Goodbye Summer

 As Labor Day is coming to a close, I get to reflect on what a great summer we have had.  It's been busy, full of fun, laughs, and emotions but we made it through and boy am I tired!

Every summer we do a summer bucket list and this year was no exception.  The list consisted of doing some smaller family vacations where we could get away from our everyday norm and enjoy the scenery from around Iowa.

First trip we took was to Okoboji.  It's always great to get to go back where you grew up and experience with your kids.  

 Even though Okoboji was unseasonably cold when we were up there, we still had a lot of fun walking by the water, buying sweatshirts and candy from the Sugar Shack, checking out Barefoot bar and showing the kids how to belly up to the bar, and lots of indoor swimming at Cutty's.

We had to get our annual photo of the kids on the steps in our loft room.  We even got grandma in there since Finley couldn't sit on the ladder.

I got to catch up with some friends and have a girls night out on the town and try out some new bars that I have been wanting to try.  Piper even let me borrow some pretty fancy glasses to take on the town.

 

Then the end of June, we were fortunate enough to have my parents watch the four kiddos while Carl and I got to have a night out on the town and go see our favorite ginger singer, Ed Sheeran.  He was AMAZING!  I can't say that I have ever went to a large concert where it was just one person on stage doing his thing.  It was great to see a one man show that left us in awe of his talent. 

 Our new tradition is for our whole extended family to go to Adventureland on the 4th of July.  Contrary to what people might believe, 4th of July at Adventureland is the best time to go.  We usually go out there around lunch time and go on some rides, make our way to the waterpark for a few hours and then finish off our time with the rest of the rides.  The best part about it is that we rarely have to stand in line which is pretty amazing with little kids.  Plus at dusk, they have their own fireworks so it turns out to be a pretty amazing day full of fun.

As many know Iowa legalized fireworks this year.  I can't say I went out to buy some crazy fireworks but I will say that the second set of sparklers that I bought (the first batch were duds and none of them lit) were a little crazier than we are used to.

We then made our next little family trip to Dubuque, where Carl is from.  We got to visit some of his extended family, take in some time at his aunt and uncle's farm and show the kids what happens in the country.

We were then so close that we made a little trip to the Maquoketa caves and just hiked through all the 13 caves.  This was our first experience so I can't say I was the most prepared mom by only bringing 1 bottle of water for all of us, and no flashlights, but it was still fun.  Worth the trip for sure!

This summer was very hot in July so we found ourselves looking for indoor fun.  Luckily the Warrior Lanes in Waukee participates in this amazing program where kids bowl free all summer.  Here's my fashionista sending the ball down the lane.

We also got to cheer on our neice/ cousin to an amazing 3rd place finish in her triathlon.  It's so great seeing kids do what they love to do, and you could tell Kendra was serious and loved participating in her triathlon.

 

We took our first little trip to Prairie City to a cute little place called "Goldie's" and boy was it worth the 30 minute drive.  We heard they are known for their tenderloins and ice cream, so we all shared a tenderloin and their ice cream was delicious.  We will be sure making this a tradition and putting this on our bucket list again next summer.

After Goldie's we found a new little park in Altoona and it was great.  Not many of these old school merry go rounds exist at playgrounds anymore so we spent the majority of the time spinning on this.  I may of gotten on there to relive the fun elementary times but I quickly realized I'm not that young still and got really dizzy.

August is always a very busy time in our house, so when it hits, we just know that summer is coming to close.  This year it was extra special because my parents took each of the 3 older kids on their own special day date.  Paxton got to go out and see Camp Dodge in Johnston and experience something he has never even seen before.

 Cyril went out to Bass Pro Shop and got to drive cars with grandpa and go out to eat.

And Piper picked going out to Kum N Go fresh market to eat and going to the Pella Sweet Corn Festival where she got to jump on some big bouncy houses.

In the middle of August it's always "Birthday Week."  While everyone else goes to the fair, we celebrate 3 birthdays within 2 days.  We tend to celebrate them all week since they are all so close that we want them to know how each of them are so special.  This year the boys wanted to go up to Ames, eat pizza and play games at "Perfect Games."

Carl then had a couple days after their birthday that we choose to give them "experience gifts" this year instead of toys.  We went up as a family to Minneapolis and took them to the Mall of America to ride rides at the Nickelodeon Amusement park.  I will tell you that they still talk about how much fun they had and all the fun rides they got to go on.  I'm so happy we decided to go somewhere instead of giving them more stuff.

The kids trying to find the eclipse in their homemade eclipse finders.

Finley has gotten a lot bigger over the summer and even got to start playing at the playground in the baby swing.

Ohhhh I'm sure they will always get along like this, right?!?!?!?!?!?!?! HAHAHAHA yeah I know better!  But for now I will love this picture and remember the sweet times.

And if we didn't have enough to do in August already, we decided to liven it up even more and get Finley Baptized. 

Finley with what we call her "Fairy Godmothers."  So happy to have these two in our lives!

 And to top off the crazy summer Paxton decided to make it a little more interesting and this weekend he was climbing a large evergreen at my sister's house when he lost his footing and fell from the tree. He landed on his arm and smacked his head and ended up breaking 2 bones in his wrist.  He's our little climber and loves to climb anything.  I wish we would of make it past 7 to encounter our first broken bone but I'm sure it won't be our last.  Luckily he was a trooper and is making the most of his situation.

Paxton was climbing the tree on the left when he fell.  He was about 1/3 of the way up when he fell.

With all these pictures I now know why I've been tired for the past week but I'm so glad we made the most of our summer.  Here's to a just as busy and fun filled school year!