Summer Fun - Part 4

School is in session tomorrow!

Now that we're on a "balanced calendar" our summers feel shorter.

But, it's been a truly great summer!

 

I'm the PTO President at Brennan's school this year, so the boys and I have been volunteering time to stuff back-to-school folders, make loads of copies, decorate a bulletin board, and attend some PTO events.  It's going to be a great year!

 

6th and 8th grades.  WOAH!

But... back to summer.

As Thomas left for a second week of camp at Purdue in mid-July, the boys had to get in a final hug.

 

Thomas had a BALL at camp.  Here are a few camp photos.

 

 

 

 

 

My friend Clare and her family are moving to China this week.

We had a fun send-off at the Bistro.

 

 

 

David got me these gorgeous gladiolas.  I loved them.

 

 

I took the boys for haircuts and Miss Kristen wanted to pamper Brennan with a shampoo since he's having to do sponge baths and have mom wash his hair - no fun for an 11 year old boy.

 

I think he liked it.

 

 

 

Our wine club met at a local spot in July.

The Savory Swine (hence the pig noses) is a butcher shop that also sells wines, gelato, and gourmet food items.  It was a blast!!

 

 

Without any prior conversation, 5 of our members showed up in pink.  Had to get a photo.

 

 

Lora and Charlie

 

Karen and Mary

 

 

And then our cousins (and Aunt Shelly and Uncle Dave) came to visit!  The cousins all had such a great time together!

 

We went to 240Sweet, a local marshmallow company that my friends Sam and Alexa run.  They've been featured in O Magazine and Martha Stewart Living and Weddings!  We took a marshmallow class in their new building.

Then we got to cut out our own marshmallows and bag them up for home.  Even one-armed Brennan got to participate!!

And of course we got to do some tasting!

We also went down the giant toilet at our local children's museum.

 

I'm throwing this photo in just to show how hugg-y my family is.  This is just the boys outside the ice cream shop, standing with Dad, waiting for the rest of our crew.



 

We toured one of Dad's new buildings with the really cool seating - no old-style cubicles here.  We all loved the treadmill desks, café seating, and tons and tons of windows.

Uncle Dave, David, Thomas, and Natalie went to the Nascar Brickyard 400, which is held at the Indy 500 racetrack.  Here's Thomas at the beginning of the long day.

And a few hours later...

While half of our crew was in Indy, the other half hung out.

 

Brennan took Danielle on his daily neighborhood walk. 

I can only imagine what he's lecturing telling her about here.

 

And we went to see Turbo, which takes place in part at the Indy 500 track, so we felt like we were with the rest of our family!

 

We also went to Mike and Mary's "Open House" - play on words because half of their farmhouse is being rebuilt so the house really is completely OPEN.  We got to see the turkeys, ducks, chickens, dogs, and the big garden.

 

Mary and Oprah Henfrey

 

Danielle with the sunflowers

 

We stopped back by 240Sweet to pick up some more puffs.

 

 And headed to our large indoor playground where Brennan was surrounded by kids asking about his arm.

 

And, of course, we swam!

There's Danielle in the deep end!

 And we hosted Brennan's class at a back-to-school swim party.  They had so much fun!

And now, somehow it's back to school, but thankfully we still have several more weeks of summer, and a new pool heater (thank you David!!), so we can continue enjoying our evenings and weekends outdoors.