What to do on a summer day… what to do, what to do?…

It’s hard to believe that summer has flown by.  It seemed like it was never going to arrive, and now in these nearly-chilly days we wonder where it has possibly gone.

  • Swim Lessons– Alexander is a variable underwater fish!  Aidan is doing awesome and though still prefers to keep his head above water is always the first to suggest a swim and loves the water…. Lucas will humor us for a good 10 minutes before being “done! done! dooonnne!”

  • Fireworks on the fourth- a tradition up to Saginaw for yums with David’s family and ‘our spot’ along the river for the best seats in the house- reserved by Grampapa hours in advance 🙂
  • Family Camp at our beloved AuSable-  We did the Wed-Sun Mini Family Camp and it was a grand time for all the grande famille.  Even my niece Haley was able to join us for all the fun and the craziness with a 6 year-old, 4 year-old, and 19 month old!
  • Cousin Haley here for a 2 week visit- We managed to squeak in camp, a trek downtown A2, bookstore stops, VBS and art fair, movies, backyard play, a family photo shoot, and even a little downtime into two crazy weeks.
  • Boys loved hours of backyard fun with neighborhood friends
  • Showing the crew a favorite beach  – trekked down to a favorite beach in St. Joseph and picked up some friends for fun along the way.  And what trip to St. Joe is complete without a stop upstairs for ice cream at the South Bend Chocolate Company?  We even took some cake home for Papa!  =)
  • A “new” vehicle –  Our Ford Expedition is certainly a truck compared to our jazzy T&C but it will be able to pull a travel trailer… did I say travel trailer??? 🙂  more on that to come.
  • Taking up golf (David) and remembering tennis– We took some time to hit the driving range this summer.  David broke in his father’s day golf clubs with some lessons, practice, and even a few holes with friends.  He also reserved Sunday evenings to play tennis together.  The kiddos have fun toodling around the courts (good thing we’re not fancy pants people at a club! haha) while we brush the dust off our amazing skills… or something like that…
  • Learning to ride a two-wheeler- Alexander can do it, and he’s so proud of himself when he does.  So why is it like pulling teeth to get him out there???
  • Speaking of teeth… we’ve got two less in this family– and Alexander’s first missing tooth sprouted a sum I could only have dreamed the tooth fairy to bring me.  Guess Papa’s sprouts are better than fairies :).
  • 2 Vacation Bible Schools- One in the African Safari, and one with Paul during his stay in “Athens.”  (Muma worked the craft tent in that last one)
  • Big Brothers’ Visit with Nana to the Cottage-  and David and I enjoyed some ‘only child’ days with Lucas before joining for a day to swim, boat, visit with family, and bring the crew home from the great cottage north.
  • Visits to Greenfield Village– a new three-boy favorite.  Maybe the train and roundhouse have something to do with that, but I’m not quite sure…
  • And one last camping trip up to Traverse City for a dune climb, a bay swim, and some good old-fashioned campground fun.

I am so far behind on our pictures, editing and otherwise- but there’s a couple of links up there to check out some pics… AND I got a new supercool camera as an early birthday present from my amazing DavidLove, so I’m sure there will be no shortage of pics (good and otherwise) in the next couple of months– now if anyone wants to wrap up some extra time to post them in- I’ll be all set! 🙂  Blessings to all!  Happy Summering these last sunset weeks…