Snapshots of Summer

Well, here we are...full swing into a new school year and I am still behind in all the things I've been wanting to share...

...so I decided that I'd let the pictures do some of the talking...

Way back near the end of May, we celebrated Sophia's 7th birthday and Gracia's 1st birthday.

Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy 7th Birthday!

We enjoyed a visit to the Dallas Zoo while my brother was visiting the birthday girls :)

They LOVE hanging out with Uncle Chris!

Feeding the lorikeets was a hit!

My parents came out to help us celebrate too :)

Oma and Opa with their grandgirls :)

While they were here, my mom, Chris, Steve, and the big girls went to Six Flags Over Texas.  It was the girls' first trip to a big amusement park...and they had a blast!  My brother is a roller coaster dare devil...and discovered that he has a thrill-seeking-adrenaline-junkie partner in Bella.  She did the BIG coasters with no hesitation...wow!  Here they are on the Texas Giant in the first car, second seat!  

Chris and Bella...daredevil duo!

 

Oma and Bella enjoying a milder coaster!

Sophia after a water ride!

 We enjoyed parks before the heat really set in.

Weeeeeee!

We had fun at the pool...here in our neighborhood and at the Frisco Athletic Center.  The one at the athletic center has two big slides, a fun kiddie pool, and a lazy river...big fun!

We also enjoyed visiting a couple of spraygrounds, also called splashparks...another source of cool, watery fun!

We enjoyed live music in Frisco Square...but I do have to say that we very much missed the outdoor concert series at Rose Tree Park in Media and at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford.

Monkey in a tree listening to music!

And then it got HOT!  And we retreated indoors.  Seriously, I wasn't prepared for the intensity of the heat...it's not usually very humid, so the temps are manageable until you start getting near 100 and above.  But the sun is so intense that it hurts...and you just can't be out in it for long periods...so we spent lots of time inside.  The girls borrowed lots of movies from the library and had more TV time this summer than they probably have the past year or two combined.  I don't like kids sitting in front of the TV...we'll have to figure out a different strategy for next summer.  It got to where even the pool wasn't refreshing...it was like bath water in the afternoons, so we started swimming in the mornings.  We also did puzzles and a few crafts...but next summer I'll be ready for those long, hot afternoons.

Decoupaging canisters to use as piggy banks~

Sophia painting her jewelry box~

We enjoyed a neighborhood block party.

The girls decorated their bikes for the parade~

Live music :)

And we had fun at a 4th of July party at out church.

Happy 4th of July!

Our dear Bella turned 10 in July!  She wanted dinner at Fuddruckers and dessert at Dairy Queen...it was a great celebration!

The birthday girl ate the whole sundae by herself!

We thoroughly enjoyed a visit from Karen, a long-time friend from our days in Raleigh.  She visited us when we lived in Colorado, but we hadn't seen each other in over 10 years.  She had a conference in Ft. Worth and stayed through the weekend to come hang out with us...what a treat!  Karen, thanks for visiting...it was so good to see you!

All the ladies!

My parents and brother came for another visit in August...another fun time with family :)  Gracia impressed them with her walking ability.  She had taken her first steps when they were here in May...to my brother.  Would she walk to me...no...would she walk for Chris...yes!  And when he walked through the door in August, she practically ran to him!  Here she is with Oma :)

We actually got an antenna so we could watch the Olympics...many of you know that we just say NO to TV programming in our home.  Yes, we have a TV...yes, we watch movies...but we choose not to have programming.  Anyway, the girls really loved watching the Olympics and were very inspired by the rhythmic gymnasts...we watched many, many, many, many, many routines :)

Rhythmic Gymnastics~

Sophia spent an afternoon at the ER.  She was swimming and swallowed a bunch of water and kept throwing up and just wasn't quite herself...so we ended up at the hospital.  Thankfully, she was fine and released that evening...thank you, sweet Lord~

After she began feeling better...

The big girls got pretty big hair cuts near the end of August...sent it to Locks of Love :)

New hair cuts~

We went to our first Frisco Rough Riders game (with our church)...our local minor league baseball team...and had big fun!  When we told the girls we were going to see the Rough Riders, Bella asked if it was Mr. Roosevelt's Rough Riders...that's my girl :)

Such fun...family, friends, food...and baseball!

I think that about wraps it up...hope you had a great summer!

Here's to a fun fall...God bless~

Rach