Summer '14 Flashback

Like I said in my last post, the summer passed us by in true crazy flying colors!  It was a blast and a blur with too much work and a *little* fun too!

We spent most of June here, at work, at camp, or at the pool.  Awesome.

July 4th we stayed in town and hung out with some friends at their neighborhood driving range and club.  It is becoming a tradition and we love it.  There are so many school friends there, and it is great to catch up with everyone in the middle of the summer.  Here are a few pictures from that night:

Next up was Kate's 7th birthday.  She wanted to have a party just like Brett's party - invite a few friends over for a fire pit party, have one friend spend the night, and call it done.  She just forgot to ask for the same weather :)  The party was a blast, but it was HOT... you know, like it's supposed to be in the middle of July!

Kate wanted a "Woodland Creatures" theme... this is what we came up with :)  I had already used the trees for my VBS classroom a few weeks before.

Brett hung with the girls without *too* much complaining!

Sitting at the picnic table, working on their crafts... it was a much different party than it was with the boys!

Everything is better with chocolate and marshmallows

1-2-3-4 I declare a thumb war

Happy 7th birthday, sweet Kate!

Celebrating with the family the next day - Kate and Aunt Dithy were twins in their purple Polo dress with a yellow horse!  I'd say we picked the perfect godmother for this pint sized feisty mini-me!

We ended the summer with an awesome 2 week trip to the pacific northwest for WPWTW '14, but that will be another (long) post all by itself because it was AWESOME!

We wrapped up the summer with one day of lots of fun - we headed to Marbles Kids' Museum downtown.  This is by far one of my favorite places to go with the kids - it fits kids of all ages and they get something different out of it depending on their age.  There are parts that we skipped when they were toddlers and there are parts that we skip now that they're big kids, but we always have a blast!

Using those arm muscles to pull her own body weight off the ground

surfs up dude!

the usual - upside down

spinning in circles

burning some calories

not to be out-done by his little sister

some things don't change - this has always been his favorite station in the entire place

I'm pretty sure that I could let him only play here and he'd be perfectly happy

Working with friends to build a house - they started from scratch!

Racing the cars they each built

I take this to mean he came in 2nd place during that race

Almost taller than Kate

Back at it, ready for more opponents

WINNER!

On to the money room - colllect money (green balls) and get them into the giant piggy bank hanging from the ceiling

"Aim to save" - he shoots, he scores!

Giant piggy bank - every so often, once the pig fills up all the way (see the tracks leading to it) - the bottom opens up and ALL of the balls fall out

Money movers - more games involving green balls

lined up and ready for action

Kater Potater having a moment on a stack of quarters

More games

More green balls

Now, here we are... Labor Day Weekend.  Brett is enjoying his time playing up a year on a U10 Challenge soccer team (a tryout league, up from  the rec level where everyone can play).  He is the youngest on his team (he just turned 8 in May while most players are almost 10), but seems to enjoy the challenge and is learning a TON about soccer, speed, and playing smart.  Todd is the assistant coach for that team.  Brett is also technically on the same Parish Athletics team that Kate plays on - it is a 2nd/3rd grade co-ed team.  It is a much more relaxed league, which has given him a chance to build his confidence as one of the better players in that league, plus it gives him another 2 days of running on the soccer field.  Kate plays purely for the social aspect - soccer isn't really her sport, but she tags along and gets some good runs in here and there.  Todd is, of course, coaching, and we help run that league... 700 kids on 50 teams.  H-o-l-y smokes is it chaos, but it's organized chaos... at least I'd like to think so since I'm behind a lot of the organization!  Kate's true love is gymnastics, and she is on the specialty team this year.  She has practice 4 hours a week, but does not compete.  She absolutely loves it and has come a long way since she first started in June.  They started the basics for back handsprings this week... should be entertaining!