Time Has Wings

Well, I blinked my eyes, and Summer has come to an end.

How does that happen??

How is it that one minute, it's the beginning of June and we have 12 glorious weeks of summer break ahead of us...

and the next minute, it's the end of August and the kids are walking back into their classrooms.

I know that most parents can relate

to that bittersweet blend of joy in growth and sadness at time passing.

I love that my kids are growing.  Growing bigger and smarter and stronger and...I could go on and on.
But,
Oh.My.Goodness.

Time!
it has wings and it sure does fly

While summer was busy flying by, we didn't forget to enjoy every bit of it -

We looked forward to watching sunsets almost every night,

ran around the yard catching lightning bugs, 

watched summer storms roll in...

We Took long walks, 

rode our bikes,

and took drives in the country - with our windows down, breathing in the country air.

The kids played with their cousins,

We spent time at grandma and grandpa's lake house in the Ozarks,

We went to the fair and rode rides, enjoyed lemonade shake ups and cheese on a stick, watched the harness races...

We spent an afternoon in Hannibal,

spent lots of time making art - experimenting, coloring, making crafts - 

and spent countless hours of swimming and being in the water, 

The kids were able to participate in our neighborhood 4th of July parade - a 1st for us - and just one more reason we're thankful for our new home.

We picked fresh strawberries...except for Mia.  She spent her time in the patch eating the strawberries.  She ate and ate and ate.  If they were red, green, or white.  She ate them.

We got to spend time at the campground - riding bikes, swimming, sitting around the campfire.

What's a summer without a sprinkler and eating watermelon?
Funny the joy I received from watching the kids run in and out and through the sprinkler!

We took a vacation to Texas to visit Aunt Nina...

The kids developed a love for fishing this summer.  Mason has gotten really good at casting and taking the fish off the hook. 

We park hopped, 

played at spash pads, 

and went out for ice cream.  a lot.

We took a little trip to downtown Chicago...

...and splashed around in Lake Michigan.

The kids spent many days playing house, school, restaurant...just the good ol' imaginary play...
This particular picture is when they were playing tattoo parlor.  
(a tattoo on Mia's thigh of a pear)

Makayla's favorite thing about the summer was going swimming.
Mason's favorite thing about the summer was going to the Ozarks.
Mia's favorite thing about the summer was when Santa came to visit.
(santa delivered a new kitty to our home, Zeke, after we lost Chief in an accident)

Summer was filled with chaos 

and goodness

and awesome people.

And while the summer season went entirely too fast, I have my arms open wide, ready to fall into autumn.

From the School Yards To the Stock Yards

First, 

Mason, finished his first year of school.

Preschool.

He loved it.  A Lot!  In fact, it was a fight on the mornings that he didn't have to go to school because he wanted to go so bad, every day, all day.

When I asked him what he was going to miss the most about school, he said his friend Carter and his teachers.

When I asked him something he learned this year that he's never going to forget, he told me when he learned how to color.

Second,

Makayla wrapped up her school year.

Kindergarten.

She cried.  

There were tears of sadness because she didn't want to stop going to school. She loves it that much!

When I asked her what she was going to miss the most about school, she said her friends and Mrs. Gandenberger.

When I asked her what was the most important thing she learned this year that she'll never forget, she said to stay away from railroad tracks.

Learning how to color and learning to stay away from railroad tracks.

Ok.

 :)

I'm thankful for the amazing teachers that my kids have had the privilege of learning with this year and I'm thankful for the great schools that they attended.  I could not ask for anything or anyone better in the lives of my children during their school days.

Moving onward, I know my kids are looking forward to 1st grade and Pre-K even though they both had a rough time ending this school year!!

In the meantime, we have a summer to enjoy!...

It's just the beginning of the summer season, but we've already been able to enjoy lots of swimming, a camping trip, berry picking in the strawberry fields, making lightning bug lanterns, late night summer walks, park playing, bike riding, and all that other summer "stuff"...

and this past week, we made a quick trip to Texas!

We drove.

We've always driven to our vacation destinations with the kids.

Always.

And we've never had problems.

Never.

But this time around was a little different.  It was a rough ride.  The kids were very very very misbehaved on the ride there (i think because not bringing their tablets + the dvd players not working = major boredom)...but the ride home was much much much better (thankful for working dvd players and because of a different time schedule for the ride home).  I can't tell you how many times Kevin and I said that we're never doing this again!

Actually, here's a little peek into our lives during the drive to Texas through a text message conversation with my sister:

But, the long drive there was just a tiny bump in the road.  I can look back at it now and kinda laugh.  kinda.  Overall, our trip was amazing and our short time there was full to the brim with fun, excitement, and lots of laughter.

We went to a rodeo - 

Mason got to go out in the arena for a sheep scramble and says that his favorite thing about the rodeo was watching the cowboys tie up the baby bulls by their legs.

Makayla says her favorite part about the rodeo was when the cowboys tried to lasso and tie up the baby bulls, but failed.  She liked that the babies didn't get caught.

I, on the other hand, can't figure out for the life of me why someone would go into the sport of bull riding!  So dangerous!
And, I spent most of my time at the rodeo flinching and hiding my eyes.

But, I enjoyed it a lot and look forward to when we can go to another one.

The kids had the time of their life
(and they even got to sit on a real live bull *gasp*)

We went to the Dallas Zoo 

and Jurassic Park Land - 

We got to feed the giraffe by hand!

A zoo is a zoo is a zoo, 

but who doesn't love going to a zoo?!

We went to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor in Arlington - 

We did a teeny tiny bit of walking around downtown Dallas - 

...and we went to Dealey Plaza - the historic West End district of downtown Dallas - where the assassination of John F. Kennedy took place.

We saw the grassy knoll and the "X" in the road where Kennedy was shot.

Great history.

I wish I cared about history when I was in school like I care about it now.

We were introduced to Benihana - my Osaka away from home.

...and we were introduced to Fitz's (in St. Louis) - a microbrewery and restaurant - known for their rootbeer and AWESOME floats.  I had a Smores float which was SO BIG the entire family shared it.
Nummy.

We did some hanging out by the pool and swimming -  

The kids loved having Scott throw them in the pool -

...and they loved having Scott spin them in circles so fast that they couldn't walk.

We had a great time in Texas and I'm so thankful we were able to make memories (like mia's whiplash, mason getting stampeded, learning to buy 3 sprites instead of 1) there with Aunt Nina and Scott.

...and an added bonus, on our way home at our last pit stop in St. Louis, Makayla found a $20 bill on the ground.  She was so excited and couldn't wait to buy everyone in her family Dairy Queen.

such a thoughtful baby girl.

So, our Texas trip is over and we're back to the grind - enjoying these hot summer days at the pool eating popsicles (or sno cones) and soaking up some vitamin D.

** here's to celebrating summer -

 sun drenched days and starlit nights  **