Summer Fun

It's October (a very hot summer like October). Summer has been over for a while now (doesn't feel like it)...I know. I started writing this blog the week after labor day and just now getting around to finishing it. Whoops. So, picking up where I left off......

White pants are now illegal (rumorville says that law is outdated anyways), school has started, football has started, labor day is a memory. That must mean Summer is over!! Wait, we never really had a summer, did we? More like a 5 month long April.  It rained, and rained and rained with a side or rain.  

I updated my "summer fun"  list from last year to include a few new items. My goal every year is to accomplish the majority of my list. I want my kids to enjoy their summer as much as I did as a kid. Coming from a split then blended family, we spent our summers with my dad and stepmom in TN (I lived in Utah at the time). I have great memories from those days. We did soooo much fun stuff.

Though we didn't accomplish much on this list due to the temperamental weather, we managed to have some fun this summer and create a new list! We had a great start to the season, with a staycation mini vacation combo. I blogged about it, and you can see the fun through pictures here.

So, we scrapped the list and just went with every day as it came. Rain or Sunshine!  So here is a wrap up of our summer, as always...through photos:

When I was growing up in Utah and my Dad and family lived out here in TN. My brothers and I used to come out here every Summer and stay a few months with them. Awesome memories. Awesome times. They came up with alot of activities for such a large group of kids to do on a minimal budget. Of course during that time I didn't realize what a task it was, but now I do! So I thought it would be fun to tear a page out of that memory book and relive some of those fun trips we did.
Raccoon Mountain was one of my favorite places to go. They had the Alpine Slide, that was very dangerous and super fun, a waterslide, and go karts.  Here is where I wish I had pictures from those days...how cool would it be to have those. Ah well.
So Tim and I decide to take the kids to Raccoon Mountain, we didn't think the alpine slide would still be functional, but it would still be fun to look at. It's a big fiberglass slide going down the mountain on sleds, fast.

Here is a picture taken from a Lookout Valley history website

Well....now all that area is an RV park. No signs at all of the sky lift, alpine slide...nothing. So we kept on driving to the top of Raccoon Mountain which is a man made mountain with a lake on top to provide hydroelectricity. It's fascinating. I am pretty sure my dad took us on a tour of inside of the mountain, but back then I didn't care or appreciate it. Funny how that works.
We drove to the very top to look at the lake, ate some fast food and just enjoyed the beautiful mild weather.

More info about Raccoon Mountain

After we came off the mountain, I wasn't ready to go home (as usual) and neither was Lyla (as usual) so we talked Tim into stopping at the aquarium and playing in the water. Good thing I was prepared with bathing suits for everyone!!

There was some sort of festival (as usual) going on, so we got to enjoy some live music as well. Have I mentioned how much I love Chattanooga?

A few weeks later, Lyla got to have some QT time with mommy, and go to our friend Ethan's 5th birthday party!

When father's day came around, Tim's one and only request was to lay around the pool. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day so to Nana and Papa's for the day!!!

Tim and I snuck off in the woods for a little quiet time

With all the rain, we spent alot of time at the mall play ground area

And playing dress up at home

But if it was nice outside, outside we spent all of our time!

Lyla's preschool class had a fun Ocean Cruise themed party, all the parents were invited. They sang for us and we had a wonderful lunch with fun games. 

Lyla's class mates birthday party at the splash park

Hide and Seek in the back yard

Fun night out with friends and live music

Kids having fun in Sunday School

Backyard cookout and birthday presents with Papa and JoAnn

My best friends celebrating Britney's birthday, and then some playtime at the mall

Fourth of July, which was spent indoors the entire day

Dinner with Uncle Andrew

One of the many summer storms

We went for a ride in a hot air balloon!! Only a few feet up in the air, but it was really really scary still!!!

Three birthday parties in one weekend!!

Sunday morning at the Chattanooga Market

Lyla had the great honor of being a flower girl in Michael and Natalie's wedding

The wedding day went beautifully. An amazing ceremony, fun party afterwards, and Lyla had a 5 star performance!

The next day, I made good on my bribe of "you can go to build a bear if you walk down the aisle"

Lyla has been in daycare/preschool with Megan, Maggie and Carlos since they were 8 weeks old.  This was Carlos's last day before he went on to Kindergarten. It was also wacky tacky day!

We had a surprise on our mailbox when we got home, a welcome balloon and postcard from Lyla's new school! This made us both very happy!!

We took a trip out to South Carolina to visit Tim's grandparents and Aunt. The kids love spending the day on the farm

On the way home, we made a spontaneous trip to some lake near Atlanta. It was beautiful. Would love to go back and spend the day there.

Camel ride at the Zoo (would you believe this is the only picture I took at the zoo that day??!)

Happy Birthday dinner for Mom and Mike and Tiff's house

Open House at Papa's work

Here is a funny and interesting activity at the open house, car smashing?!

Later that night, we took pictures for Lyla's birthday poster, and got her ready for her first horse show of the season.

Ian's birthday picnic in the park

Registration day for kindergarten, Lyla picked out her favorite spot on the playround. The horse and carriage, or course. She was so ready for her First Day of Kindergarten!

Our birthday weekend had arrived. It started out with the kids staying at the grandparents and Tim and I going to our neighbor's wedding

Then time for a quick change, and we headed downtown on a wet chilly evening (in August!). The night didn't quite go as planned, but Tim and I had fun jumping from restaurant, to bar, to bar, to the river, then back to a restaurant. All trying to avoid getting soaking wet. It stopped raining long enough for us to hear some live music at RiverFront Nights

On my actual birthday, Lyla and I went to Carlos' birthday at the creative discovery museum

The next day was Lyla's birthday. I greeted her at pickup from school with balloons and flowers

Then we went to get mani/pedis. This was her first, and I think she is now hooked!

Then to Panera to meet all of the family

I planned a company outing for Diversified, and we ran into Tommy Lasorda. Was a fun night out with work friends.

We couldn't miss out on the last day that the water spray ground was open, we we packed up and headed that way. My sister Jenny and her family met us. It was great to spend some time with them!

That same day, we decided to have a spontaneous Saturday. My favorites! We got to go food and headed up to Point Park for a picnic

We escaped the rain, barely. As we were driving through downtown, we decided to stop for a treat at The Hot Chocolatier

One Sunday after church, I wanted to take the kids to the duck pond which was another fond memory I had of my summers visiting TN.

Football season started, which is also when hat season starts. I started off with these cute new hats!

Another rain day tea party

And a rainy day makeover

Another Saturday night at RiverFront nights, just the girls. We had sooooo much fun!

Labor Day was beautiful, and we were able to get one more pool day in

Moms of Multiples painting class. It's a peacock feather!

Touch a Truck at the Riverpark. They looooooved honking the horns.

And then, it was the first day of Fall. 

We are a month or so in, and we have been able to keep our fun going non stop and have added on so many more activities now that Lyla has started school. It's exhausting, but I wouldn't change a thing.

I am starting to realize why it takes me hours to create one blog. Because I don't do it often enough, and my blogs grow into these enormous long stories.

It's important that I keep it up, because I plan on making a book out of my blog and giving to the kids when they leave home instead of (or in addition to) photo albums. This again, is my number one priority for blogging.  I just need to do it more often!

goodbye Summer!!!!!