Picnic and shakes

This weekend feels a little bit like the end of summer. This was the last weekend before schools starts where we really had nothing planned. On Saturday, we had a play day with a ton of other kids entering kindergarten this year at St. Louis. Alex's friend from CTK Ward was there, and lots of new friends and friends from VBS. All in all, there were 9 incoming kindergarteners at the play day - there are only 45 overall, so Alex should know at least a few kids in his new class.

After naps, we headed out to find a good milkshake (it was on the list!) and ended up at the Velvet Cream in Hernando. The milkshakes were amazing and Alex and Reed loved their half vanilla/half chocolate shakes.

On Sunday, we ran some errands, played in the kiddie pools and grilled out dinner. A very productive and fun weekend for all!

Big Backyard

Today we went to visit My Big Backyard at the Botanic Garden. Alex and Reed had been before, but it was my first time there. They loved it (and I did too!) There was so much fun stuff to see and do - even a little water to beat the heat.

Summer break

Alex and Reed have had a break from summer camp this week for a "stay home" week. Moz stayed with them the beginning of the week, and I've been home the last two days. Yesterday we played in the backyard all morning - they just love the kiddie pools! Then Grandma took them to the Farmer's Market for Italian Ice. It was a fun day, and they have decided that they don't want to go back to summer camp - uh, oh! Hopefully they will change their mind by next week.

4th of July

We had an absolutely wonderful 4th of July at the lake with Grandma, Pops and Aunt Christie. When we first started going to lake, I had visions of Alex and Reed playing in the water, grilling out and staying up late for the fireworks. And this year, that finally happened! They had a BLAST jumping off the big blue mat into the water and going for a cruise on the boat. They also learned to skip rocks on the water and spent more time on the "beach" than I ever remember.

Fireworks, though, might have been the hit of the weekend. They stayed up super late on Saturday night for the fireworks since we just happen to have the most amazing view right from the driveway! We got in the back of the van (they were excited about the "tailgate" party) and munched on popcorn during the show. Alex is completely hooked and loved watching more fireworks on TV all weekend.

We did more water time on Sunday and grilled out a perfect 4th dinner. Monday morning we got back in the water (I was still "rocking" from all day Sunday!) and did some final jumps before heading home. Alex was completely Mr. Independent and swam all the way to the ladder and back by himself. Reed was unbelievable with his jumping and even went under a few times!

It was a great weekend from beginning to end!

Blueberry picking

It was a little cooler out today, so we decided to go blueberry picking this afternoon. We headed out to a farm not too far from here (just a street over from Oliver's dog camp). It was really nice and the boys had a great time. The "farmer" there was super nice and we picked blueberries (and ate a few!) until we were exhausted! Both of them did a great job picking only the blue ones, and Reed only put a little dirt and gravel in the bucket! They also had a swing and sand box there, so Alex and Reed enjoyed both of those when we were finished picking. Finally, we headed home and made blueberry buckle. Delicious! We will be doing this again sometime soon, I think.