The End of Summer

 It has been a really fun summer! We are starting up homeschool tomorrow, so I thought I'd share a few experiences we've had the last few weeks. It's been busy and fun! 

The Lake

One of the things we have done often this summer is go to the lake. There are two reservoirs about ten minutes from our house, so we get a pass and go as often as we can! It's always a lot of fun for everyone. 

One visit, we took Ben's brother Donovan and his wife Jessica with us. We went in the afternoon, thinking it would be less busy, but it was actually crazy busy! We found a little spot (not our normal one) for ourselves and swam quite a bit, while Jessica played in the sand with Rylee. We did end up leaving sooner than we might have, because it was so crowded, but it was still really fun to go with them!

Fishing

Another time, Danny's (Ben's dad) family had a get together at the lake. They brought some boats and had a big dinner. The girls and I spent most of the time on Danny's fishing boat. The girls have been wanting to do that with them all summer, so they were really happy. 

Rylee spent most of her time driving the boat and drinking out of a water bottle that had been in the sun that she'd found. She did end up "fishing" with a pole, and she was bound and determined to "do it myself". Danny would hold onto the line, so that she didn't drop the pole in the water, and she would swing the pole around. 

Parker loved being on the boat. The very first time we went to the lake this year, she wanted to go on a boat that was on the beach. I told her it wasn't ours and that she would need to ask Grandpa to take us on his boat. She started walking around the beach, calling for Grandpa. She has been anxiously waiting ever since. She held a pole for a minute a couple times, but she was pretty bored with the fact that the fish weren't biting. Her favorite part was looking at all of Grandpa's different lures. Once she was used to being on the boat, she loved standing at the top of the boat, calling herself Captain Parker. She also called Danny "Captain Grandpa" the whole time we were on the boat. 

Ashtyn loved the fishing part. It was a little disappointed that we didn't get any bites, but she was very patient holding the different poles, waiting for them to bite. She also wanted to cast by herself and before Danny could stop her, she tried. She ended up catching me! It got me on the shoulder, but it wasn't too bad. Once we got it off, Danny helped her cast again, and now we tease that they didn't catch anything but Mom. 

Ben started off on the fishing boat with us, but switched over to his aunt's boat to do some surfing behind the boat. Once everyone was back, we had dinner. It was yummy and the kids had a lot of fun running around with all the kids, sort of eating their food. 

The Wizard of Oz 

Another fun thing this summer was that Hannah was Dorothy in a local play. Ben and I took Ashtyn on a Friday night and she really liked it. We got her popcorn and Dots, and afterwards got her ice cream from the treat place next door. Hannah did such a good job, as did the rest of the cast. It was a cute play and Ashtyn had fun on her special date. 

The next day, Danny and Lindi took Parker for a special date. She loved it as well, and told us all about the treats she got and how fun it was for her. 

Stream Fishing 

For Ashtyn's date (they gave them golden tickets for Christmas, good for a date during the year), Danny and Lindi took Ashtyn stream fishing. She was so excited, she made crowns for everyone out of paper and collected grass hoppers and worms (which lived in our fridge for over a week) to take with her. 

They took her up and had a little picnic. Then Ashtyn spent hours fishing with Danny. The fish were a little jumpier, so Danny would hook them for her and Ashtyn would pull them in. She came home with 3 fish she wanted to clean and cook, telling us that she had caught 14 fish in her whole life, and 13 that night (she caught one fish by herself last year). 

We didn't end up cooking the fish. The next day, Ashtyn wanted to keep looking at them and holding them. When her friend Elsie came over, Ashtyn showed her the fish (and boy, she was impressed). Then, unbeknownst to me, they went on a bike ride with the fish on the back seat. It was probably 96 degrees out. When I saw, I told Ashtyn to put the fish away. I came out a few minutes later to find the fish not in the fridge, but in a bucket of hose water outside. By the time they got back in the fridge, we decided it would probably be best to not risk it. 

Bike Riding

The other thing we've done a bunch of this last part of summer was bike riding. We recently got me a bike with a bike trailer, and Ashtyn has started riding her bigger bike, so she's a little faster. We put Parker and Rylee in the trailer and then Ashtyn and I ride all over the place. We want to get Ben a bike so we can do family bike rides in the evenings. 

Summer has been a lot of fun! We've seen a lot of family (despite Covid, though we miss the people we haven't seen!) and made a lot of really memories together. Sometimes I miss having a baby (and still want to have another soon!), but it's fun to have older kids and do fun things like this with them!