Summer Fun

It's officially summer time but with the weather being in the 90s and hardly any rain, it felt like summer since the children got out of school. These past 4 weeks have been filled with lots of fun:  outdoor activities, birthday parties, popsicles on the patio, camp adventures, outdoor concerts, swimming, play dates and late bedtimes. We are also working on our fine motor skills and creativity and thus, the weekends are devoted to building Legos, puzzling, and painting. 

Last weekend, Amelia and I (mostly I) completed two 500 piece puzzles and we are not done yet. Another 750 piece puzzle awaits us but in the meantime, the children are mastering the 100 pieces on their own, which took Amelia 15 minutes on her first try. As a teenager I puzzled a lot and now I know why. It feels so rewarding putting these tiny pieces together to create a big picture. Amelia loves it too but we have to work on her endurance and technique for the smaller pieces.  

The boys are in on the puzzles as well:

With the children staying at camp later in the afternoon, I actually have some time to go to the gym after work or come home and paint some. Currently, I'm working on a paint by numbers canvas for adults. Can't wait to show you the completed painting. 

I also tried, for the first time ever, making homemade strawberry jam. The process is fairly simple and the result was delicious. Strawberry jam for the win!

Elliot loves to ride his bike on the street. He is getting so fast and dangerous, it is time to take the training wheels off. 

Amelia enjoyed a play date with her classmate Maya last week. These girls love to play dress up and to show off their creations:

To cool off, we enjoyed hanging out with Kellan, his sister and their mom at the pool a couple of weeks ago. 

Last week, Amelia enjoyed a fantastic week at a local Art camp. A friend of mine and I carpooled and after I picked up the girls on Wednesday afternoon,  Amelia and Payton were happy to jump in  to the refreshing water at the Y pool. 

After dropping Amelia off at camp, Elliot and I went on a breakfast date to CFA this week. My little boy loved spending a few minutes with his mommy and devoured the chicken minis.

Some nights call for homemade pizzas while other nights dinner consists of leftovers or a picnic outside. Summer meals are much simpler and less structured and we love it. 

Pizza makers in training

And then we stay up past bedtime to go outside and catch fireflies. 

Our garden continues to grow and currently we are harvesting strawberries, Snow peas, tomatoes, bell peppers and broccoli. 

On the weekends we work around the house, relax and watch the soccer games. Of course, sporting our German colors is a must:

Most of our time is spent together as a family and we try to find family friendly events we all can enjoy. Like last night, we grabbed our chairs and blanket, packed a picnic and headed to The Historic Rock Castle for Songwriter's Night. The atmosphere was pleasant, the weather fairly mild and next to good music there were all kinds of activities (face painting, bounce houses and games) for the children. 

A little taste of the music and the surroundings:

After dawn, the fireflies came out and all the children were running around catching them. The adults enjoyed watching the sun set and the glow of the string lights encasing the stage.

Oh, summer time. We are loving every minute of it and making the best memories. Luckily, it's only the beginning of summer as we have so much more planned.