Summer, Done. Wait, what?!

Wow, I'm such a slacker!  I haven't posted since the end of school in June!  No, I take that back.  I'm not a slacker, but rather living life and enjoying time with family.  We really did have a fun filled summer. Most of my contracts for work where slowing down and ended in early August.  We had my niece, Allison living with us most of the summer to watch the kids while I worked...but since I didn't have a busy work schedule we had a great summer of fun. She was part of the family, had her own room and stayed during the week and she was my partner in crime on all these adventures!  And most notably is the fact that we went all summer without a hospitalization or doctor's appointment!

We were jam packed with the usual activities like the Cascades Rapids Swim team.  Both kids participated and worked really hard.  Practice was every week day at 8am for Cole for 30 minutes and at 8:30am for Reagan for a full hour.  They had swim meets every Wednesday from 5:30pm until about 8pm.  They both poured their hearts into it and although they weren't the fastest swimmers, they learned a lot about not giving up.  It's a great activity and so good for both of them.  I'm hoping to convince them to do it again next summer!

Cole also participated in the Extended School Year (ESY) program again this summer and received braille instruction twice weekly for 45 minutes during the month of July.  Although he dreaded having to go, he always left smiling and we feel strongly that it helps him keep up his skills which make going back in the Fall so much easier.

One of our first trips was to the Natural Bridge Zoo down in the Shenandoah Valley area.  It was a really nice zoo with a lot of different animals.  The most important of which was an elephant named Beautiful.  Not only did we all get to ride her, Cole was able to go into her pen for a close encounter to feel how tough her skin was and how rubbery her tail was.  It was a great experience and I highly recommend making the drive down there.

We also went tubing down the Shenandoah River with my niece and nephew, Jacqueline and Robert. Although it sounds like a very relaxing float down river, it was actually really hard to stay together and keep up with Cole and Reagan and not feel like we were going to lose them.  Absolutely worth the trip, but I will bring rope next time so we can tie the tubes together to stay at the same speed.  After tubing we went with my sister and her family to the fire works on July 3rd in Lovettsville.  It was really nice to watch good fireworks without a lot of crowds!  They did a really nice job.  Cole even played kick ball with a family who was playing before the fire works started.  He was voted "most valuable player" by both teams !

Another fun adventure was a Washington DC Duck Tour - an amphibious boat from WWII that took us through DC and into the Potomac River.  The Australian guide knew more about my home town than I've known in a lifetime.  He was super knowledgeable and made the trip very fun.  He gave Cole the nickname "Mr Trivia" for answering a lot of the questions correctly including the name of a US National Monument off the coast of China called Mariana's Trench!  Who knew?! We also walked up to the Capitol and around Union Station.  I was hoping to visit more of DC but it was super hot and the kids were pretty worn out after walking the steps at the Capitol.  There will be more days to DC I'm sure!

We also took the obligatory trip to Cunningham Falls State Park.  I absolutely love that we have a lake and beach like this so close to home.  With just a little over an hour you can be sitting with toes in the sand, relaxing and watching the kids swim, soaking in the rays of sun.  This year we took a friend of Reagan's Julia and met my friend Tara and her daughters Maggie and Kate.  It's an absolute must for us every summer.  Unfortunately we didn't get there as many times as I'd have liked, but there's alway next year !!

We also snuck away for an overnight trip to Ocean City MD with my sister Michelle and niece and nephew, Jacqueline and Robert.  It was a fun little get away and the weather was really nice.  We had a relaxing day at the beach followed by a fun night on the board walk.  The kids rode a few rides and did some shopping.  And of course we did lots of shopping all along the main strip.  OC MD is still one of my favorites and another must-do for me in the summer.  The kids even let us have a telescope photographer do a photoshoot.  I had no idea she would take so much time, but she got a lot of fun pictures and the kids will have fun looking back at them!

We also snuck away for a week in the Kill Devil Hills with Johnny's family.  Despite being very rainy most of the week, it was so nice to get away from home and spend time with family.  The house was beautiful and right on the beach with a pool in the backyard.  Absolutely perfect for watching the sunrise, going for a quick swim in the ocean, and searching for crabs on the beach at night with flash lights.  Reagan had a lot of fun flying kites again this year and was super excited that I let her get corn rows in her hair.  That was a first for her and a big hit.  Both kids also convinced us to let them get hermit crabs.  It's now October and they are still alive, don't leave their cages and don't eat much, so it appears to be a win-win.  The big question is how long will they live...they've made it about 2 months longer than I expected!

A new addition to our summer adventures this year was roller skating.  We hadn't been in probably two years and wow did that time change a lot !  We went once to the Bush Tabernacle in Purcellville and my kids were hooked.  My niece basically grew up on skates since my sister managed the skating rink for most of Allison's childhood.  She was a huge help teaching the kids to skate and they loved watching how easy she makes it look!  They both did really well and begged to get roller skates!  We also visited the roller rink in Manassas and tried to go back to Busch but it was closed.  More to come with skating I'm sure since Cole begged me to have his 8th birthday party at the skating rink!

And as if that wasn't enough fun, we finished the summer with a trip to Hershey Park.  Another must-do in my opinion.  I absolutely love it there and so do the kids.  It was our first trip to Hershey where I felt the kids truly made it all day without any melt downs.  It's so interesting to watch them grow up - one day you just realize, wow, that wasn't hard and was actually a lot of fun :)  It is fun being able to do more with them and not have them get worn out so easily.  And Reagan was excited because I let her get her first henna tattoo.  It was a dolphin on her ankle and she thought she was oh so cool.  It's the little things right?  We also stopped to watch the dolphin show and had a close encounter with the dolphin where the kids could feed one.  It was a great experience and we learned a lot.

It was super hard to send Allison back to Westminster College, but we know that's what is in her plan.  It was hard to see her go and Reagan and I were both pretty teary eyed.  It was hard to believe the summer fly by so quickly.  We are excited about having her come back next summer and are counting down the days!  We will start our adventure fun list at Christmas break!  Who knows where the fun will take us!