Summertime Catch-Up

We've had a very busy summer! Although it's gone by quickly, in some ways it seems like an eternity ago that we got out of school. All through June I had classes, plus Girls' State. The weather was stormy and horrible.

Most of June and July, our evenings were spent rehearsing for Oz. And, we've had a record stretch of days with above 90 degree temps, which makes outside play miserable. Nevertheless, we've managed to squeeze in some traditional summertime fun. Here are the kiddos playing in the kiddo pool at Mom and Dad's:Sophie was the only one not involved in Wizard of Oz, so she spent some time with Grandma and Papa. She has become quite the farm girl, and she calls this her garden hat.
Water balloons are a good option to beat the heat!
We made 36 cupcakes, a couple dozen cookies and three cakes for the church picnic. It was all I could do to keep Sophie's paws off them while the icing hardened. Ironically enough, after buying supplies and baking, Aidan spent the money I gave him in the cake booth and picked out one of our cakes to bring home. Nothing like buying your own cake back. It was good, though.
Another good way to beat the heat is with homemade snowcones. It was just too hot to eat it outside because it was melting. Miraculously, Sophie's did not hit the floor after this picture.
We finally managed a trip to the zoo, but we left by noon because it was just too hot. (Finding a theme, here?)

On Wednesday, we had a pop-up rain shower. It lasted less than 10 minutes, but it came down pretty hard. I couldn't tell you the last time we saw rain. Andrew asked to play in it, and of course little sister followed suit.

I attempted my first french braid on Sophie today. It turned out okay and stayed up pretty well, but it wasn't super neat. She wouldn't let me use a comb. Maybe next time.
Tonight, our last Friday of summer, we headed to the pool when Tony got home from work. Then we came home for a family movie night - watching the world premiere of the "Phineas and Ferb" movie on Disney channel.
It's been quite a summer! The kids head back to school next Wednesday, but we've still got a few little adventures up our sleeves. I'll let you know about the results of my comprehensive exams whenever I hear - the committee has up to three weeks to grade them. Enjoy your weekend!