Continuing on with all the summer fun we had…
The kids were on our pool’s swim team for the third summer in a row. Hadley loves it while Hayden likes it most of the time. It’s a great summer activity for them as far as exercise and socialization. They moved up to the 9-10 age group this year which was an adjustment, but it was awesome to see them swim faster each meet as well as qualify to swim all four strokes this year. They had so much fun with their friends, and the parents like to socialize too!
Besides adding Homer to our family, I’d say another highlight was going on vacation. We are blessed to be able to use Trav’s aunt and uncle’s house in Florida. Hadley and I left a few days before the boys because Hayden had baseball. We enjoyed our time together, but I know Hayden (&Trav) is more fun than I am (especially when it comes to playing in the ocean and on the beach.) Since we were there for about ten days, we also scheduled a trip to Disney World for a day. We did this a few years ago, and since it’s a long day of travel to and from the park as well as all the park activities, we decided to make it a two day trip. We arrived on a Thursday and stayed at the Polynesian Resort. We lounged by the pool, the kids rode the water slide quite a few times (Travis and I did too!), and then we had dinner at a really neat Italian restaurant in Disney Springs. Then, we made it back to the hotel in time to watch the Magic Kingdom’s amazing fireworks right from our balcony. The next morning, we were up early for breakfast and were at the park by 9:00. We rode every ride we wanted to starting with the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Roller Coaster and ending our day riding Splash Mountain (where I ended up the most soaked, of course!) Since we saw the fireworks the night before, we left the park around 7:00 making it back to Siesta Key by dark. Then, we capped off vacation with a few more days at the beach. I’m always worried how the four of us will be while being together 24/7 for so long…but we really do always have a great time and enjoy the down time.
The last few days at the beach were the best. The weather and the water were perfect.
Our flight wasn’t until later in the evening, so we had time to hit the beach for a couple of hours on the last day. We always take the time to say goodbye to the ocean. “If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both salt mixed with water.” – Nayyirah Waheed
After we packed up, the kids let me take one last pic. It’s a family tradition to take a pic in front of the palm trees at Aunt Catherine and Uncle Jim’s Florida house. Many family members have done so through the years.
We arrived home to see the biggest zucchini ever that had been plucked from our garden (See previous post about the recipes we made using it)
The kids participated in a couple of camps this summer as well. This was the first year Hayden signed up for basketball camp; he also played summer basketball for a local league. Hadley has loved the volleyball camp at my school for the past three summers.
We had lots of family time over the summer with visits from out of town grandparents and in town cousins.
Both of the kids learned to ride their bikes a few years ago thanks to the help of a neighbor friend. After an accident a couple of years ago, Hayden swore off bike riding….so much so that we sold his bike in a garage sale. Well, two years later and Hayden decided he wanted to ride a bike again. After riding Hadley’s pink bike for about a month, a friend of ours gave us a bike that they didn’t need anymore. Hayden’s been riding all over the neighborhood! (with a helmet, of course!)
One final “to do” on our Summer Fun List was to see a movie. This summer, we saw Aladdin, Toy Story 4, and to wrap up the summer, we saw Lion King. We all loved it, but I probably loved it the most!
For the final weekend of summer, we celebrated Trav’s mom’s 70th birthday at a local restaurant in Louisville.
The final fun of summer break 2019 was that Travis and I went out to dinner at a nearby sushi restaurant. Sushi and chardonnay for dinner…followed by an early bedtime for me.
That’s a wrap on summer 2019. I know we still technically have a few weeks left of summer, but the fun is over for the most part around here. haha
Tomorrow, the kids start 4th grade (how is that even possible?!) Truth: third grade was no joke, so I’m hoping that this will be a smoother transition and the best year yet…and I start my 18th year teaching. I know what you are thinking…I don’t look that old! 😉
I’m blessed to have this time with the kids. I know I’m not stay at home mom material, but I love having these pockets of time with them throughout the year.
Enjoy these days. They fly by! It’s basically almost 2020 😉
Happy reading,
Jen
Instagram: @showmeandsweettea
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