So Long Summer...

Oh, No!!! Summer is over???

I don't know if the calendar says so, but to me the passing of Labor Day marks the end of summer. I was trying to explain that to Tessa yesterday (who didn't understand why the swimming pool would be closed), and she just kept saying, "No, I want summer to stay here."

We had a good summer with many ups and downs... but we made it, and did so much stuff! We went swimming... A LOT! Gracie joined the swim team, and got lots of ribbons... and learned to swim "floatie free".



Tessa perfected her spin jump off the diving board... and wants to "race with swimming" next year too!




Tanner developed a great love for the kiddie pool...


And luckily... Aunt Mandy came along to help chase him around a few times.


When we weren't swimming... we ate at our favorite restaurant (perhaps a little too often).



Or went to the park for a swing.




We stayed home and read books...



We played hide and seek...



And had snacks with friends...



And some days we just dressed up and danced around... all day.



Whew... I'm exhasuted! And on top of all that we accomplished abandoning Tessa's pacifier, and Tanner's bottle... Woo Hoo!! I tried to take a few pictures today... Tessa was in such a good mood, of course, until she saw the camera in my hand. Bless her!

Closing out what I feel has been my most challenging season as a mom since I became one... I am sort of sad to see it pass... my kids have grown up so much this summer, and it just goes by so fast! But on the other hand, I'm thrilled to be moving on and starting new things.

September looks a lot different for our family this year than it did last, for a variety of reasons, and I'm so very grateful for all of them. :-)