summer fun

Even thought school wasn't quite out yet, summer adventures for us really started in May.  It was then that Chad's brother, Michael and his family came out for a visit and test run.  They were coming to check Ohio out to decide if they could handle the area, and probably us if they moved out to apply to medical school.  We must have not made it look too bad, because in July they U-haul from Idaho arrived!  Mike and Saundra, Carter and Kamry moved in with us!  While I would be lying if I said I wasn't more than just a little nervous about the whole thing, we had a really great experience.  I think we learned a lot from each other, made lots of memories, and had a whole lot of fun doing it.

We were able to take them to some of our favorite parks.  The one below is surrounded by woods and a stream with small fish and crawdads.  We always have to bring cups to try to bring home a few new friends to live in the fish tank.

Summer in Ohio isn't nearly as humid as Omaha, but still has enough heat and humidity at it's height to warrant some good sprinkler time.  The cousins had lots of fun soaking up the sun and running through the water

One of my personal favorites in the summer is cooking out.  It means fewer dishes, and less prep time.  Plus, can you really beat hot dogs for dinner?  No way!

Porter and Pratt loved having another bug/amphibian hunter on their team.  I save "bug jars" all year long.  But this summer I ran out early!  They had a great time filling them up with creatures and habitats.

This is one of my very favorite pictures (actually the black and white version with just the colored goggles is better), and it speaks volumes of the summer to me.

We don't golf.  But since Uncle Mikey does, it was fun to see him introduce it to the kiddos. 

Poco and Roni may not have been close enough to ride, but we figured out a way to still get a small fix in for the kiddos.  One of Chad's attending  owns a beautiful ranch.  She invited us over to meet her horses and a few walks around her training facility.

Aimee is basically the best big sister ever.  May has to put up with being dressed up from time to time, but she doesn't mind.  Aimee makes up for it by giving her some extra attention, and making things more interesting for her.

Sycamore Trails got a third Williams swimmer this year.  They kids had a great time playing in the water, getting their teachers to make exceptions for them, and actually learning a few things.

While I haven't made a great deal of progress in talking Chad into letting us get a trampoline, I'm glad the kids get chances to enjoy it our friends houses.

I can't even begin to count the number of times I got flowers from the kids.  Most of the time it is dandelion bouquet.  Sometimes a few other weeds make it into the mix.  Sometimes, I get really lucky, and Porter brings me the weed in its entirety.  That way I can enjoy it longer!

Did I mention that we ran out of bug jars this summer?

We live in a relatively quite neighborhood where our kids are definitely the loudest and craziest.  By the end of the summer, he made sure to add to it when he picked up bike riding.  That makes two boys who taught themselves to ride a bike!  It helped that he had this mini bike our neighbor gave him that made it easy to figure the process out.  It was the cutest thing in the world to watch this little three year old peddle at about 100 miles an hour to keep up with the big kids, but he had the will and found the way!

Now if only I had taken pictures of the rest of our adventures, one might get a taste of what a great summer it was!