Summer Rewind 2009

This summer was a hard summer. No two ways around it. Record-breaking heat + four little kids ages seven and under = many long days filled with boredom, fighting, and cabin fever. Add in the fact that we had our house on the market for two months during the summer (we had thought about moving back to Pearland but we ultimately decided against it when our house did not sell quickly enough) and our continuing (seemingly endless) battles with illnesses/allergies/asthma/eczema/sleepless nights, and hopefully you get the sense of why we happily shut the door on the summer of 2009. But we managed to make it through. We even found some time to do a few fun things along the way.

In June, the older kids went to vacation bible school for a week, and they had a blast. Also in June, Sophie and Bella were on the neighborhood swim team (the Piranhas), and they had fun at the meets, even if they weren't the fastest fish in the water.

For the Fourth of July week, we drove to Ruidoso, New Mexico for a family reunion and my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary. We stopped in San Antonio on the way up and back, staying at the Omni both times. On the way back, we talked our way into staying in their premiere suite on the 20th floor for a steeply discounted price. It was opulent. We ordered room service, went swimming, and watched a great fireworks display from our rooms. Stephen even talked his way out of a ticket between El Paso and San Antonio on the way home, though he probably shouldn't have been so argumentative with a state trooper in the middle of nowhere. Here are a few pictures from the reunion:

As often as we could, which was several times a week, we went to our nice neighborhood pools and swam in the evenings after the temperature dipped below 100 degrees and after Stephen got home from work. All the kids love to swim, and they are becoming good little swimmers. The lessons at the Houston Swim Club have been worth it.

In our newly created media room downstairs, we watched many movies and ate a lot of pop corn. We joined Netflix this summer, so we had plenty of variety to choose from.

A few sleepovers here and there. A couple trips to the Blue Bell factory in Brehnam. The Zoo, the Children's Museum, and family/friends gatherings round out our summer rewind for 2009.