Saturday, September 1, 2012

Summer Adventures

Wow!  I can't believe summer is pretty much over already.  In some ways, it feels like we've done nothing this summer.  In other ways, it feels like we've had a great summer.

Normally, we go camping at least once.  Last year, Scott took each of the boys on individual camping trips, while Mika and I braved it alone a different weekend.  This year we didn't make it camping once.  We're talking about trying to fit one in next weekend if we can.

We didn't make it camping because our weekends were booked.  We volunteered to provide child care for a Financial Peace University class being done by our church.  We forgot to consider how that might affect our ability to go away from a weekend. Oops!  It was a good thing though.

Instead of taking off for the weekend, we did a ton of other things:

We took a short hike at Rainbow Falls State Park and found a lovely little park on the way home.

The kids and I visited Mima Mounds for the first time.

We hosted an exchange student from China for three weeks.  We took a day trip to Long Beach to see the Sandsations sand sculpting festival.

Sam and I went to a star party in Goldendale.  (This was technically camping, but so much was different about it that it didn't feel like camping to me.)

We took many walks about the nature preserve, including walking around the lake on the newly reconnected trails.  It included crossing a narrow log across the water.  The kids loved it.

We went to the Chief for a Day events with a friend.  This event is honoring children who are battling chronic or terminal illness.  They swear the kids in as Chief of their sponsoring unit, complete with their own real uniform and badge, and bring in lots of great stuff to do.

Mika brought home a frog from a sleepover.  The hosts had several that visited their green house.  He's super cute.

We went for a hike at Grove of the Patriarch on Mt. Rainier and saw some awesome old growth trees.

Our neighbor took us out on his boat to do some inner tubing a couple of times.  Even Josh and Maddie took turns riding in the inner tubes.

 We spent many afternoons and evenings playing outside.

It was a great, fun, and calming summer.  It's hard to believe it is mostly over.  We start school in 9 days.  I'm not ready emotionally or with planning.  I just want to keep enjoying summer.

What have you been doing?  Are you ready to get back into the groove of school?


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