A Summer in Pictures: 2013

We have one trip left lined up for the summer, but looking at my calendar, I'm reminded that this magical time is quickly ending.  We've had a long, fun summer and I'm sad to see it go.  Gone are the days of sleeping in, laying around lazily, getting in the pool three times a day, and doing whatever we want.  We've filled these days with zoo trips, beach trips, snow cones, floating the river, late nights, fireworks, s'mores, time with friends, and playing outside.  I know there won't be many summers in our future that are this relaxed, and this much "ours".  My big babies start kindergarten in two weeks, and I know the summers in our future will include commitments and camps, sleepovers and trips away from mommy.....sigh.  I know I can't hold it off for too long....but I'm going to fight to keep them mine, to keep them little for as long as possible. 

Beach trips 2013

We were so lucky to get to visit Port Aransas twice this summer.   My kids love the beach so much, and I'm so glad to be able to take them to visit a place they enjoy so much.....during both trips, we did all our favorite traditions....driving into town on the golf cart for ice cream, playing on the beach all day, eating tons of yummy seafood, and playing in the "big shark" outside the surf shop.  During the July trip, we paid $10 for the kids to have their picture taken with the monkey (named April) outside the aforementioned surf shop.  I knew it was going to be a quickly taken, poor quality picture, but I wanted to do it anyway, just to see how my three precious babies reacted to holding a monkey.  This experience was worth WAY more than ten dollars.  They reacted exactly like I thought they would.  Hayden wanted NOTHING to do with the monkey, and had to be bribed to sit on the bench with it.  Cale sat next to it, but was very suspicious.  Livi held out her tiny arms and grabbed the monkey from the handler before he could even hand it to her.  She snuggled that monkey and held it's little tiny hands and was SO proud to hold it.

This summer we also got to hang out with lots of friends at the beach, watch rehabilitated sea turtles be released back into the ocean, swim in the pool, look for seashells, and (Livi's favorite) ride in the golf cart.

Riding bikes....

We're trying so hard to enjoy every minute that's left of our summer..... tonight we played outside (in what felt like 145% humidity).

Dude.

I mean, really...where do you start when you've taken a full year away from blogging?  I can't even begin.  This sort of makes me want to not pick up blogging again, because the missing year annoys me and I can't even begin to go back and blog everything that happened.  Sigh.  Alas, I just looked back over the books I made of the blogs from the first years of my babies lives, and I felt really guilty about quitting.  They deserve some kind of memory keeping, right?  (I mean, aside from Instagram, which has been my sole outlet for memory recording this year)  Pictures are great, but they deserve WORDS.  Am I right??
So since I'm a weirdo and can't stand the missing year, let's recap it.
1.  Settled in to our new house, and love it.
2.  Twins finished last year at Alamo Heights United Methodist, and are on to Kinder in the fall.  I'd be way more sad about this if a) Livi didn't have another two years there or b) we weren't getting a HUGE raise by having only one little one to pay for at private preschool.
3.  Twins turned six.  SIX.  What in the ever loving world???  They are mature and worldly and use big people words.  (but still use baby words like "yesternight", which I love)
4.  Livi is almost four, and that blows my mind because I still see a tiny baby when I look at her.  (which I suspect is going to be the case when she is 35)
5...Um, maybe that's it?  So maybe we're not as exciting as I thought.  I guess I'd have blogged sooner if I'd known catching up a full year would take less than forty words. :)

Let's just start where we are.
We just finished tee ball, which Sissy tolerates and Cale LOVES.  Livi likes being at the ball park, but only because of the snow cones.
We're six days into our summer vacation, and we've got lots of plans for fun stuff.  Fun stuff we'll attempt, as long as I'm not comatose from being home all day, every day with these peeps.  I love them, more than anything, but these kids can wear you out, for reals.  We've only been at home without school for six days, and it feels like six months.  It is imperative that I come up with entertainment or else I'm going to be in the loony bin.  Plus, being at home all day means my house is never picked up, ever.  Ever.  That's going to wear on me hard core.  I'm thinking these littles are going to have to have to learn to unload a dishwasher or something.
So there you have it.  I'm going to try to keep blogging, and recording those little moments that turn into our favorite ones.