Summer Fun 2014

We really try to enjoy each and every day of summer.
 The kids did a lot of reading and were able to complete the library's summer reading program, each earning a free book.

We got to Hammerman Beach with friends one more time.

Lots of digging in the sand!

Sav's creation...

and X's.

And the kids definitely spent a lot of time cooling off in the water.

Brooms Bloom and their yummy ice cream was a special treat!

The small cones are so large that the kids couldn't lick the ice cream off fast enough before they were melting all over the place.

After ice cream the kids were good enough to pose for a few pictures for me in front of the beautiful sunflowers.

And visit #2!

And more sunflower shots!

One afternoon we had Noah's best friend, Ava, and her twin brother over for a play date. Noah was in heaven; he and Ava are quite a little pair!

This summer has been really mild so one beautiful afternoon we headed to the library for a picnic lunch and to feed the turtles and fish.

The kids love checking out all the turtles, especially the humongous one that lives under the bridge. Thank goodness he made an appearance for them that day.

We spent LOTS of time at the pool!

And of course we went to several O's games.

We always arrive early to watch batting practice.

Noah was lucky enough to get a ball from one of the Angels players.

Savannah took a picture of her favorite, Manny Machado. Several games later he got hurt and is out the rest of the season.

We introduced the kids to the Lord of the Rings movies this summer - it was a hit! Initially Noah was terrified of Gollum and would hide his face every time he made a brief appearance in the first movie. By the second movie I told him he needed to be brave about it because Gollum was going to start showing up a whole lot more. In the scene where we first get a true introduction to Gollum, when he is fighting Sam and Frodo, Noah hid his head once again but then started to peek out. Once Gollum is bested and started to wail, Noah began to laugh. Gollum quickly became his favorite character and he would run around the house in his skivvies, pretending to be Gollum. Thank goodness that ended when he realized toward the middle of the third movie that Gollum was a bad character. One of my favorite moments of our nights of watching the trilogy was when Sam makes his speech about hanging in there and doing what needs to be done - it's always been one of my favorite scenes in the movie - and when Sam was done talking Noah turned to me and said, "I love Sam!" It was so cute! When we were finished watching all three movies Noah started crying because it was all done, he was that bummed. He kept crying, "I love Lord of the Rings! I want to watch it again!" Of course I had to take pictures of Noah reenacting the scene where Gandalf shouts, "You shall not pass!" and slams his staff down. Noah is hilarious!

Tuesday nights are when Savannah, Xander, and I head up to the church for YW activities and scouts, leaving Noah and David home together. They started using that time to take bike rides which Noah has absolutely loved. As we came home one night we met them out on the road.

I hate that summer seems to come to an end all too soon!