How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

This has been a hot summer!  No lie.  The last two summers, we had maybe a week of temps in the 90s, but this summer it seems like most of July and August were flirting with that kind of heat.  (Yes, I know that hitting 90 degrees is no big deal for native Texans, but the sun here at 4700 feet of elevation is intense!)  Though it's still hot outside, I can already feel summer slipping away.  It has gone by way too fast.  This weekend is Labor Day, for goodness sake!  At least we tried to fill our summer as best we could.  Aside from family visiting, here are some of the ways we spent our time...

Our little moms' group arranged a tour of one of the local fire stations.  This always gets the kids' attention and is good for some general fire safety info that hopefully some of the kids hear and retain.  :)

Outside or inside, summer is always good for some fun with friends.

We even signed Owen up for some swim lessons at the outdoor pool.  He enjoyed going, but they seemed to play a lot of games and sit on the step.  Little did I know that at the end of the 2-week session (of going every day for 30 minutes!), he would receive a report card.  Unfortunately, he did not get check marks for floating on his own for 10 seconds, so he will have to repeat the same swim class next time!  Ugh.  I'm not even going to mention that I didn't see his class practice floating EVER...  Oops, looks like I did!  :)

The main goal for me in putting him in swim lessons was to have him overcome his recently-acquired fear of the water.  It did make him less afraid, but we still have work to do!  The grand finale of the lessons was to have them jump off the diving board. While he did not jump, he lamented to me afterward that he should have jumped!  Maybe next summer...

There are some sand dunes about 5 minutes from our house.  When Owen saw the humongous pile of sand, he was in heaven!!  The biggest sandbox he's ever seen!  We'll have to go back when it cools off a bit.