We’ve been doing a lot of water play this summer. At parks with water features, at the pool at the waterpark, at “the beach”, a small lake with a nice sandy beach and cold water.

We’ve been biking and hiking.

We’ve been reading. The kids have been checking a lot of graphic novels out lately which is fun.

We’ve been gaming. Rat-a-Tat Cat with Lilah and Dominion with Gavin and then with both kids.

We drove up to the top of Idaho to visit with my aunt and grandmother for a few days. It was nice to see them and be there and we checked out the local parks while we were there.

The kids really enjoyed a badminton set that my aunt has, hitting birdies and balloons around the back yard.

We finished listening to The One and Only Ivan by Kristina Applegate in the car and began another in the Redwall series, Mariel of Redwall by Brian Jacques. We spotted license plates from many states. We saw a small wildfire on the side of the road and many many fields of crops growing green, gold, and yellow.

The kids spotted a tinker crate box on the porch today, and immediately set out to open it and tinker. This one had things to build a lava lamp which they had put together in twenty minutes and are absolutely thrilled by.

Playing outside is lovely this time of year.

I’m noticing lots of evidence of newer awareness, like the question, “Is so-and-so thinking of me?”, and “I think I should have had just the strawberries, instead of strawberries and cookies. Now my tummy hurts.”