Summertime!

Now that we've been back at our home for a solid week (and Matt only had to work two days last week), we feel like we're hitting our summer groove a little more.

While Matt was at work on Tuesday, the kids and I dealt with the ripening produce (again).  They weren't nearly as excited about stringing peapods, cutting broccoli, or slicing cucumbers as they were the first couple of times.  Oh, well.  It's all part of life, right?

The kids also have been making great use of the pool on these hot afternoons.

I think that particular afternoon I was dealing with quite a bit of communication regarding Anna.  I've been able to play with them a few times out in the water, just not every time now.

For the Fourth of July we tried to brave the heat and bugs for a Concert on the Square in downtown Madison.  The kids were excited to try it out and I was looking forward to the patriotic-themed music.

But ... it was really hot and really buggy.  And the weather was kind of iffy with the potential for a sudden rainstorm.

So we bailed out early after only listening to the first half of the concert, came home for ice cream, and then found a random parking lot to sit in to watch some fireworks.  Again, we tried sitting outside of the van, but the mosquitoes are TERRIBLE right now.

Thursday morning the kids and I went over to a friend's house for a playdate.  We all decided that it was probably a good thing we had planned something for the morning after the 4th.  At least the kids were distracted and weren't too crabby in front of one another.

Friday was another garden morning before the kids and I took advantage of our last "free" day for a month.  With Anna's therapy month starting on Monday and Kate participating in a few camps in the next few weeks, too, our schedule is going to be more cramped than it has been this last week.

We decided to try out Troll Beach in Stoughton for a bit.  Our kids are suckers for beaches.  Sure enough, the sand was a hit with our crew.

Ethan, however, liked the inflatable slip n' slide even more.

The sun was getting to us after a couple of hours so we decided to go home and, since we still had our swimming suits on, swim in our pool :)  With all of the heat and sunshine lately, our pool's temperature was 95 degrees!  It was more like a hot tub than a pool that afternoon!

Saturday was a day at home, with Matt and I finally feeling like we are caught up with things at our house and around the yard.  Because so many things were finally crossed off the endless "to do" list, Sunday we spent some of the afternoon at the Stoughton Fair.

Kate and I had visited once earlier in the week (since she is exhibiting at the Dane County Fair in a few weeks), and she really wanted to go back.  We decided to go during a free tractor pull competition so that people could bounce back and forth between the machines and the animals :)

And now we must set the alarms for the morning again.  Anna's therapy this summer is from 8 a.m. until noon, so we can no longer lay around until 7:30 or later.  Sigh ...