Summer Recap

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an annoyingly big proponent of changing seasons, especially as the end of the current one approaches. And boy, is late August one of those times. The grass is dry; my plants so eagerly planted and loved those first months of summer are like “Sure, we’ll just wither away and die out here.” It thunders enough at the pool to keep kids out of the water but not enough to, I don’t know, rain!!!  I’m ready for school to start, and mornings to be chilly, and the haze of sweltering summer heat and mosquitos to lift. Given that Friday reads that it will be 97 degress, I decided I needed to step back from the cranky and push through with a positive attitude regarding summer. Therefore, a summer recap of all our goofy nutball kiddo updates will suffice!!

That being said, I did sit down and try to think about what we actually did this summer. My brain is moving slower than that non-breeze. I think we did some stuff, and it was fun? Here is the list, nonetheless, that Sheaff and I’s foggy brains were able to create:

-Bria is becoming her own person. (Although she reminds us of a puppy a great deal of the time…. Kind of scrappy looking, begs for food, always dirty, plays fetch, rolls around with other dogs, see pix…). She went from walking to running in about 3 seconds and pretty much only stops moving to eat bacon or read Pout Pout Fish.

-Adalyn has been obsessed with Mulan for several months now. She constantly plays Shang, the captain in the movie who often goes shirtless in “training,” thus why Adalyn isn’t wearing a shirt in half the pictures we have of her these days. You can hear her singing “Let’s get down to business!!” about 500 times a day, and quotes Mushu like a boss. Mar Mar recently gave her a Mulan Barbie to carry around while fighting the Huns. As you can see from the picture, she may be happy about it. 

-We joined a pool this summer. For the first half, Bria just circled the kiddie pool squawking like a seagull and sprinkling graham cracker crumbs like pixie dust, until about a month ago when she decided water could be fun. Her cousin Gracie on the other hand thinks she’s freaking Michael Phelps, and could care less that she has no idea how to swim when the water gets too deep.  Addie shockingly plays “Shang and Mulan go to the ocean” in the water, and just kind of talks to herself while zooming around in her float. Works for me; she is entertained. Thanks Shang and Mulan.

-Addie did do swimming lessons. The teacher was the sweetest life guard who tried desperately to convince Addie that she wouldn’t let go of her in the deep part. Just when I thought she was getting used to swimming lessons, I hear her flipping out in the middle of the pool one day; I guess for the first time she noticed that her fingers got pruney, so she was sobbing hysterically, “My fingers are ruined!!!!!” for the entire pool and surrounding area to hear. #thatsmykid #ruinedfingersaredevestating

-The girls got several beach trips. They enjoyed making sand castles (like Uncle Jordan); I think we are still finding sand in their ears. Addie thinks shucking corn is the best thing ever, and now has a caterpillar from the farmhouse named Pancakey. We set him free in our front yard, where we confidentially tell Addie he is thriving.  But honestly, these girls don’t know how lucky they are to have countless memories in this place breathing salt water air and running around in a yard where so many generations have grown.

-Both girls are into writing now. Addie likes writing notes (aka drawing rainbows on a paper, folding it up, and hiding it somewhere) and surprising us with them. Bria likes taking the tops off of markers, drawing lovely designs all over herself, and surprising us with them.

-We got to do several visits to see family or friends, both near and far! They went to a children’s museum in Charlotte, an aquarium in Manteo, and Papa introduced them to spicy Chex Mix. Pretty exciting stuff, folks.

-After 3 and ½ years, Adalyn finally likes wheels and rides her bike. She will now even drive the Digger that Jordan got them for Christmas (which Bria has been driving since before she was 1). While Gracie hula-twerks to the Chinese techno music, Bria often attempts to steal her spot. That goes well. 

Our favorite part of the summer is cliché but true, the adventures with friends and memories with family just can’t be beat. Whether we were gathered around a table singing Addie’s favorite prayer (Frosty the Snowman, obviously), at the top of a sand dune or floating in the sound, chasing the munchkins or reading at the end of the day… it’s pretty hard to complain.

(You know, unless it’s 97 degrees.)

Good job Summer! See you next year!