Summer Fun

We've been soaking up the summer fun for the last couple of weeks. I've been savoring a relaxed schedule and trying to squeeze in lots of fun activities. Our June is looking to be pretty packed with travel and activites. I'm looking forward to everything we have planned, but I also sure did enjoy a couple of weeks without many plans.

The very first day of summer break we spent the morning with some of our favorite friends. I just love these sweet friendships between all five of these kids. My kids get so excited to play with Levi and Audrey and they always play so well together- all five of them. They all five worked together to build a camp fire outside and then asked for a match to light it, ha!

It was the perfect first day of summer break!!

We celebrated our 11th anniversary with some tag alongs. We had just returned from D.C. and that was really our anniversary celebration, but we still did some fun things on our actual anniversary. We had a movie day as a family, ate a special fondue dinner, and went for a family walk.

Love these Cuties and their Summer Sunday clothes.

The kids had their AWANA awards assembly at the end of May. Samuel and Nathan both worked hard to finish their books and were excited to get their awards. They both had a great year at Cubbies and Sparks (and Elisabeth loved Puggles)!

The next weekend we had a fun breakfast with more of our favorite friends. It worked out best with our schedules to get together for breakfast instead of dinner, and it ended up being so fun! The kids played all morning and the adults got to visit.

We celebrated Matt's birthday the same weekend too. Instead of his traditional cheesecake, this year he asked for a banana split, so we celebrated at Braums.

We also celebrated his birthday and summertime by setting up the slip and slide that Nathan got as a gift for his birthday. The kids had so much fun!! I enjoyed watching them play.

Matt ended up working most of the day on Memorial Day. Boo! So the kids and I did some fun things while he worked. A few months ago, Nathan, Samuel and I watched the Kids Baking Championship on Food Network. One of the challenges was a dessert imposter (making a dessert that looks like a savory food). After we finished watching it, Nathan and I talked about wanting to make a dessert imposter of our own, but we never seemed to have the time to make it. But on Monday, we made it happen. We went to the store, picked out all the ingredients and made a pizza.

It was a fun and yummy way to spend the morning.

Daddy came home from work early on Memorial Day, so we could swim! Yay! The kids have been asking for months when the pool would open. They were thrilled to pick up the key the week before, and had been impatiently waiting until they could jump in the water.

It was such a fun afternoon! All three of them love the water! I think the pool will be our favorite place this summer.

On Tuesday, we crossed off another activity I'd been waiting to accomplish- Elisabeth's first hair cut. I felt like it was getting too long and the ends were pretty scraggly and unhealthy, and with more flexibility in our schedule, we were able to get her first haircut. She was excited about it and had been asking for awhile to get it cut.

Here's her before picture- 

We didn't do anything drastic, just a good trim. I just asked to cut off two inches (and her curls are still there, whew)

She got to sit in the pink car and watch Trolls and was an angel for her hair cut. She even got some pink hairspray and glitter in her hair afterward.

I had to drag the kids away from all the toys at the salon. They were having too much fun

And her after picture!

It looks so much healthier and more even now.

We've been spending our afternoons outside when it's not too hot. The boys like to ride their bikes, and Elisabeth finds ways to entertain herself.

Tuesday night we made a last minute decision to take the kids to a baseball game. The weather was perfect and we wanted to make sure we fit one in before it got too hot this summer. The kids all had a great time eating hot dogs, running around, playing on the playground, eating ice cream, and staying up late- no one really watched any baseball, ha! Nathan kept an eye on the score board, but that's about it.

Here's proof that our summer hasn't been all fun and games :)

With a more relaxed schedule and not having to rush out of the house every morning for school, I've been giving the kids morning chores. Nathan did a great job cleaning the bathrooms for me one morning. Both Nathan and Samuel have been great helpers this summer. Elisabeth still needs constant instruction and guidance with her chores, which wears me out most of the time.

We had a picnic/park play date with more of our good friends this week too. The weather has been great this week- not too hot, so we're soaking up all the outside time we can before the 100 degree temps creep in to ruin our fun.

And more swimming of course :)

Matt taught Samuel how to do cannon balls and he and Elisabeth spent half our time at the pool jumping in the pool. I can't get over how brave and fearless our Little Girl is!

And I love spending the morning in our jammies just playing. Usually if we have errands to run, we don't get up and around and ready to go until 10:30 or 11:00 because the kids don't want to stop playing, which is fine with me!

I'm really working hard to make this a great summer for all of us. We're in a bit of a sweet spot with the kids' ages- no diaper bags, a flexible nap schedule, and they're old enough that I can take them to do a lot of things without help. I know next summer will be different with Baby Sister, so we're making the most of the next couple of months. I just love being their mom and spending my days with them!