Final Summer Fantasies

Right before the school year ended last spring, I wrote down a summer wish list on a post-it note.  It included mostly simple things that I wanted to do with my family this summer.  Jeff stuck it to his desk.  When there was less than a week before school started, there were still some things we hadn't crossed off the list yet.

One summer wish list item was "sleep out on the trampoline."  We slept out on the trampoline all the time when I was a kid.  I have such fun memories of sleeping out under the warm stars and waking up with the bright sunrise.  I have never slept out on the tramp with my kids and it was something I really wanted to do.  So we did!  Our whole family packed out our sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets for our big summer sleep out adventure.  Turns out it is not quite as magical as an adult as it was as a kid.  As Jeff put it, "We slept, er, laid on the trampoline all night long."  Hey...at least we got it done, right?

Another thing we hadn't done was go on a Moonlight Ride into the Elk Pasture.  Isaac and I were in charge of meeting the riders at the Elk Pasture with the steaks and dishes.  Daisy and Levi joined daddy for the ride in.

 Levi had never ridden this mare before and he did a great job.

 Cowgirl was totally in her element: horse, mountains, daddy.

 We have all worked hard in the garden this summer, and lately we can't keep up with our harvest.  We have been snacking on cucumbers, eating summer squash several times a week, and lovelovelovin' fresh salsa.

 One thing I just had to do this summer was take the kids over to the drive-in movie.  It got to be only two days before school started and I called Jeff and told him this was our last chance.  As soon as he pulled in from work, we loaded into the mini and zoomed off to the drive-in.  It was a little chillier this time than we had remembered, but we were prepared.

 Levi chose a doughnut for his movie snack.  Surprise, surprise.

Isaac chose a doughnut too, but he didn't eat it so I had to.  Dang.  We saw Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which was not worthy to be shown in theaters in the first place, but it was all about the drive-in experience anyway.

And the best news?  We got the summer wish-list all but completed just before school started.  Whew!