SQT {6}: Our First Summer!

Okay.   Cee will be 8 this fall, but in many ways this is our first summer.  I worked full-time up until a few years ago, and then Cee got sick.  During those summer flares we were pretty limited on what we could do.  That makes this first job-free, flare-free summer all the sweeter!  Here’s what we’ve been up to, in no particular order.

 

1.  Touring a farm

A local dairy hosted breakfast, kids activities, and tours for families, and we went!  I was embarrassed that Moe held his nose at the smell (dairy cows are the least unpleasant smelling livestock, kid!), but eventually he forgot about it.

 

 

 

We displayed their finished cow crafts on the dining room wall.  Can you guess which cow belongs to which kid?

 

2. Visiting with lovely friends

A picnic, playing at the park, running around the splash pad…it doesn’t get better than that in kid-dom.  Or mom-dom.

 

3.  Fourth of July Fun!

We have celebrated the Fourth in the past, but this year the kids were really able to enjoy it without the weight of a flare.

My aunt and uncle generously host fireworks at their farm every year, and the kids love, love, love it there.  From the piglets to the mulberries, they couldn’t get enough.

And don’t get Elle started on the kittens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Swimming lessons

The girls are taking public swimming lessons!  Cee and Elle are both at the same level because this is their first year, but Cee has a lot more experience because of her time at swim therapy.  We did have to have a talk after the first lesson about listening to the teachers right away.  Someone *might* have had to be ushered out of the pool at the end because it was so hard to leave.

 

5. Cor Jesu Rex Camp

Cee was able to attend the week long day camp in Sioux Falls earlier this summer.  Run by the Sisters of Christ the King from Nebraska, she was able to get to see sisters in action!  We do already know some lovely sisters, but this was a chance to see more of the community aspect of that vocation.

 

6.  Attending the theatre

(In your mind did you say that in a butler voice?  If not, please re-read it and do so.)  The kids and I attended an outdoor children’s opera.  I hadn’t been to the outdoor children’s theater since my nanny days, so we arrived a few minutes before the show to find no parking.  Anywhere.  Apparently this thing has increased in popularity in the last ten years.

Someone had taken the stroller out of van, so that meant a long brisk hike with all the kiddos across a huge park.  There were times that Moe sat down on the ground and refused to walk.  It didn’t work particularly well to carry Bea and the bag and piggyback Moe, but we tried.  It all worked out just fine.

 

7.  Australia!

Our staycation to Australia makes the list of fun things we’ve done this summer.  We checked out a bunch of books, learned a few words, and celebrated with “shrimp on the barbie.”

Hope you have had time for some special moments this summer as well.  Check out more quick takes with Kelly!

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