summer '17 recap

This summer has been a whirlwind of settling into our house, finding new routines and getting some of the more immediate projects taken care of. We've had lots of trips to Lowe's, lots of naptime and after-bedtime DIYing going on...and that's just how we like it, even if it is a little tiring. ;)

Immediately after our week in Port Hope, all four of us went to camp! Deric had been asked to speak in the evenings to the high school group and they kindly let me and the boys accompany him for the week. So we spent our days mostly playing in the sand volleyball court with another family of boys, plus some fishing lessons for Jake (first time!), a few "hikes" through the woods and the puddles and Jake even climbed on the roof of a fire truck one night! The truck came out as a precaution while the camp set off fireworks. Jake got to have a late night with Dad that night and watch the fireworks with the big kids. He was happy but so tired!

We've been sharing a garden plot with friends this summer since we didn't have a yard at the beginning of the summer. But because of a really busy few weeks with our move, plus our friends' moved at the same time, our garden is looking so sad. The weeds just took over everything in no time and the only plant to survive was our tomatoes. I did harvest enough tomatoes one week to try my hand (again) at marinara sauce-- and it worked this time! Delicious. But other than that, we got a few green tomatoes to fulfill my fried green tomato BLT quota for the summer and then a friend let us pick their green beans one week so we got fresh snapped green beans! I set Jake to work one morning during an episode of Curious George and quickly realized my mistake-- with George playing, the green beans were getting snapped about once every five minutes. ;) 

Anytime Jake gets down on Reid's level, Reid comes over and either belly flops on top of Jake or sits on him and bounces. Thankfully Jake thinks its funny and is patient enough to wait for Reid to move instead of throwing him off when he wants to get up.

Reid figured out how to climb into his wagon...but he can't get himself out. And since he won't stop getting in I taught Jake how to get him out. And then Jake figured out how to give Reid wagon rides! Its actually great entertainment for both of them (and for me). Its so cute to see them going in circles around the house.

We love our backyard but the single drawback is our lack of shade. We only have one tree on our property and its in the front yard, so the backyard gets a *bit* warm in the afternoons. We do what we can for shade and when all else fails, we get out the water!

One afternoon while Reid was napping, Jake and I tried our hand at chalk paint! It was so fun for both of us! Simple, too. We grated chalk with a cheese grater into a plastic container, mixed in some water to the right consistency and painted away! Jake enjoyed grating the chalk and mixing it into paint more than drawing, but I loved painting the ground! The chalk paint goes on really thick and is very vivid compared to regular chalk drawings. Its such a simple twist on an old standby and Jake asks to do chalk paint every few days. He can pretty much do all the grating and mixing now; I just help him gauge the amount of water he'll need so its not too watery. 

Farmers market! I'd wanted to go all summer and finally one night while Deric was at church, the boys and I happened to drive by the market so we went! It was a lot of fun. We didn't need any produce but we definitely needed kettle corn. I told Jake he could spend up to $5 on something of his choosing and he chose a family size bag of kettle corn. We all appreciated that choice. I also bought challah bread that was divine and we had fantastic french toast one morning. I love baking so now I'm excited to try my own challah bread one day.

We're so lucky that our neighborhood is connected to the town's greenway system. I'm majorly impressed at the greenways here: we can get basically all over our town on the greenways. (And its mostly flat, thank you Indiana!) Our nearest grocery store is exactly a mile away; we can access all three major parks in town within about three miles; and a bike ride to church/preschool is three miles. Deric bikes to work as often as his schedule and the weather allows and he's taken Jake in the bike trailer to preschool at church as well. The boys and I go out on bike rides fairly often as well. There's little "free library" book stop about .5 miles down the greenway so its a great distance for Jake to bike. We check out the books inside, put our own book in to share, and head back home...or farther down the trail if Jake is up for it! I'm excited to see the greenway when the leaves change this fall.

And there you go, the summer at a glance! The air is starting to get cooler here and Jake's at school three mornings a week, plus playing soccer on Saturday mornings. Wednesday nights at church have started up and that means we're officially in a new season and new routine. I'm half sad and half excited about it but mostly excited to experience a new season--of weather and of life-- in our new home!