So, maybe writing about it makes it officially over, and that makes me annoyed. We only have so many summers with our babies before they are grown, and I want them to look back at their childhood summers as the best! I want them to remember the friendships they made, the camps they experienced, the laughs in the sun, the memories Mommy helped make. And, I think this summer accomplished that goal.
Banner's summer was filled with camps. He wanted to do a little bit of everything, and each camp became his favorite. He started at SIGS (Summer Institute for Gifted Students) taking classes called Simulations, Galleries are Great (art), and A Minute of Your Time (not entirely sure what this one is, but I think they created a lot of presentations online). He loved these mornings of creativity with old friends from school and new friends around the school district. Then, he went to Creek Camp at Plano Heritage Farmstead Museum. They explored the creek every day for a week. They got dirty, played games, created skits, learned new songs, and never wanted to leave! Then, the first week of July, Banner was with me all week. We went to various places around town and spent some quality time together: Adventure Landing (mini golf, arcade, laser tag, go carts, and bumper boats), saw Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (which I actually really enjoyed - getting a chance to learn about his favorite trading card game characters), Hawaiian Falls, Urban Air (favorite memory is rock climbing while facing each other through the clear plexiglass), and Lunar Golf and Chili's (Daddy came too). The next two weeks, he went to Levine camp where he got to sign up for his choice of activities. He adored his time back at his old pre-school but this time as a big kid. And he ended his summer with 10 days at sleep-away camp at Greene Family Camp. He was anxious as the days approached for his first time away, but he had a blast as part of Hadera (his bunk), and within the week of his return, he asked that I sign him up for camp again next year for three and a half weeks - and to do it soon so spaces don't fill up! :) In the few days following camp, Banner and I had a couple extra days for just us. I loved taking him to Ripley's Believe It or Not. We loved the wax museum and the mirror maze! He also got to spend some time with Aunt Kira and Damon at Chuck E. Cheese and at the splash pool near Aunt Mischelle & Uncle Brock's house. He loved that time helping with Damon. And, as Mommy headed back to work, all three boys enjoyed some time at Elevate Gymnastics.
Quinn's summer was also perfect! He got two extra weeks at his preschool after Celebration, and this time he got to spend it with his little brother upstairs with him. Those two weeks were broken up with a Camp Mommy sandwiched in between. Quinn and I went to Color Me Mine, baked one of his Rad*Dish recipes, volunteered our time with Brighter Bites and the Wee Volunteers (Banner came too), bought a snow cone at TC Shaved Ice then enjoyed it at Hope Park where we also played on the splash pad, and went to Peppa Pig World of Play with Damon and Levi. He also got to enjoy a special play date at Aunt Kira's house while I had to go to a Leadership meeting. After that second week of Anshai camp, Quinn started his third summer at Camp Gan Izzy. He loved his time with Chaya'le and Zelda in Bunk 5 - going on field trips, swimming at the Texas Pool twice a week, and making lots of memories with old and new friends. This was his first time as the big brother there. He never once complained this summer about going, and he was bummed when it was over. He's looking forward to a winter break there already! Towards the end of summer, Quinn got to do a couple of fun dates with us. The first was to Medieval Times where we cheered on the Blue Knight (who would inevitably lose). The second was the day before starting Kindergarten; we went to Thunderbird to teach Quinn to skate for the first time.
Knox's summer introduced him to a whole new schedule - one with no naps. It was his first time to be in an upstairs class at Anshai for two weeks, and then he had his turn with me at Camp Mommy. We started our week at the Dallas Zoo and got to see so many animals up close (a lioness even charged toward the glass we were standing near which frightened Knox to not want to stay to hear the zookeeper's talk we were waiting on). On Tuesday, when Quinn was out of camp for an unexpected camp closure, we all went to Cheeky Monkey's for the first time after Banner was out of SIGS with Levi and Damon. Wednesday, we went to Play Street in Frisco. On Thursday, we met out-of-town friends Mary and Jack at Safari Run, and then we went to story time at the library before having a swim "party" at Grandma's with all the cousins. And, Friday, we enjoyed an open gym at Palaestra. Then, it was time to start Camp Gan Izzy the next week! The first day was chaotic and unorganized, but once the classes settled in, the toddler groups were much better planned for, and Knox loved being a part of Bunk 2. He loved his counselors, Morah Terissa and Morah Deanne. They were fantastic, and Knox truly enjoyed being at camp with Quinn and Levi.
Any breaks in between structured camp times were spent: swimming at Grandma & Papa's house, swimming with the Marrone boys, fishing on Zaide's boat, celebrating so many summer birthdays (Banner's, Mommy's, Daddy's, Caden's, Zaide's, Hayla's, Damon's just to name a few), enjoying Father's Day at Big Boss's, Zaide's, and Papa's houses, spending July 4th with family, food, and fireworks at Zaide's and Aunt Jacque's houses, celebrating the end of soccer season at a swim party, playing at the gym while Mommy and/or Daddy worked out, playing with new birthday gifts, and and packing Banner for camp. We went to Epic Waters in Grand Prairie, Blase Family Farm to pick blueberries, Frisco Safety Town to learn safety rules and drive around the cutest little neighborhood in toy jeeps, Little Elm Beach to swim and play in the sand, the movie theater to see The Lion King, Aladdin, & Toy Story 4, and the Fish Park for three Kindergarten play dates to meet Quinn's new classmates. We awaited workers to finish our laundry room expansion, got a couple haircuts, survived a bee sting in Banner's tush while swimming at Grandma's, earned new belts in karate, napped in cars exhausted from the summer heat, monitored Daddy's garden and awaited pumpkins, corn, watermelon, and carrots, checked the mail daily for news from Banner at camp, had swim lessons at Emler, gave piano lessons a try, participated in the pajama party at Chick-fil-A, found a frog in Grandma's pool, did experiments with Daddy, built a boom box radio, made chewing gum, and met our teachers for the school year!
Whew! It was BUSY, but it was so fun and so worth the planning and the running around! I cannot wait till next summer! Just three seasons to go!
