End of Summertime Fun

We thought the weather was supposed to be a bit cooler in Oklahoma. Surprise! Apparently, it's about the same climate as Dallas. Hot and humid. Nearly all summer long. So, to beat the heat the past month, we've had to get creative. As we find fun things to do to fill the days, I also find there is less bickering and fighting within the home. I don't know how many times I've reminded the kids to "Be kind" to each other. It hasn't been easy this month and makes me feel as some Northerners do at the end of winter when they've been housebound for months.

When we were in Utah, I was looking for crafty ideas for our ward Craft Blitz this October. I saw this cute vinyl saying and had to buy it. I'm not sure how I've missed out on the vinyl trend in the past 10 years, but it was fun to add some vinyl to our home and have it be kind of unique. Ben even liked this sign. He notices fonts and things like that and appreciated the lettering and fonts in this one. I am glad he likes the font in this sign. It was fun to paint this board last week and add the vinyl. Since I have done so little with vinyl, I had a blonde moment and placed the first layer on, forgetting to peel off the second. I asked Ben what he thought, since something didn't seem right to me. He carefully peeled off the second layer to create this. I love that I married a crafty "non-blonde" guy. Ta-Da!

Anyway, I love this gentle reminder right in our kitchen, near the kids bedrooms to "Be Kind. Be Wise. Be True."

Here are some other things we've done to beat the heat and boredom, encouraging us all to be more kind to each other.
I had forgotten about the best summer tool in my Mama's Toolbelt - the wet trampoline. It's something my kids love and they do so happily together, no matter their age. I enjoy spraying the hose and making up lots of games with them. It's even helped our back flower bed to come back to life a bit since Ben moved the trampoline more toward our fence.

Our best surprise was yesterday's discovery that if I spray the overhead trees, that these walking stick insects drop down, adding some fun for the younger two. Daniel was entertained for about an hour with his buggy buddies.
Of course, Daniel hasn't lost his groove and can still flip and do lots of tricks on the trampoline. This year, he's added a side flip - kind of an aerial thing, along the cartwheel lines. He's amazing! Even if he's inside playing video games or watching tv, he's generally standing up, wiggling, and being tempted to jump on our couches, walk from couch to chair and back, and is mostly in motion. I guess that's how you keep your six-pack.
Daniel is mentoring Christina well in the art of insects. KT wouldn't have played with a walking stick insect in a million years. Christina had her own bug, crawling up her arm, until she accidentally squished it.
Look what I found?
Ugh. Daniel found several green ones and one brown one.
With all this boy stuff, it's nice to see that Christina still has a bit of princess in her. Cute little poser! Christina has gotten so tall and leggy. Her hair - even when it's messy and that morning hair - can look so stunning. She's a beauty! A church friend mentioned to me that her eyes remind her of Barbara Streisand. Hmmm.

On Daniel's Father-Son date, Ben bought him a few Super Soakers at Toys R Us. We don't have one in Stillwater, but they dropped in while at the movies. Wow! This has kept Daniel very busy. He hunts for spiders on our patio with the gun and today, had a water war with neighbor boys. Of course, he loves to surprise Mom and soak me too.

I love our sprinkler toys too. This water rocket has been well-used. They are hard to find. One year I found them again at the Dollar Store and bought another when this one bites the dust. The start lever has broken, but it's still useable. I'm gonna see how much more mileage we can get out of it, since it's my personal favorite. Christina likes to "use it plain" without the rocket. She appears to be having a contemplative moment here.

One day we headed to the Aquatic Center. Unfortunately, it's closed on weekdays for the summer now. We'd forgotten that our schools start a bit later than neighboring towns. Daniel just cried and cried. We checked out this funky fossil museum, where the kids all picked a polished rock. It's a fun stop for about 30 minutes.

So we didn't ruin the hour drive, we headed to our town pool. It has two waterslides - one that Daniel could ride with a lifejacket on. Christina wasn't quite tall enough to climb up for the ride, but she loved the wading pool with a kiddie slide. KT enjoyed the diving board - or jumping board - is more how she used it. They don't allow lifejackets on the diving board here, so Daniel was once again a bit disappointed. This pool has a ton of rules - like so many city pools - that really limits the fun kids can have.

I think Daniel went on this slide about 100 times. My slide photos weren't very sharp. I was mostly in the water, so my photographer moments were limited. I am a pool Mom. Some Moms prefer laying out and getting sun. Me - I like to mostly stay cool and be with my kids in the water. We've had fun in the water this summer.

Another day we headed to the only bowling alley in town. The kids were able to bowl for about $5 a game. KT invited her neighbor friend, Ana Teresa, to come along.

Daniel and Christina shared a game, which worked out perfectly, since they were both distracted by the video game area.

Katie had some cute moments, like this one. She did very well bowling, getting lots of spares this game.

Afterwards, we hit another play area in town - at Burger King. Not known for the greatest food, I was pleasantly surprised that at least our favorite food - Funnel Cake Sticks - were not disappointing. They're even better than the fair kind, since you dip them in icing. There's never enough to go around. We bought several containers and gobbled them up. The play area strategy has been great for the past few weeks. The little kids play and explore, while I get to chat with KT. Chik-fil-A has the cleanest play area in town. Burger King's is #2 and McDs is #3, even if it's still my kids' favorite food of the 3 spots.

Another fun way to beat the heat in is this pizza and mini golf spot. It's a bit run down, but the food was delicious. Wednesdays is 1/2 price day for golfing. And who can beat $3 for kids' unlimited pizza bar and sodas. The owner was sweet and made up pizzas of our choice for the pizza bar too. We'll definitely return on Wednesdays to this spot. I forgot my camera for this outing. KT kept score for each hole of mini golf. The younger two mostly ran around and did the ones that looked fun. They honestly didn't last too long.

I think we're getting the hang of summer with just a few days to go until school starts. I have never been more excited for school to start.