Tess participated in a basketball camp for ages 8-11 put on by our stake. She had fun learning the sport better though I don't think we'll do that camp again next year.
We did a doggy swap with the Butlers-- they took care of Ellie while we went to Utah in July and we took care of Susie while they went to Utah in August. We had Susie for about 2 weeks. The kids loved having her here. We let them sleep downstairs with her for 3 nights, since she doesn't shed. But when she pooped on our carpet we decided she needed to be treated like the animal that she is...back outside.
This Summer Jake earned money by pet-sitting and mowing Uncle James' lawn with Dan. After attending cub scout day camp at the Frederick Airport with the theme being aviation Jake got his eyes set on buying a remote control air plane. He researched and studied it all out. When we got home from Utah he had enough to buy his air plane online. He got it when Dan was out of town and unfortunately it broke within the first 24 hours of using. It is very delicate and temperamental! Poor kid was so excited for it. But it really isn't a "toy" for kids, it's a hobby to be used very carefully. It is working again but doesn't fly like it should. Dan and I were proud of how he worked hard, researched it well, and saved up to buy his air plane.
We spent a lot of time swimming, had to get our money's worth! We were invited to swim with the Truscott's at their pool, complete with a diving board, a couple times. Abby saw her friend Violet swimming in the deep end above water and the wheels in her head finally clicked and she got it. She was jumping off their diving board and swimming in the deep end (with me right next to her of course). Alice taught Jake and Tess how to dive too! She's awesome! Later that week we went to our pool that we have a Summer pass to and Abby passed the swim test (swim the length of the pool and tread water for 1 minute)! She can now go down the slide and doesn't have stay within an arms length of me!
The last Saturday before school we were invited to spend a day at Lake Anna (about 2 hours away in Virginia) with the Bastians. I thought we would be going to the State Park and playing on the beach there. We were able to use some friends lake front property and boat! Though their "vacation home" is still in the process of being built they had brought in nice sand for the beach, had completed a boating dock with 2 boats, and a slide going into the lake for the kids! We spent the day playing in the sand, boating (inner-tube and Dan and I tried wake boarding), playing in the water with paddle boats and enjoying the slide. Surprisingly I didn't get sick on the boat at all. The kids were able to take turns on the boat all day long with no fighting! It was perfect! We all got sunburned, despite applying sunblock multiple times, and left exhausted yet satisfied. A great ending to our Summer.
I made this poster at the beginning of the Summer to keep us organized. I am so proud of Abby for completing all of her goals. We didn't do half the crafts/outings that I have listed because the Summer was booked with big fun trips so our down time was just that, down time to recoup.
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