Three Kids and a Dog: Summer Comes to a Close

Things are starting to wind down for the summer. The girls finished their first and only camp last week - it was a camp at our local humane society. They loved it and tried to get me to adopt a new pet every day that I picked them up. Luckily there no new felines or canines in our home (yet).

Their fall sports have picked up this week with cheerleading and soccer starting. Swimming starts after Labor Day so we'll have to throw that into the mix too. Then the girls head back to school on Monday after a soccer tournament this weekend for Hailey. Summer is surely winding down and the craziness and reality of having three kids in 6 sports this fall has begun.

We tried to make the most of our time in Michigan this summer and researched new activities to do with the kids. We found a cute breakfast/coffee spot in St. Joe and then enjoyed kayaking on the Paw Paw River where we cruised past some lovely homes and a scenic golf course (Austen was in Heaven and even picked up a few spare golf balls). There was some great wildlife on the river including lots of turtles that would jump off their logs into the water when you approached. We saw two swans as well. We weren't expecting to see those in the middle of a river in Michigan but it was a nice surprise to our day. It rained a bit too unexpectedly so we took cover under a bridge and entertained ourselves by racing each other through the pillars and around. Tom and Peyton won but Hailey and I would have if Austen (captaining his own kayak) hadn't run into us!

We also had our usual group of friends up in early August for our largest group each summer - 16 adults/kids. We went to Lake Arvesta again so the kids could play on their giant inflatable obstacle course in the water and head down their waterslides. We played volleyball and pickleball, and then the boys also ventured off to play the frisbee golf course which took them around the acres of property into some wooded areas. Sunday the weather wasn't great but the boys still all went to the beach to get in some father/son football games before we all called it a day with ice cream before heading home so all of our high school kids could be well rested to start their fall tryouts for sports on Monday.

It's been a hot and lazy summer. Not too much traveling or crazy sports schedules but what I've found is that we all like it best when we are busy - just doing something. Like us, our kids don't like to be idle (well, maybe Hailey does).