Here's to Summer!

Another summer is coming to a close as another fall is beginning.  Even though school has already been in session for a couple of weeks, summer doesn't really feel like it's over until Labor Day.  As excited as I am about the beautiful fall colors, delicious fall foods, and wearing scarves, I am still sad to see summer go.  This one in particular has been filled with a lot of great memories with the kiddos playing on the water. I thoughts I would take a moment to recall just a few of my favorites.

This summer Barrett really started to come out from behind his sister's shadow and show us who he is.  Long story short, he idolizes everything about his daddy.  He decided he no longer wants to wear his rash-guards (i.e. swim shirts) when he is swimming, because daddy doesn't wear one.  He also decided he wanted to ride the standup just like his daddy.  This photo is right after he got done riding the standup, and note the lack of shirt under his life jacket.

The paddle boards have been a big hit this summer, and even the kids have gotten into the action.  This photo is when our older two and the two neighbor kids decided they all wanted to ride the paddle board together.  This picture was taken just seconds before they all ended up in the lake.

Audrey is growing up way to fast and often tries to act older than she really is.  So, those moments when she is just having fun and acting like a kid are dear to me.  I realize that they won't be here much longer, so I want to take them in and act like a kid with her.  This summer, she was particularly interested in perfecting her cannon ball, and, I must say, she has done pretty well.  Now if she would just stop holding her nose!

This is the first summer that Fletcher has been active and aware of his surroundings.  He is particularly aware of his siblings and wants to do anything they are doing.  Naturally, they like to play with squirt guns, so he does too...even when they're bigger than him.

Barrett caught his first fish when he was fishing with the neighbors at Lake O.  He was so excited, but he refused to touch it.  I guess we've got some work to do there!

One of Audrey's newfound joys is taking my phone when I am not looking to take selfies and other random photos.  For some reason, this particular selfie makes me laugh.  

If you didn't recall from earlier posts, Fletcher really likes boats.  If we put him in a pool on the dock with boats in it, he can make boat noises and play until his fingers start to look like prunes.  

To close things out, I'll just say that it was such a joy to spend time with family and friends this summer.  It feels like we don't see the people that live closest to us as much in the summer, but we definitely see our parents and lake friends more.  It's hard to pick a photo that really captures all of that in one shot, but I think I've found the perfect one.  This is my father-in-law and one of our Lake O neighbors, Brandon, doing a "bro-jump" off of the high dive.  Here's to summer!