This Summer

Crazy to think that I'm finally blogging about summer now that we're a week away from it being over! I am in shock that Andrew starts 1st grade this year, and even more, that Anna Catherine starts 4k! This means that she's only a year from BIG school - WEIRD?! This summer has definitely been much different from other summers because of Charlie. The past 2 summers, we had so much mobility...we could go wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted. That was NOT the case this year. I tried, when possible, to push Charlie through nap times (and God bless him,he was so tolerant), but we discovered quickly when he liked to nap and when he needed a nap. So, we jammed the morning as packed as we could (Charlie took several naps at the pool), but around 3pm, we had to be home so he could take a major nap. This was good because it normally allowed me to take a quick nap too (yay Wild Kratts at 4pm!).

Oh well, this year we joined a new pool - one very close to our house, and one where all of our church friends go. We spent a bunch of time there, basically recouping our large investment this year. :) Andrew and Anna Catherine are amazing swimmers, and definitely took to jumping off the board in no time. It was especially funny to watch the lifeguards discover how well Bananie can swim. The first few times she went off the board, they were on pins and needles, but finally got accustomed to not being afraid of her little body lurching off the board. :)

We caught several insects this year too. We had a bunch of rain in July, and that meant frog hunting for A and AC. I am totally grossed out by this, which is so funny since I used to catch frogs and tadpoles by the dozens when I was a kid. (See A with some of his "catch" below)

Today we did a lemonade stand. We live in the back of our neighborhood, but thanks to our family, it did well. Anna Catherine did not want plain lemonade, so we had the 'fancy' strawberry and raspberry lemonade.

Charlie is still growing, and loves to eat. We have not been good about following the same strict rules we followed when A and AC were kids (which is so funny because we treated them like they were 3rd and 4th children - being young, we were so relaxed!), so he's been eating cheese, peanut butter and other off-limit foods for a while now. I even let him finger-paint with peach baby food one day. (Keith thought I was crazy, and yes, he made a mess, but he had fun!) A and AC continue to be amazing big brother/sister to him - I'm so thankful God awarded them this experience.