Mom's Farewell to Summer

Well, summer vacation! Summer heat will be here for quite a bit longer...

Some pictures I liked from beginning of summer to end (that the kids didn't use in any of their posts):

 I really wanted a hike - We did one back in 2012 and it was really fun, so we decided to do a "real" hike again this year. Maybe we'll create that tradition, but move it to the fall!

 All the kids had 2 weeks cooking with me - they chose the meals, shopped for the meals, and then helped me cook the meals. (Some did a more thorough job than others, of course).

 The Marionettes are probably one of my top 2 summer library favorites

 I wish I could have given Seth more friend time with other boys.

 We went to 2 of the $1 (per person) movies this summer. Both really cute. (One one The Peanuts and the other I have already forgotten, but I know we liked it!)

 (It was really hot - I don't know why she insisted on wearing a jacket. In fact, it was so hot, that even those of us in short sleeves and shorts only made it about 10 minutes that day before we had to go back inside.)

 Ah...the beauty of an organized closet. :)

Library fun for tweens

And of course, we did chores - regular daily chores and 2 week rotation on chores with mom (bigger chores like mopping). Again, some were more thorough than others!

Library activity - that's an elephant tooth.

 Who cares about the fossils and bones...all I need is a good book.

Sleepovers and mixed up sleeping nights. (I enjoy that they enjoy this, but I really am glad that school makes us limit our sleepovers.)

 The new addition to the zoo is really 'cool'.

 Alee now loves Japanese. (I'm pretty sure it's just for the fire part!)

 Everyone finished summer reading. (Well, except me - I have more time to read in the school year than I do in the summer. I'm using it up right now blogging when I should go get in the car rider line.)

 I loved the aquarium. A nice (air conditioned) end of summer trip.

 Finally blew up the pool so they could swim on the days the regular pool is closed each week.

And of course, our end of summer piano recital. (That was fun, but I think I'll go back to doing beginning of summer/end of school year next year.)

 Guess what color her popcicle was?

And, what better way to spend those last few days of summer break in the August heat than building a project in the garage (oven)!?

 The three girls now sharing a room really all wanted the twin bed and no one wanted to share the double. The beds also took up all the floor space, so it was hard to get around and no where for dolls/stuffed animals (or dressers, but we made space for them in another area).

 So, 2 loft beds and a low bed is the solution we came up with!

 The girls were allowed to help with painting the underside (for practice).


sneak peak: (I'll get another later with guard rails and mattresses, but we haven't painted the guard rails or finished the less important ones).

The summer plans got pulled down and trashed today. Summer break is officially over.
And my house is clean again. :) But the kids are gone all day. :(
Quiet is good. :) The car rider line is hot. :( But I can read. :)
(I'm mostly glad school has started.) Back to school pics posted tomorrow morning (so you can enjoy this post for today.) :)