So, by Friday I realized that we’d been to a different lake every other day of the week this past week! Unfortunately we only have pictures from our ward campout to post, and none from the other excursions. Granted, when it’s just me and 3 kids at the beach (usually with a friend) I don’t really have enough hands to be the photographer as well as the hands-on lifeguard! I love LOVE living so close to this many wonderful lakes.

Too bad I didn’t discover this until so close to the end of the summer. It’s been raining nonstop since Sunday! But I’m sure the sun will shine some more before school starts in September. Here’s a rundown of our recent adventures:

 Monday: Splash Pad and lake with the Heiselts! (you saw pictures on a previous blog)

Wednesday: Much splashing and swimming at Pleasant Lake with my friend Kate and her 2 kids (ages 4 & 6)

Friday: Wading at Portage Lake with the Ward Family and camping.

Saturday:  Swimming, playing in the sand, canoeing, and more splashing.

 I have to  tell you, we nearly left Saturday without even swimming. Neils was VERY disappointed that he’d missed the campfire program. We finally put the kids to bed around 9pm and the silly thing STILL hadn’t even started! But it was supposed to be for kids, and was very loud and rambunctious, so of course he heard the whole thing and was VERY disconsolate about the whole thing. I sang the "goin’ on a bear hunt" song just for him and his brothers in the tent in the morning, which was soo funny on video, but we’ll see if I can figure out how to upload it appropriately here or not. But he was still just so morose and insisted that he’d never be happy again. And, truthfully, nobody in the ward had so much as talked to me the whole time, even when I’d tried to engage in conversation, so I personally was pretty tired of trying to make friends myself. So we almost just pitched the whole afternoon and left. But after we got the car all loaded up, and I realized how disappointed I would be with the whole day if we threw in the towel just then, I decided we needed to stay. And I’m so glad we did. Changed the whole experience.

Neils had made a little friend the day before (she even handed him a napkin hand-decorated with little hearts with a little message that she liked him. He returned the napkin with his own note: THANK YOU!")

Keane LOVES to swim with his little body-floating swimsuit 

A little pants problem…

Chasing birds is awesome!

My sweet Burke

I LOVE my Man and his Boys