Summer Fun Coming to an End

This is one of the last things we did from our "Summer List."

August 1st?!

I find it hard to believe that it is the beginning of August already, the end of summer. I would love for the school year to go Labor Day to Memorial Day, but that's a discussion for another day.

Checking out the "Summer To Do" list, we still have quite a few things still to check off. Namely, a Reds game. Can you believe that we haven't taken the kids to one in quite a while. Meredith, none at all, although I'm wondering how she'll do seeing as she doesn't like to stay in one place for very long!

Here are some of the other things we'd like to knock out before the school bell starts ringing:

• Go on a picnic (We had a mini-picnic in the backyard, but I'd like to go to a park or someplace.)
• Go bike riding (This is somewhat prohibited by the fact that Louie is not confident in riding his bike. He has pedaled for a great distance now, but he has it in his head that someone has to hold onto the back of his seat, which he doesn't need any more. And yes, I'm aware that it is a failure in my parenting that he has yet to learn.)
• See an outdoor movie (I'd love to be able to take them to a drive-in but there are so few left around here. There are places to see movies outside, in parks, on Fountain Square, though.)
• See an outdoor concert (Apparently these happen on Wednesdays. The next couple of Wednesdays are taken, so hopefully we can get the last one!)
• Make bird houses (I have these little houses that may be good for a rainy-day activity.)
• Have a lemonade/vegetable stand (Our vegetables haven't reached full-bounty yet; we haven't had much for ourselves! But maybe later this month they can do this.)
• Teen ballgame (The boys love to watch the big kids play baseball and we were trying to come up with someone we know who might be playing this summer. If nothing else, we could go over to Crosley in Blue Ash to catch a game.)
• Sharon Woods (We haven't visited many of our old haunts. Not a big deal, as we go here quite a bit during the school year.)
• Visit Pipkins (I thought we'd walk over to the market after a trip to the library, but this just hasn't happened yet.)
• Findlay Market (This will definitely happen at some point. The kids love going down there and so do I, but we have to make time for it.)

It must seem like with a list this long we haven't done anything all summer, but we actually have many things marked on the list. They've had a very full summer of swimming and swim lessons, multiple visits to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and all sorts of picnics and parties. Let's see how much we can fit into these last few weeks!

Mysterious Garden

So the kids have been gone with Kevin's parents for almost a week. Kevin has been gone to China for two weeks. I have had a lot of time on my hands!

This has also been the hottest time of the year thus far, so one of my main duties has been keeping the garden watered. I love our garden, and I love gardening even though I know almost nothing about it and am probably making many mistakes in it all.

But we do get some produce from it and this morning I was pleasantly surprised to find beans on the vines! I did not get to water yesterday because I had a yard sale with my brother and his fiance, but luckily the rain took care of that (and our yard sale!), so maybe they were already there then. For breakfast I had some right off the vine and it was delicious!

I am continually amazed at all the miracles occurring in the garden, and too often I am rushing to get the watering and weeding done that I don't get to notice it all. I am thankful for this time without the kids and with Kevin being gone to appreciate some of the things that have gone unnoticed. Although, I'd rather have them here and be able to enjoy these little mysteries!

My poor radishes have failed again this year. Or, I should say, I have failed the radishes once again. The squash are growing wildly but no fruit just yet. The corn is doing amazingly well. Who know about the carrots; they may just be all green and no root. The tomatoes are so-so. They are growing well and there are quite a few tomatoes (I had one yesterday!), but half of the plants have bugs (aphids and white flies), so I'm trying to correct that. I'd like to not use a chemical, but I may have to turn to that. No more eating off the vine!

I know that I could be a better gardener, but I feel like I am laying the groundwork for when I have more time. Like, after my days aren't filled with the kids. I am making mistakes now so I will be a veteran gardener later. (That's what I'm telling myself!)

What We've Been Up To

We are entering in to the final weeks of July and I haven't posted since the beginning of June. You can see what's happening to our summer! Below I'll post some of the highlights of our summer so far. The boys made a list of things they wanted to do in these months and we're doing a pretty good job of knocking them off.

Kevin has been in China for just about two weeks now and when he gets home (hopefully soon!) I'm hoping we'll be able to do some of our Summer List '11 activities with him!

The posts below are mainly photos so that I don't overwhelm myself with trying update the kids' lives :)