under the magnolia tree

had me a blast...

                                                      

What a summer!  After all of our travel ended, August was wide open and we filled it with pure fun.  We spent many days at my parents pool.  Magnolia started the summer in her floaties, then she jumped off the side with her floaties.  By the end of the summer she wore no floaties and jumped in with no floaties!  She learned to bob, tread, and doggy paddle.  

George, meanwhile, started the summer being fairly timid of the water.  By the end of the summer we could put on his floaties and he would swim around all by himself.  

These two had so much fun together in this pool!

George took over big George's cordless screwdriver this summer.  He can operate that thing as well as his dad.   It appears he has the same passion for all things tools.  George built this little box with all kinds of things for him to operate; a hinge, a knob to twist on and off, a c-clamp, a dowel to hammer, and a screw that requires an allen wrench.  Super fun stuff, right George!?

I took the kids to our nature preserve nearby along Lake Michigan.  I felt very proud of myself as each visit required hikes which I would not normally register high on my things to do  (taking two kids alone, that is).  I felt I earned a medal on two of our visits as on each hike I encountered a snake.  I stood very still and let them pass when inside I wanted to scream and run as fast as I could.  At least the reward of one of our hikes were the pristine sandy shores of Lake Michigan.

We went to our village ice cream social one night.  A walk in the burley, a play in the fountains, and some visits with friends and neighbors.  It was a great night and the kids didn't even want ice cream!

With many joggers in our area, our ever observant Magnolia shows me how she can run in place like the joggers she sees.  This made me laugh hysterically.

The biggest celebration of the month was our "Gotcha Day" or Family Day.  All ready to go out for Chinese food to celebrate, Magnolia declares she wants the Cheesecake Factory.  :)

She opens her fourth gift we brought back from China; a set of nesting pandas and an identical dress that she wore in China for her red couch photos.

Their tummies full of good food, we played at our outdoor mall and then climbed in a photo booth to get our photos taken.  It was a fun day!

Back at home these two wore matching Chinese jammies we brought back from China.

One day we had a beautiful summer rain.  The kind were the sun shines immediately afterwards.  I encouraged these two to go out and play in it, barefeet and all.  No way, they insisted on full rain gear.  I conceded and love this shot of the two of them looking for earth worms.

George was kind enough to help me put green beans in the pot after I snapped him.  His only request was that I put the beans in his mouth so he could drop them in like a puppy.

Magnolia mastered her balance bike.  Here she is showing us her different moves riding through town wearing her Chinese dress.  I think this one was called the "tuck-in."

Moving south put us in the world of fireflies once again.  We showed them to the kids one night and they loved catching them.  Here's Magnolia, a little sad she has to release them.

This was another one of our visits to the nature preserve.  This time we were on the hunt for giant frogs and lily pads.  We found them alright.  Magnolia spotted one so big that we all jumped when it croaked at us as it hopped away.

At the beginning of the summer I told Magnolia this was going to be her summer to master pumping.  She mastered it alright, she loves to swing!  I happily pushed George in the baby swing, knowing this was his last summer in it.

Every evening we had little outings, mostly to parks, the beach, and occasionally for ice cream.  Here we stopped for ice cream...

and then took a walk over to the beach...

so we could dig like dogs in the sand.

To celebrate these few warm days in Wisconsin, we had frozen hot chocolates.  (Just blend hot chocolate or powered milk chocolate mix with milk and ice.  Garnish with whipped cream and chocolate shavings!)

We have a wonderful outdoor mall that we walk to quite a bit.  There's this great fountain they run all summer and encourage kids to play in.  Last summer both kids were so timid to go in.  This summer George was the renegade...

and eventually Magnolia followed suit.

We made a trip to our children's museum.

We ate lots of mini-donuts at the park.

Magnolia mastered the monkey bars and doing flips on the bar.

George learned to ride a tricycle.

They had their first lemonade stand during our garage sale.  I counted out their money at the end and we walked to our toy store where they got to pick out a toy for all of their hard work.

We had cousins visit making for some great pool parties...

a trip to the zoo...

pony rides...

and a movie night!

Although it was a wonderful summer, I'm sad it's almost over.  Only two days left to be completely schedule free!  Today we went to the art museum with my parents.  We saw the Chinese exhibit among many things.  It was the kids first visit.  Magnolia, in particular, seemed to really enjoy it.  

September 1 school starts!!! 

Hope you all had a wonderful summer too!