August Inside and Out

I'm crying inside. Crying for Houston's worst flood ever, crying for summer's end, but smiling looking back at our awesome August. Between the big adventures (Hiawatha and solar eclipse), we filled up our time with lots of fun pursuits, like meeting cousins at Craters of the Moon. My Colorado cousin Cynthia and her family were passing through nearby, so we met there to explore the lava tubes. Another good use from the headlamps!

Unfortunately, Owen was wearing the same shoes he wore in Hiawatha tunnels, which meant he had to stay outside the caves. (Apparently there is a fungus that can be spread cave to cave on clothing/gear within a 12-year window that kills bats! Note to self to wear different clothes next time.)

Second cousins Hadley and Reilly became fast friends and avid cave explorers, especially in the Buffalo Cave loop.

Craters is still a pretty neat place, but as expected, it is hot in August! Even more so when it's recommended to wear pants and jackets in the caves.

We finished off their visit with a stop at the dairy for some delicious, cold ice cream after our hot day of hiking. We managed to make it just as some antsy cows were going to the milking barn. This parade was happily moo-ving!

Another minor adventure was boating with friends. It was the kids' first time to go boating, and they both loved it! And already asked us to get a boat... Hadley was pretty fearless and eager to try anything. Owen was a bit more cautious and would wait until others had shown him that they wouldn't get hurt doing it. Our friends had lots of fun floats, tubes, and knee/wakeboards to try. It was tons of fun!

Some days were so hot that we sought indoor diversions. This place had fun inflatables like bubble battles and jumping across bouncy islands.

Kids got free bowling from the library summer reading program, and they were both eager to go use their credit. Owen was less than enthused when he lost both games to his little sister! But check out her winning form! 

We also went back to the new KidsTown, which is always good for a couple of hours' stretch of the imagination muscles.

I think the kids went to the climbing gym three times this summer, which makes them better climbers than I ever was at their ages. Now we know we have options for the long winter.

And I always try to encourage them to soak up the warmth outside while we've got it! They used some more library freebies for rides at Funland on a cloudy day.

More fun was had at the city's Roaring Youth Jam.

We toured the playgrounds, parks, and pathways around town.

And Owen started another season of flag football! One game down already and he played quarterback (in black below), made some pretty fast cross-field flag pulls on defense, and scored the team's only touchdown. Sometimes he even says he wants to be a football player when he grows up! Dream big, kid!

What a summer! But my favorites are moments like this: