7 Quick Takes - End of Summer!

Sadly, our summertime is coming to an end and the new school year approaches.  I thought I'd do a quick takes on what our family has been doing for the past three months...

1.  Of course, there was Church Camp.  The older two boys spent their second year at camp, this time they went separately because they are now in different age groups.  Firstborn got to do horseback riding and fishing at his camp...

Picture of lake at camp from last year
That's Dad with Princess, Game Boy and Soccer Boy

Firstborn enjoys swimming in the lake!

2.  We met with my mom's bible study group at different area parks on Tuesday mornings.  By far the kids favorite was the new splashpad in O'Fallon.  Sadly, I never took my camera with me to take pictures of the kids actually playing at the park there.  Here's some other park pics...

Toddler Boy loves swinging!

A swing that can swing two at once!

3.  Swimming with same bible study group on Thursday afternoons.  We've been doing this the past few years, it's fun to just let the kids hang out with their friends they don't get to see during the school year (because they all attend different schools and we don't all attend the same church).  These pics are from last year because, once again, I didn't bring my camera to the pool, sigh...

Brother and sister togetherness!

Eating a snack...swimming makes you hungry!!

Firstborn & Soccer Boy swimming with friends

4.  Our family spent most evenings at the tennis and swim club near our home, which we joined at the end of the summer last year.  Since it was super hot this summer the water stayed really warm most of the time.  I guess most people swim there during the day because the pool could be pretty vacant at night.  Soccer Boy finally perfected his front flip off the diving board.  Finally, some current photos!!

Game Boy was learning to swim this year

Toddler Boy looked too cute in his big swimsuit

Soccer Boy working on his future Olympic diving career
(Sorry pic is so dark...I told you we went swimming at night)!

5.  What would summertime be without horseback riding, fishing and archery at grandma's?  The older two each spent one week with grandma and grandpa (usually while the other was at camp).  That meant the three youngest had more mom & dad time.  We also spent lots of Sunday afternoons at my parent's house.  The kids got to fish there also, plus bounce on their trampoline and go on "mule" rides...

Soccer Boy riding bareback with Dad & Grandpa

Fishing (yes, there is a lake you just can't see it in this pic)

Soccer Boy, Princess & their cousin on grandma's "mule"
That's great grandma's house in background

6.  Of course there's the family summer movie series at Wehrenberg Theatres on Thursdays.  They do free movies at 10:00am (obviously they make their money back on the popcorn sales)!  I could bring bottled water with me and buy a refillable bucket of popcorn for $8.  Then I'd just hand out plastic drink cups and the kids would fill their cups with popcorn and I'd send the olders out for refills when needed.  We were usually watching movies we have already seen, but still a fun outing.  Who can beat popcorn and a movie on the big screen for 6 people for $8??  Here's the movies we saw this year:

1. Kung Fu Panda 2
2. Zookeeper (Princess and Toddler Boy had problems sitting thru that one, we walked instead)
3. Puss in Boots
4. Alvin & the Chipmunks:  Chipwrecked

We really, really wanted to see Rio but unfortunately it played the same day we were going to...

7.  SIX FLAGS...this is where we went this week.  We left Toddler Boy with grandma because it was going to be a long day in the sun and there's not much he can ride.  Thanks goodness the three boys (plus teacher mom) earned free tickets from their reading program or this trip would have costs us an arm and a leg.  The two oldest are now able to ride most (if not all) of the rollarcoasters.  We also brought along my niece because she had a ticket too.  Sorry, no pics because I didn't want to get the camera wet!  It was better this year than previous years, not nearly so hot (we've been before when the temps reached 101)!  Doug & I used to go there every year as teenagers when we were dating.  We've only been there a handful of times since we've gotten married.  However, we both remember when roller coasters stopped being "fun" for us.  It was when we left our 3 month old Firstborn with mom and went to spend the day there with some family and friends.  They had just opened the waterpark and everyone was excited to try it out.  We also road on the newest roller coaster "Mr. Freeze" (yes, this totally dates us, I know)!  When standing in line for the roller coaster Doug & I were both just nervous about riding it...and we've road tons of them together in the past.  We just didn't enjoy it like before, and we decided the reason was we had too much to live for now.  It just felt too much like taking an unnecessary risk with our lives, and what would Firstborn do without both his parent's?  My boys have no issues with riding them, and it felt sort of like a right of passage when Firstborn and Soccer Boy road Mr. Freeze for the first time yesterday.  Lots of great memories!!


That's all for this week, go check out more 7 Quick Takes with Jen at Conversion Diary