By The River --August 2010

Good old fashioned hopscotch on a warm August evening.

 

So as summer comes to a close, we will enjoy all that fall has to offer with its mild temperatures, apple picking, pumpkin picking, hiking and park playing. Our mountains are beautiful with fall color and quiet with winter preperations.

Fare thee well!