Summer Re-cap

  

We were SO BORING this summer. I loathe summer time, what with all of the HEAT and HOT, and NOT coldness. It takes everything in my power just to walk outside and get into my oven van. I really have to force myself to get the kids out doors during the summer and this year seemed to be one of the worst! I know most people enjoy jumping in the pool, playing in the sprinklers, or going to water parks and whatever. Me? I don't enjoy those things. Well, let me re-phrase. I do not enjoy those things with a baby. DeeDee is a disaster in pool areas. She wants to do ONLY the things NOT allowed. As in running, jumping in the water, and generally doing anything else that is considered dangerous. I always end up just keeping her alive instead of having much fun. So because of that, this family didn't have a lot of water fun this summer. In fact, we didn't have a whole lot of fun times. Mostly we sat around and kept cool! It wasn't ENTIRELY boring, though, I mean

 we had SOME fun.....So what DID we do?

1. 

We took a few trips to Austin!! The hubby wanted to train for his #2 Ironman in the hills of Austin. So we packed up the family a few times and did some camping! We had a lot of fun! However, the drives to and from Austin weren't fun. The picture above is the ONE MOMENT when the baby was NOT crying. She cried SO MUCH that we invested in ear plugs for those drives. The whole family would plug up our ears to keep sane. We were still all smiles though!

Here are the kids at Austin Java! We would be there in the early mornings when Nik was on his bike rides.  It was yummy!!! I enjoyed quite a few vietnamese coffees there!

We also found ourselves at an Austin food truck park!

We enjoyed cupcakes and ice cream! 

It was fun and delicious!

During one of our Austin trips we ventured to McKinney Falls State Park. Here we are at the falls.

We skipped rocks and climbed on the rock formations!

Fun and beautiful!

We always stayed in our pop-up and it was surprisingly comfortable!

The kids brought along their creepy marionette dolls they received as souvenir gifts. These dolls ended up being one of the FUNNEST parts of the camping trips! We all learned that Nik and I are hilarious puppeteers!

It is always a good time for school....

We found so many cool bugs and wildlife!

Here is a huge walking stick that we investigated for a long time!

(At the very top of the picture).

This deer was so friendly! It lingered around near our camp site for a long time! 

How cool!

We also saw a few bunnies, very friendly squirrels, and tons of butterflies!

On another trip we canoed on Lady Bird Lake at Zilker Park. THAT was SO much FUN! Here is Myleigh in our friend's canoe. She kept asking when she would be able to see the dolphins! It was hilarious and adorable!

Here is the panorama I took while we were canoeing! 

We also swam in the lake (after an hour of walking trying to find the entrance). It was FREEZING. I cannot explain how cold it was. NONE of the kids wanted to swim because it was so cold. 

2. 

We drove around town visiting friends and family!! We visited our friends' new houses, sick family members, and had many dinner dates! (The baby would sleep during most of these rides, thank goodness!!)

Visiting Hunny and Pa-paw and cousins!

This summer flew by so quickly. It was brutally hot and boring for this family. We decided that next year is going to be our "do-over" year. 

We are going to make the best of our summer time next year and have some F-U-N in the S-U-N!