best. summer. ever.

Its a good thing I stink at remembering to take my camera places with me or this would be a long post. We had such a fun, busy summer that we didn't want to waste one minute looking back or blogging till we literally slid head-long into the figurative home plate of the "quote-unquote" school year, dusty and bruised. Literally. (see Meriam-Webster for the actual, effectual--a.k.a. ineffectual--definition of literally.)

At very long last, we parted ways with the purple neon. She proved to be the source of many miracles in our 12 years together. I couldn't stand to be there to watch them tow her away. Even Rob cried a little with me when he came to tell me that the deed was done.

Stuey celebrated his 5th birthday with a Mario Party, complete with a Pin the Shell on the Yoshi game and a King Boo pinata. Aunt Kristina gracefully talked me down from murdering King Boo just before we finally finished covering him in a million little pieces of tissue paper. And then we forgot to take a picture before he was destroyed. Curses!

Our cul-de-sac threw a block party complete with a splashy bounce-house and a tour of a fire truck.

We tried to be dog owners again, but it just isn't in my cards. (She followed me home on a run, so we spent a week trying to find her owner. Alas, after no one came to claim her, and she pooped and peed on the carpet repeatedly, nibbled a hole in it, got a flea, and drove the neighbors bonkers with her repeated escapes from the yard, I realized why no one came to claim her and sent her off to the shelter.)

We had 2 successful rounds of swim-lessons. The older kids both swam confidently all summer long without any help. It was AWESOME!

Woke up one morning to the entire kitchen covered in every blanket in the house. (Weighted down by porcelain bowls. Can't foresee any problems with that...)

Played restaurant. Over. And over. And over again. Upstairs. With food. Over carpet. In the bedroom. It makes them so happy though.

Enjoyed visits from Aunt Kristina, Rob's parents, and the Hatch family this summer. This is all the cousins doing synchronized cannon balls. They spanned in age from 4-14 and they all played so happily together! We also spent a day at Sea World and saw the Alamo. Yep. Forgot my camera...and the fact that I have one built into my phone.

We spent the occasional lazy day at the lake with cousins or friends, digging in the sand, throwing rocks off the pier and splashing in the water. 

And we auto-filled every other day of sweltery summer with a trip to the swimming pool. 

Sigh... SO MUCH FUN. So glad its over. Literally. Like, not in the figurative sense.