This summer has been grand- except the weather. The weather was down right junky. We are used to “May Gray” & “June Gloom,” but the gloom hung around through July & now August! We got to the beach one day and it wasn’t even hot that day, but at least it was sunny.

This summer was one I really wanted to savor with A. She’s starting Kindergarten and that means school everyday- no more quick trips to Disneyland, the zoo or just visiting with friends. She’ll only go to school till 11:20 (till October, then it’ll be till 12:20), so we’ll still have a lot of time to play, but still… school every day?!?!

We made the most of our (dreary) summer.

Swimming (a lot). Avery was able to take one session of swim lessons, so now she’s passed level 3 according to the Red Cross. Sawyer got WAY more comfortable in the water since the beginning of the summer. At first we wasn’t interested in putting more than his toes in the water, now he’s jumping in, blowing bubbles and getting his head & ears wet. Hopefully we can keep getting in the pool so he isn’t starting over next summer.

Legoland- we’d never been to Legoland and it was great.

Bowling- an activity that we don’t do often, but we joined the “kids bowl free” program and it was fun. The kids can last one whole game and that’s plenty of time in the bowling alley for me too.

4th of July- we had a great Independence Day- parade, BBQ and fireworks.

Water Park- we finally made it up to the Lake Casitas Water Park. I hadn’t been in 6 years- A & S had never been. It was very fun, and a place we’ll have to go more often.

Backyard Fun- since the sun wasn’t out in the mornings (and it was chilly), our backyard fun time was mostly in the afternoon.

Ice cream field trip- we got to see how they make ice cream at a local joint, we taste tested too.

Karate- A had been asking to take a Karate class for a while now, so after looking into a few places we decided to sign her up… for a month. She had a blast. It was hard on me & Sawer- 4 times a week we ventured out in the late afternoon for Tae Kwon Do. There wasn’t much for Sawyer to do for that half an hour… we wandered around the shopping center (3 eateries and nail salon).

Ventura County Fair- this year was great. A is tall enough to go on all the rides and she had a blast. Both kids got to go on a few rides together, that was sweet. The hight light was going on the “real” ferris wheel- all of us. That was A’s treat since she earned ride tickets with her book reports.

We had to say goodbye to dear friends this summer who moved to NC. We had a lot of fun with the Tate Fam, we miss you dearly, but glad your family is together.

There are a few activities we didn’t get to do this summer- camping, free movies, mini golf, roller skating … maybe next year.