Seriously?

Bunny resumes school tomorrow as a big 3rd grader. How did summer slip through our fingers so quickly? Growing up, summer seemed longer, but then again, I am not even kidding when I say there would be entire weeks when we didn’t leave our property. Even Bunny says summer passed with speed.

However, I suppose to say it slipped by is not correct--we made very good use of it! Catching up on photo uploading over the past few days I noticed some I never had time to share.

So, please, indulge me in a little summer photo show of the forgotten gems. :)

We randomly parked by this fountain in Washington, D.C. when visiting the Museum of Natural History.

It had some rather unusual sculptures. Stainless steel tree, anyone?

Sugar cube pyramid, perhaps?

The fountain was a welcome refuge from the 102 degree heat. Maybe no one was allowed in, but people dipped their feet, and the air was misty.

And hey! Ducks!

Where I live, life is lived outside all summer. Where I grew up, it’s often too hot and humid to expect kids to spend very much time outside. One day I hauled the kids to the park to ‘run them’ and it was so insufferably hot we were not only the only people there (mad dogs and Californians in the noonday sun), but we all decided to throw in the towel after about 45 minutes. So, indoor play places, which are my haven in winter at home, are a saving grace in the Southeast.

Amazement Square has a 4 level climbing structure that runs through its spine, so along with crafts and other ‘discovery’ activities, kids can ‘get their yayas out’. I can vouch that it’s a challenging course of rope tunnels, ladders, slides, and the like. (I went down all 4 stories with Bunny when she was 3 and I was 4.5 months pregnant with Carter and had a moment or two in the rope tunnel when I truly thought I might have to take up residence there for the remainder of my pregnancy—don’t be like me and try that.)

Nearly every evening in my hometown we spent time cooling off in the pool, same as at home.

8 year olds have the best smiles, with their mish mash of baby and adult teeth.

One afternoon my kids went crazy and insisted on eating nearly an entire package of Oreos, which I have never bought (okay, I have bought Joe-Joe’s, but that it only once or twice a year).

I am so lucky to have at least one child that is relatively daring about what she will eat. When we were treated to a dinner at my friends Melanie and Jared’s restaurant, The Millstone Tea Room, Bunny squealed with excitement when I suggested we share their mussels. (And they were amazing, like everything else we tasted. Go there if you’re ever in the area—you will NOT be disappointed!)

My girl is not above foraging for berries along hiking paths, though.

Yum.

Sometimes we had a day without any plans to see family or friends, so we explored.

Sometimes a really bubbly bath is just what everyone needs to calm down.

Water, water, water. If there was a unifying theme to our summer, it would have to be water. One night after dinner it was still in the upper 90s, and we could not pass up this fountain. Having failed to plan ahead, it was one damp car ride home, but I’d say that was a fair price to pay.

Closer to home, Carter may have wandered through our friends’ strawberry and corn patch… lately I have noticed so many people grow corn. Am I missing some hot trend? I think I’ll stick with tomatoes and basil. Our strawberries never grew this year because I keep forgetting I have strawberries to water… go figure!

This chiminea was an anniversary present to ourselves. A couple of times a week we’ve had an evening outside by the fire—it’s been a great addition. We especially like that we chose a chiminea over a fire dish because it directs the smoke up and over us. Summer nights are chilly here, and the fire enables us to suck a little more enjoyment out of a weekend day. Carter loves to help his Daddy ball up newspapers and fancies himself a budding expert on fire making.

Again, water. We went to the beach a couple of times, too. (Just a couple… heh.)