End of Summer Activities

Before summer ended there were a few things we felt like we needed to do one last time like…

get enough sleep.

We also tried to maintain sanity after Nathan, bored on our long car trip home a couple of weeks ago, discovered how to unlock the buckle on his car seat and achieved jumping out of his porta-crib while we were staying with my Mom & Dad.  These new skills now mean that he unbuckles and leaps out of… the stroller, high chair and  grocery cart as well as leaping out of the crib in his room.  At the same time he’s become very dexterous at opening almost any door, bolted or not, indoors or out, including both our front door and back door all by himself.  Never a peaceful moment for us (or Scruffles) unless the boy is passed out from exhaustion!  By then we are too!

We did some fun things on Rick’s last two days of summer.  We took a 16 mile bike ride through Miami Whitewater Forest taking it’s outer loop twice around.

We stopped for a water bottle break and to have some Rocky Mountain Cookies for a snack in mid afternoon.

Nathan took a small nap on the back of the bike and enjoyed finding more rocks for his pockets.

We took another break on one of our times around to stop at the bird watching area.  The kids were intrigued more with the frogs they could see directly under us in the wet lands.

Kaitlyn enjoyed the shade of the lookout watching for birds and spying frogs until suddenly she realized she needed to find a bathroom quickly.  In this case it meant hurrying to the port-o-let.  There are two right next to us several miles into the trail and they don’t get a lot of use (Thankfully).

Here are some greener views of this place than I took earlier in the year.  (Far away and close-up).  The trail meanders through these fields and woods and crosses the highway or tunnels you under it several times.  It’s very pretty and mostly quiet except for the bugs and the breeze.

This year there weren’t too many sunflowers in the fields.  We saw lots and lots of corn and passed several sets of horses going the opposite direction.  The kids, especially Lindsay, loved seeing the horses and we carefully gave them the right of way as they crossed a bridge we were about to travel across over the water.  We didn’t want to spook them.

It was a warm day in the 80’s… not awful for August.

One final stop before we finished up the last few miles and it was nearly dinner time.  Tristan was the “energizer bunny” the whole trip going fast and then faster, whether we were going up hill or down.  On the final hill toward the end of the ride he jumped off the bike.  I thought he was going to walk it up the hill after all but instead he RAN it up the hill.  He has always been a ball of energy.

We found a shady area several miles from the bike trails but nearby the walking trails and got some coals going on the grill.  The kids found plenty of things to fascinate themselves with.  They played games like leap frog under the shady trees.

Nathan likes to pretend to be not just a frog but a puppy dog too as he gets down on all fours and barks.  Lindsay had fun spinning Nathan as well.

Then my boys decided to roll through the grass together.  Brothers!

Running, these three are a blur!  For dinner we ate grapes and grilled some corn on the cob and hot dogs.  Nothing fancy and we were so hungry we just ate it as it was ready.

As the kids played frisbee and investigated the old tree stump to a favorite tree of theirs from previous visits we got out the marshmallows and everyone roasted a couple.  Nathan liked his untoasted this time and didn’t get nearly as messy and sticky with it as he had on our campout a couple months ago.

Dinner and marshmallows re-energized everyone… especially Kaitlyn.  Good since it was now approaching bedtime and there was a lot to get home and then unpack, clean up and put away.  We had more fun plans for the next day.

Last Friday was slightly warmer and so it was a great day for the beach.  We headed out to Oxford, Ohio and found a shady grove of trees to sit under and eat our lunch.  We enjoyed the peace and relaxation of the woods around us.  Most memorable about the picnic however was the outhouse (weird, I know).  Rick took our son to the rest room (pit toilet) where he promptly decided he no longer had to go.  The girls had trailed along after the boys and I could see there was some excitement going on followed by girls entering the boys area followed by screaming.  I knew I had to go on spider patrol.  There was no one else around so entering the boys bathroom I found, with the rest of them, a HUMONGOUS black spider spread out under where the seat would normally be set down.  Horrendous!  It was quite the sight!  For anyone who doesn’t realize, the further south you are the larger the bugs grow.  This was VERY large and certainly had a great hiding spot if it were in the girls bathroom.  YIKES!  As a result the girls no longer had the desire to use the bathroom and Lindsay insisted that the spider outside her tent at girls camp had been twice the size!!!  Entirely possible.  I decided that I am very grateful for doors and screens and walls in my home.

After that ordeal we headed down the hill and to the beach.  The water was much cooler than it had been the last time we were there.  It felt great to me but it doesn’t take much to shock my husband who thought “well, it’s not as chilly as the St. Lawrence” as he struggled to get into the water.  The swimming was fun but the sand seemed to be equally entertaining.  Kaitlyn and several others took a regular sand bath.  She of course needed a regular bath upon returning home anyway but the fact that the sunscreen took the ink “warning” label off the inside of her “swimmies” and turned her arms a Cookie Monster blue added to the need.

Lots and lots of fun sand activity.  Hats are a must since my family’s roots are north of the arctic circle and Rick once got a sunburn under a tree in February as he did our yard work.  Lindsay got out of this by donning a scarf, instead, that didn’t disturb her water play so much.

Water and Sand… what better way to end summertime?

And by the way, the gentle side of Nathan made peace with Scruffles who still loves him after all he puts her through