Wrinkled fingers and toes

I'm surprised my kids didn't start growing fins or turn into fish this summer. The swimming suits hardly spent time in dresser drawers because as soon as they were clean and dry they were pulled out of the laundry room and back onto little bodies, getting wet again.

We spent lots of time at Thanksgiving Point's kids garden. Nathan's favorite activity is the maze made of really tall hedges (kind of like a corn maze). We always have to do this first before we run off to play in the water.

They enjoy the splash pool, but I think their favorite activity is the little river where you can race boats.

Calla is too small for the river. She loves the sandbox, which is right next to the river. Nathan ended up bringing a bunch of water over to the sand, making a big muddy area. Calla LOVED it, and ended up covered in mud by the time she was done. The big brother and sister couldn't resist the temptation, and joined in with her.

After learning that Calla loved sprinklers, we had to give her the chance to play out with the big kids. What a happy girl!

Anika's #1 favorite activity in the summer: running through sprinklers....and of course slurping down popsicles in the process.

Swimming lessons went really well. Anika and Nathan were very proud to be moved up to the next level. Tanner is so close. One more year should do it. Look at these little swimmers! I'm so proud of the improvements they have made over the last couple of years!

The diving board is always the favorite thing in swimming lessons. Even Anika was brave enough to try it....unfortunately, I never got a picture of her. She was so proud of herself.

Tanner's favorite trick.

I thought the splash park would be a big hit with all my kids. We tried it one day. They all had fun, but the boys said they didn't want to go back. They had more important things to do with their time. Anika would go every day if I let her....and I think Calla would say the same thing if she could talk.

Nathan played a mean joke on Calla. They turn the water off every now and then to force kids to take a break. Nathan waited until he knew the water was about to turn back on, then stuck Calla in the middle of all the fountains. Poor little girl was so scared when the water started up and she was surrounded. But not scared enough to keep her out of the water.

One of those rare pictures where all of my kids are looking and no one is picking their nose or crying!

I'm usually very ready for my kids to head back to school (which starts tomorrow!) This year I have mixed feelings. Even though I tried to plan lots, I feel like we didn't do as much as I wanted to. The time flew by faster than ever. Give us another month, and my kids would have fins for sure!