Summer Fun

Sigh. Summer is officially over. Don't get me wrong, I love fall! Or I did when I lived in the midwest. Fall in Southern California looks and feels much different. There is no crispness in the air. It can be (and has been lately) over 100 degrees in September and even into October. Most of the leaves don't change color. Pumpkin spice lattes don't quite taste the same over ice. Thus, I don't enjoy the fall as much as I used to.  So, since I can't bring myself to celebrate fall, (at least not yet) I am going to cling to summer. (it is still 100 degrees out after all!)  I did a lousy job keeping up with blogging about all the day-to-day fun we had this past summer so now I'm making up for it.  So what all did we do?... 

We had fun outside: 

We painted... mostly they painted themselves but there are a few new masterpieces gracing our fridge. :) 

 (no, this isn't an extra from Last of the Mohicans. Its a creative Dutch boy. Don't let the warpaint 

confuse you.) 

Once the paint dried on their bodies and became stiff it wasn't as much fun anymore. huh. 

Sprinkler to the rescue! 

These kids LOVE playing in the water! We'd go from running through the sprinkler to playing in the kiddie pool to splashing in a storage bin (we're white trash like that). Hey, it's fun! 

They even love to help wash dishes because water is involved. The dishes get washed, kids get a bath - two birds, one stone. :) 

Our kids needed lots of baths this summer thanks to the landscape projects we  had  have going on. They certainly had fun playing in the dirt though! 

We had fun inside: 

We baked and decorated cupcakes (when we could tolerate turning on the oven, that is) 

True to form, Elin didn't just eat her's. She wore it. 

Matt bought Luke his first set of baseball cards.

 The two of them spent hours upon hours pouring over those cards. 

We played dress up. 

We had fun away from home: 

We went to the "lake" at the regional park in Yucaipa. 

We went to the beach (not often, but we did go! It is amazing how much gear you need to haul with you when taking kids to the beach!)

Of course, we ate more than our fair share of ice cream. Mmmm. 

And we wore ourselves out! 

Definitely a memorable summer. Our kids are at super fun ages which made summer that much more fun! It makes me so excited for all the fun we'll have in summers to come.