It’s hard to believe that summer is winding down! I’m enjoying my flowers very much. Patsy took this picture of one of our dahlias. She planted three last summer, and they all survived over the winter and are beautifully blooming again.

We worked quite a few hours with the kids last week. There were some extra appointments/work/etc. that caused their parents to be a bit more busy than normal. One afternoon, the kids decorated cut-out cookies. I pre-baked them in the shape of a train, and they put frosting and sprinkles on them. I made the dough from scratch, used sprinkles I had, made the frosting and got some red icing from the clearance rack. They had a blast. We had them for extra time on Friday, and this helped fill in the time with a fun activity.

Jake enjoyed the party for the end of the summer reading program at the library. There were crafts, games, a fire truck, and best of all…snow cones! He chose his free book as well.

He loved this game. He got to stomp on a pedal and it blasted the foam rocket up into the air.

Each child was given a little card and they could do 10 activities at the party. He did 9 and was done, so we went home and had lunch. It was just right for him, and really solidified the fact that he had completed the program.

Patsy plugged away on school, in-between activities. My goal is that we have a few weeks done by September 1, so we can have more time at Christmas and be done early. She’s doing great so far:)

On Saturday, my sister whisked us, the kids, and some friends off an a big adventure. I’m going to save the pictures of our trip for another day, because there is so much to tell, but I promise to get busy posting it very soon. One thing about my sister is that when she plans and orchestrates a trip, the agenda is full, to say the least! We had a blast, but when you see what we did in only 4 days and 3 nights, you will see why it needs a post of its own.

Right now, I’m winding down for a good night’s sleep since I need to be at Jake’s house bright and early in the morning for our next day of adventure together! I’ll be honest, I think we are going to keep it very quiet tomorrow. I envision lots of reading aloud, game playing and a bowl of noodles and a bagel for the boy. We will both be ready for that, I’m sure.