The End Is Near...Summer That Is

Summer is winding down.  There are only 9 days until Fall begins.  We had a fun filled and jam packed Summer, but alas, all good things must come to an end.  Here are the final photos of our time well spent with our friend called Summertime.

 

Summer nights are the best!  Warm and filled with the sounds of children playing night games.



We had a fun time with the Reeds, Wilsons and Ostler families at the Ostler pool. 

Leah has always been fearless when it comes to swimming.  She has become quite proficient at diving and swimming.  She is even doing flips and jumping off the high dive. 

I love my little water bug.

Then this happened.  After months of asking, we finally gave in and got the kids a dog.  6 months ago we told Leah she had to show she could be responsible by brushing and feeding the horses twice a week.  She has been fairly good at following through with that so we followed through on our end of the bargain. 

The dog's name is Marley.  She was 5 1/2  months old when we got her, so basically still a puppy.  She is a Dalmador which is a hybrid breed of the Dalmation and Labrador.

She loves the water too so she should fit in great with our family. 

Of course, we spent every warm day of the Summer in the water.  Whether it be the blow up pool in the backyard or the pool at the rec center, the lake, splash pad or water park, we were there cooling off. 

Dax has been growing up and as he does, he becomes more smart, more sweet, more sour and more defiant.  This kid is going to make me sweat and smile for years to come.  Here he is making us dinner on the grill.

Now that Leah is in cheer, we get to enjoy football more.  No complaints here. 

She loves cheer.  She will do a cheer for you at a moment's notice.

GO BIG RED!

My hot cavewoman.

C-A-V-E-M-E-N!  That's the way we spell Cavemen!

A family that cheers together stays together!

This is Leah's first attempt at jumping from the high dive.  She was so impressed with herself to jump from 10 foot high dive into the 11 foot deep end. 

Then school started.  What the heck!?!  School used to start the day after labor Day and now it starts two weeks before Labor Day!  That is just wrong!  Summer break isn't 3 months anymore it's barely over 2 months long!  I object!

Marley is going to miss Leah during school.

So will Dax.  :(



Mom will be okay though.  Truthfully I think she's anxious for a break.  She has been so busy entertaining the kids this Summer.  She does a great job of making sure they make lots of memories. 

Dax begins school this year too.  It's a little early, but Mom could use a kid free break twice a week, right?  She deserves it.

For Sarah's birthday, Leah wanted to make her toast so she made her "Toast Two Ways" served with salted cream butter and strawberry preserves with a beverage of juice from the Sun filled land of Capri and bovine cream. 

She loved it!

Soccer also started for Leah.  She is a busy girl.  Once we get passed the crying and complaining about what to wear, she enjoys every minute of it.

Dax is ready for Football season to start.  Probably the best reason to be excited for Summer to end. 

There is hardly a prettier place than here to play football. 

Or cheer for it!

Leah is so happy and lucky to have her Grandma Leslie at her soccer and football games.

We had a good picnic with Mom, but the camera didn't take the picture right or it didn't upload it correctly.  Anyways, we are happy to have her back with us and to soon have Grandma Grandma with us too!  We also had Grandma Christine stay with us for a week.  It was fun to have her around too, though we think she should live closer.

And of course the weekly trips to Paradise Bakery have ventured into their third Fall.  It's one of my favorite parts of the week and I'm pretty sure Leah is fond of it too.  In fact, I heard her telling several of her cheer friends that "after cheer I get to go to a Daddy Daughter Date with my Dad to Paradise Bakery!"

We also visited the Thanksgiving Point museum as a family one weekend.  They have a balloon artist that is recreating each of the 7 Wonders of the World with balloons.  This is Leah and Dax standing in front of the Great Wall of China made entirely of balloons.

Leah and Dax love the Dinosaur museum. 

While at the museum, the lights went out.  Spooky!  We waited for some time in their gift shop and café, but the lights never came back on. 

We got Marley spayed.  The first day home was entertaining to say the least.  She didn't know what to do with the cone on her head and she was drugged up and loopy.  It was very common to find her in situations like this with her standing with her cone against the wall for 10-30 minutes at a time.  Poor dog.

Dax can't wait for football either.

Poor Marley girl

 

This kid is a cuddler.  I love it when he gets cold after swimming and calms down long enough to get warm on Daddy's chest while rocking in the hammock. 

Poor little Marley.

Here she is at 2am.  She sat like this for literally an hour.

She sits in my office with me all day during work.  She is a good work companion.

With Leah gone at school, Dax gets bored and comes down to bother Daddy while at work.  Mostly I don't mind, but it can be a bit unprofessional when he runs in screaming.  I love him though.  He needs to learn the ropes so he can take over the biz some day. 

I think Marley likes going to work with me because she gets to get away from the little monster upstairs.  Dax is a little punk when it comes to how he treats Marley.  She is very patient and tolerant though.

This is a bad pic, but we went to see Weird Al Yankovic for Sarah's birthday.  Always a fun show. 

My favorite part of Summer is sitting out in the back yard from 5-8 at night with my family.  We play, swing on swings, relax, chill, talk, play the uke, swim, etc.  Good times for sure. 

Dax helped himself into Marley's kennel to cuddle.  I'm sure Marley was thrilled to have her only personal space invaded by Dax. 

Seldom seen without some digital device nearby.  That's probably all of us.  We could all stand to unplug for a bit on a regular basis. 

Carlsbad, Chino, Las Vegas, Yuba Lake, Grandparents, Swimming, Grilling, Plays, Concerts, Football, Soccer, Cheer, Dogs, Kids, Cousins, Family, Celebrations, Holidays, Neighbors and more.  In summary, our Summer rocked!  I hope yours did too.  See you in Fall!