Summer Recap

You may have noticed I'm back blogging on this site now.... why? Well, let's just say "real" blogging was a time suck I wasn't prepared for. I loved writing and sharing my writing, but I couldn't keep up to the level I wanted to be at, and I got burned out very quickly with the "promote yourself" game that is involved with blogging. I just want to capture family memories, so back here on my little family blog I am. 

Anyways... lots to catch up on! We had a fun and busy summer, so get ready for a pic overload as I recap some of the highlights!

Austin went down to part-time daycare again and stayed home with Neal every Tuesday and Thursday. They went to a little kid golf course and Austin had a blast. There were also a lot of park trips, library trips, and ice cream treats involved. It's good to be Austin in the summertime, I tell ya. 

Summer started off rough for BoBo... he had a fast and furious tummy bug and we had quite the puke-gate going on for awhile. But.... I got to enjoy my baby being a baby during it, and sleeping on me again..... so.... I'll take some puke if that's what it takes!

We signed Austin up for a week-long Tiny Hawks soccer camp again this year. He had fun running around and picking up cones and sometimes kicking the ball. One LOL moment was when a kid stole the ball from him and he yelled out "hey kid!!!" Ha. 

Summer meant spending Sundays at the baseball field to watch Daddy play. Austin went to almost every game, Owen and I went to just a few. And yes I'm totally Mom of the Year for letting them play in the huge dirt pile right next to a dumpster. No big deal, right? 

Kids activities. Sigh... that's a whole post in itself... what to do, how many to do, how to fit them in... we signed Austin up for a 4 week trial of Tae Kwon Do. He loved it, but for now we aren't continuing. During the school year, it's going to be hard to make the 5pm class time, and the price for a little 30-min class was a bit gag-worthy. At least it filled up some of the long summer afternoons!

I am loving the ages of the boys right now... it's no secret I'm not a huge fan of the baby-phases, I really enjoy toddlers and kids so much more. Their awesome imaginations are one reason. We are really into playing dress up lately, everything from Kings and Queens, to Superheros, to Doctors, Teachers, Police Officers... it was a Summer of Imagination. 

It's happened guys. The thing we've waiting 2 years for... Austin and Owen are legit besties!! Owen "gets" things better now and can play with Austin (as opposed to just destroying things or stepping on toys) and it's awesome. One night they played in Austin's room for an hour and Neal and I sat on the couch wondering what the hell to do with ourselves... because we weren't referring a wild rumpus. It was odd. But awesome. 

This summer wasn't nearly as hot as the Straight-Outta-Hades summer we had last year... but we managed to get in some pool time! My Mom bought the boys this slide/pool thing and they spent days splashing. Too bad that thing had a weight limit. 

Hashtag this is my life. 'Nuff said right?? Owen went through a licking phase that was kind of hilarious because who doesn't like saying "Owen! Don't lick your brother!" fifty times in a row?

Neal has this whole parenting thing down, doesn't he? Cooling off in the pool, adult beverage in hand, splashing the kids occasionally. He is my hero. 

Want S'more S'mores??? LOL. This was Owen's first S'more experience and he was pretty thrilled. Austin knew to just get down to business with his!!! (Owen is saying "S'more!!" in case you are wondering about the gaping mouth. 

Sometimes summer sucks.....because I'm slaving away in my cube on a spreadsheet and I get texts like this from Neal and Austin at home. Le sigh.

Sometimes, the saddest thing ever is a 75-degree day and realizing that it's just a bit too cold to go swimming. The struggle guys... the struggle. 

I wish I knew how to make sure Austin's confidence lasts his whole life. When I asked him if he really wanted to go to the grocery store in his Batman costume his answer was "yes! I want everyone to see I'm Batman!!" You do you, Austin... and never change. 

What do you do when you visit the ER? Take a pic, of course! My Aunt fell and broke her ankle and thankfully Neal was home to go and get her and take her to the ER. We arrived later (after a trip to Salem to pick up my Grandma from my Mom who drove her up from Springfield) and the boys wanted to take a picture at "da hospital"

"Hey Austin, see if you can build a tower around yourself!!!" that was a great way to occupy him for 20 mins!

This summer was the last summer with my hernia. Thanks to my two pregnancies for stretching out my abs and ripping a hole and making my intestines protrude through. That was fun. Now that I've taken the plunge and surgery is done and I'm healing... now I have no excuse to NOT work out and get my tummy less poochy. Shoot. Maybe I should have thought that through more...

We went to the zoo several times this summer and one of our trips was a total bust on the animal-front. We saw NOTHING. No animals were out and about for some reason, so the boys decided to be entertained by rock formations. Whew. 

We said goodbye to summer at my parent's house over Labor Day. The boys had adventures on the sidewalk, picked me flowers that were crawling with bugs (ewwwww) and had a grand ol' time, like usual. 

So that was summer! No moving this year, no house hunting...we actually got to have some fun!