Eat my Dust

One of Joe's tractor pulls from earlier this summer.  The kids ( & I) love watching him pull =)

Beach days

 ^^^^^^^We went to Coon Fork last week, awesome time as you can see =)

^^Went again this week with the cousins--awesome time again =) 

It's hard to believe summer's about over.  I guess it takes the reality of it almost being over for us to take advantage of the beach.  Well, that and this summer was a little cooler than normal. 

Lions & Tigers & Lumpies--oh my!

AKA the Zoo...

 Sea lion show

 My girl loves the "lumpies" she did NOT want to move on =)

 Jake liked pushing this little guy around. 

 A trip to the zoo would not be complete without a train ride

Call it wild

Brrrr......dip in a toe and climb back up.

Oliver (the dog) went in, I think he wanted James to go in too =)

Miss Brave

Cutie

 Trying to warm up

 My husband in one of the swimming supervisor chairs

 Two tiny back massagers

 They made the girls run =)

 S'more fun

Lots of indoor time since it was a bit chilly that week.

 Classic wood boat show

 The "big girls" as my kids refer to them =)

 James & Tabor, in the super fun toy closet cubby after mtg. Sunday

Who's missing?  Ah, must be this little boy who was "pictured" out.  Cute anyways.

Misc.

 Berry time---finally!  We did lots of jam, shortcake and berries & cream....mmmm.  I had a few good helpers too =)

 Jake's into building pullers and anything that moves really!

 Space cadet ;-) ...he was so thrilled to wear this snowmobile helmet around one day

 The tree stand, it's much farther along than this now.  The sides are about done I think. 

  A little carpenter. 

 Emily did a bit of carpentry

 Jake was a big help, he did a lot of pounding nails in

 He loves to use the hammer.  He'd pick up a random nail and find the "perfect" spot and get busy =)

 I've been so thankful for many bouquets picked by sweet kids.  Love all the wildflowers we find around here.

 This trio played fashion show the other day. 

 Beautiful job girls!

 Emily had a My Little Pony party back in June for her 9th birthday.

 First time swimming with a freshly filled (aka FREEZING cold) pool.   They stood around a few minutes, then jumped out to quickly thaw their feet, then back in =)

Oh, back to the party.  I was having a bit of camera trouble, so it's a kinda blurry!
**********************************************************************************
There, I'm slightly caught up from the last month or so.  It's crazy how fast time is going.  I can hardly comprehend it.  I've got a few projects I need to get done before fall--but I think I will focus on getting our "school room" organized,  and making sure we have everything we need as far as books, supplies, etc.  I'm realizing this is a continual work in progress as we try to find the "perfect" curriculum for all.  Maybe there isn't such a thing?  Anyways, we've been fitting in a bit of school a few days a week this summer.  As I'm their teacher, I don't enjoy the thought of re-teaching material I've already taught.  It seems to be working well so far. 
Other than that, we've been enjoying a bit from our garden--a few beans, and lotsa cucumbers!  My peas are history I think, enjoyed by some deer or rabbit I'd guess.  Tomatoes have a ways to go.  We planted so late this year because of all the rain.  I think it was into June!  So we'll see what we all end up with to harvest!
We're looking forward to some time up north with my parents and sisters/brother, hopefully aunt & uncle and a few friends I haven't seen in a few years.  Oh, and a nice lake to jump into whenever we feel like it! 
All for now, hope you're having a great summer too!