Summer is over!

It has been a busy summer for the Brown household and by busy I don't mean going places, vacationing in a different state or anything like that.  Nope, it wast just a nice summer filled with days going to the pool, park, hanging out at home, watching movies, playing games and of course fighting and getting punished a lot.
I started the summer with the traditional "take the toys out of the room" routine.  I was not going to have them make a huge mess that never gets picked up.  Of course they found ways to make their rooms messy but it wasn't as bad.  We went to the pool many times, more that we have in the past and we did struggle with the new poo rules but managed to come back and still enjoy our time there.  Dan was forced to join us at least once this year.  Highlights of the pool were Kahlan in her cute pink floating device and Tristan and Aaron learning how to swim on their own with no fear, the no fear part was kind of scary for me :)  Victor was also getting better at swimming and dared to go in the deeper side of the pool.  Our visits to the park were minimal due to the horrible heat that we have been experiencing but we did go a few times.  We were able to enjoy going to the movies a few times too.  We took our slip and slide out to the front yard and enjoyed watching the kids run and get wet.  There was one time that Dan mowed the lawn and then jumped with the kids on the trampoline and I turned the sprinklers on for them, they had so much fun playing that day and must confess that I to joined them in the wet mess.
Our Virginia cousins came to visit, grandma came to visit, it was just very nice for us this year. So here are a few pictures of what we did all summer long.

 

 One day after work Dan took us to the go cart track and we took turns riding with the kids.

 Shayna and Victor enjoyed going on their first ride by themselves.

 Dan jumping with the kids on the wet trampoline.

 For Father's day he got a Skittles neck tie.

 Victor went to Scouts Day camp for the second year in a row and I made him a special bucket with a cushion so his behind could be comfortable.  I did not go this year as a volunteer so this is the only pic I have of him.

 Here are the kids enjoying the slip and slide while Victor was gone for the day.

 For the 4th of July we ended up staying home so we did a bunch of activities with the kids and we also built a cool 3d puzzle of the white house.

 I took the kids to the library for special events, one day they got to see a brand new fire fighter truck.

 They played with glow in the dark sticks at night.

 Our 3 year old turtle Franlin died on a Sunday morning... so so sad.

 They played with Legos, Playmobile and this cool dollar store connector things, they are lots of fun and cheap.

 Here is Aaron's crazy creation.


Kahlan enjoying the pool.  I personally did not want to put her in the pool yet, but with the new rules I could not keep myself out of the pool while the little ones where in with the floating devices, so we got this hot pink floating device for her and she loved it.

 One afternoon we played with plasticine, I used to play with it when I was little, it is messy and you have to be careful with your clothes or it will stained them for ever and it gets on the carpet too.  I do like it better than play dough because it doesn't dry.  Later that day they made movies with their creations.

 They spent days playing with their car tracks.

 Kahlan learned to crawl in the middle of the crazines.

 We built a mosaic on our dinning room window for a Family Home Evening activity.

And this is how it tuned out.
I sure hope they enjoyed their summer, I am all out of energy and ideas so I am really glad summer is over.  I will miss my kids but I really need a break!