Summer Fun

We have already started school and are in full fall mode. I really want to share our school pictures, so the summertime photo march continues! I will finish this, I will!

Independence Day 2013

We had our annual red, white, and blue photo under the oaks. This year the boys desperately needed haircuts. Quinton's bright idea was to leave them cut at the mohawk stage and spray on some patriotic color. Xavier was all in, but Dominic shied away from the sticky gel and color. That was definitely too much for his sensitive nature.

Besides the water slide, the other yearly highlight was the cake walk. Personally, I cringe at the whole event as the cakes are generally those super bright grocery store cupcakes. I could not fathom what was in the frosting that would make it that red! Still, the kids were free to choose as they wish and Xavier went straight for Martian Red. Yuck! That stuff even stained his skin for a few days. I think he would have glowed under a black light. The happiness factor was pretty high, so I guess it is worth it.

Summertime Bingo
One of our 'new to us' summer activities was bingo. This was a highlight as the kids cleaned out drawers and did some fun and some odd jobs around the house to earn their bingo. They could then choose a prize. I think nearly every drawer in the house was vacuumed and wiped out. How cool was that? One of their fun activities was face painting which had spectacular results. Marie Claire just could not get enough!

Summer Camp
Our year is divided into the time before camp and the time after camp. Before camp, the children talk continuously about last year's fun. After camp, they talk non-stop about this year's fun.

Olivia and Collette headed off to Big Bear with the Sacred Heart Sisters. These amazing sister just exude pure joy. As this was Collette's first year, she was excited but definitely a little nervous at the thought of being so far from home for a full week. Fortunately, she ended up bunking with a sweet friend from our homeschooling group. All was well, home sickness stayed at bay, and she looks forward to another fun filled week next summer.

Quinton returned again to St. Michael's Camp. Oh, how he loves the abbey! Frater Vianey led his council in what he considered the best camp yet. That is pretty high praise considering that the Father in charge named everything for the week after cheese. (He's from a Wisconsin dairy family so I guess that is far more exciting than, say, a week devoted to the Hobbit. :-) Again, this is a place of pure joy. Those boys play hard and pray hard, a perfect combination!

Stay-cation
Another new event for us was a stay-cation. As we live in southern California, the vacation destination of so many, thus we thought we should take advantage of some of the sights- the inexpensive ones. So, while we did not venture anywhere near an amusement park, we did have a an absolutely wonderful time riding the ferry to Balboa Island, eating on the pier while watching a shark hauled up, playing at the beach, riding the trolley, chatting with the sea lions, exploring a new children's museum, and sharing root beer floats in old town. Somehow, I think we did something else but, for the life of me, I can not think of it now. Oh well, it such a lovely break from our usual routine. I can't wait to do it again next year!

On to the summer birthdays!