summer 2013 in numbers

Memorial Day to Labor Day (because that's the real season of summer):

2 parades

4 trips to the river

4 trips to charleston
2 (or 3?) trips to new martinsville

2 trips to lake champion

2 trips to rockbridge

1 wyldlife camp trip

2 young life camp trips
1 college young life camp trip

1 broken down bus

94 health forms collected

1 trip to the beach

10+ bike rides

lots of baseball passing
6ish baseball games

1 new bad mitten player

1 trip to idlewild/soak zone

1 week of swimming lessons

1 week of soccer camp

3 different boats

50+ hours at the pool

2 movies at the theater as a family (Despicable Me 2 & Monsters University)

4 free kid movies at the theater

3 car washes

3 weddings
2 kids that now eat hamburgers

1 dining room painted

3 oil changes

2 new tires

1 river

1 lake

1 ocean

72 days of rain (not really, but it did feel like that in june and july)

3 visits to urgent care
2 weeks of cool weather in August

2 babies added to the family - welcome Isaac and Henry!

6,500+ miles driven (mostly by Ben, mostly in the van)

30+ hours of movies watched while traveling (I do not feel one bit bad about that!)

1 hike in summersville to a big, giant cliff (i won't do that again with my children!)
9 monday fun days

2 wave pools
1 half painted deck
10 weekends out of town
1 wonderful summer sitter
4 times to church at South Ridge Church  - Yikes!
1 time to church at River Ridge - Teays Valley
1 time to church at River Ridge - Charleston
1 WVU football game 

1 summer song - Cruise by Florida Georgia Line (you can't help but roll your windows down!)

1 labor day weekend catching up on sleep

Things that did not happen this summer:
1 half painted deck
0 full fledged grocery shopping trips
1 pair of glasses not worn
0 time to myself


All in all we had a GREAT summer! I'd venture to say this was our best summer since having kids. Although it may not have been what we envisioned or dreamed of (when is anything really what you dreamed it would be?) and we didn't cross off even half the things on our summer bucket list (which may have been a little over ambitious and expensive!) it was still great. We played a lot as a family. I used my Mondays off wisely. Ben kept the kids on Fridays which was great for them. We went to the river more than we have in a long time - maybe since I was a kid. We played hard, we slept hard (and maybe not enough). We spent time with family. We spent time with friends. There weren't nap times to worry about or bedtimes to constrain us (although sometimes I would dream of putting them to bed at 8:00 pm). I'm not going to lie, I'm EXHAUSTED from summer. The last two weeks of 8:00 pm bedtimes has been GLORIOUS!  But it was all worth it!

Bring on the Fall!