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Savoring Summer

School started just over a week ago. I had mixed feelings about the kids going back to school mostly because we had such a busy summer. On one hand, I felt like we didn't do our usual summer things like spending time at the pool, going to the movies, playing at the park, going to the lake, etc. because we were just so busy. On the other hand, our busy summer left me looking forward to a little more peace and quiet at home. The day before the first day of school turned out to be a perfect day to actually experience some of our favorite summer activities that had been neglected in the previous months. For the first time for practically the whole summer, we had no prior commitments scheduled on the calendar. We had the full day to do what we wanted to do.

That morning, I presented the children with a list of ideas, and we were busy until dinner-time, savoring our last day of freedom.

The first thing we did was go to Wilson's Apple Orchard. That place is tons of fun. We didn't get to go last year because Andrew broke his leg. The kids were excited to see the changes the new owners had made and more excited to pick some apples and explore the trees.
 
Picking apples was fun, but pushing the stroller up the steep hills was exhausting. We decided to pick Rick up at his office so that we could all eat lunch together. We went to the "all-you-can-eat buffet" at Godfather's Pizza.
I don't normally like pizza very much, but I was starving.  I ate more than my share of dessert pizza.  All of us left Godfather's feeling like we would never be hungry again.  I joked to Emily that she would have to roll me out the door (if I would fit).

After lunch, we headed home to get our swimsuits on.  We had the option of going to the pool (which we had done the week before) or going to the lake.  There are two lakes with descent sandy beaches within a half hour of our house.  We had been to the lake at Kent Park several times.  It's not great, but not bad.  We decided to try a new location:  Lake MacBride.  Lake MacBride is large and there are three sandy swimming areas at different locations around the lake.  We decided Sandy Point Beach sounded perfect, so we obtained an address and headed out the door.

The drive to Sandy Point Beach should have taken only 20 minutes.  Nearly an hour later, we still hadn't found the beach.  Driving directions from a map AND on our van's GPS lead us to this spot:

The kids freaked out when the voice on our car told us to "continue to follow the road for 1 mile and your destination will be on the right."  The road went right into the lake!!!  We have had some flooding in the nearby areas, but I didn't think it was that bad!

We eventually gave up on Sandy Point Beach and drove around to the other side of the lake to Sugar Bottom.  We found a good beach there with only one other family swimming.  It also had a nice playground.  We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and playing in the sand.

Sean especially loved our visit to the beach, but taking a baby to the beach is not high on my list of favorite activities.  I couldn't put him down anywhere because he would put sand in his mouth.  By the end of the afternoon, we were all covered in sand and so was the inside of our car.  It's amazing any sand remains on the beach!!

All in all, it was a great "last day of summer."  The kids had a blast, and I enjoyed the time we were able to spend together.

The first day of school went well and the kids like their teachers.  The weather outside is still nice and warm, so they spend their after-school hours continuing to savor summer.
Like last year, Emily wasn't pleased about me taking her picture on the first day of school.

Comments

Debbie said…
The kids are getting so big especially Sean. Good luck with the new school year.
August 29, 2010 at 8:26 PM
Dave and Tricia Folsom Family Fun said…
What a fun last day of Summer! That is too funny that the GPS kept trying to get you to drive into the lake. We miss our beach days in IA. I can have beach days here - I just need to get up the courage to go to the Jersey Shore with my kiddo's. But we didn't do any of that this summer because Jack was too little. Hopefully we can have lots of beach days next Summer.
And did Rick tell you Dave got invited back to Iowa to present a paper in Feb? I'm not sure if it will work out but I am hoping I can come with him so I can see friends for a few days. If I can come with him we really need to have a game night. We have been playing a lot of Dominion. Have you played that yet? The Donigans have it so you may need to play it with them if you haven't played it yet. It is lots of fun.
September 15, 2010 at 10:08 AM
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