Summer Count Up, 8

Week 8! Three weeks of summer left and still lots to do on my TO DO list. You won't see pictures of it, but we did get our school supplies this week, which means that school is just around the corner. It's also very very very humid, which means it must be AUGUST. Here's how we spent the last week o Crazy, Hazy, Lazy days of summer:

Day 47: My mother attempted to teach me to knit at least seven or eight times. I simply couldn't do it. I don't know why. I'm crafty. I'm ambidextrous. I like yarn. But yarn it seems does not like me. Although I never learned to knit, I figured that one day I'd excel in another of the fiber arts. So last Sunday I decided to teach myself to crochet. I did this using a crochet kit for 8-year-olds that came with a huge crochet hook (with a flower on the end of it) and the assistance of the internet. After four house. And I am serious, FOUR HOURS, this is as far as I got. I've not given up completely, but I'm starting to think that or some reason yarn is not my friend:

Day 48: Hannah and Lizzie started the Jump Start program at school. The program is for kids who may need some academic help with reading and/or math over the summer. Last year Hannah and Lizzie did the program last year to improve their reading and this year were recommended to improve their math. The program is every day for two weeks, for about two hours each day and is free! The girls really enjoy it -- even if it is a lot of math -- but I'm not so sure that they are learning more than I was teaching them at home. There seems to be a lot of reading in the library and then playing some math games on the computer. I am getting a lot of shopping done though. So it's a win for me. :) They enjoy going though as you can see from their smiley faces:

Day 49: It has been raining off and on AND Lizzie is still on medication for Swimmer's Ear, so we spent Tuesday trying to figure out something to do that didn't involve being outdoors or in the pool. The answer was to build forts in and around the chairs in the family room. Here are Hannah and Lizzie enjoying their afternoon snack in Hannah's fort. Lizzie's was behind the other chair and they spent the afternoon decorating their own spaces and visiting each other:

Day 50: Right after Jump Start we raced down to the library to see the Amazing Magical Stylings of Eddy Ray. We ran into some friends there, so that was a bonus. Here Eddy is doing some magical thing with rings that he learned in China (he said.) Hannah was amazed. Lizzie said she figured out how he did three of his tricks, so the show was obviously meant for "littler kids who believe everything you tell them.":

Day 51: Playdate with Samuel and Logan. We met Samuel and Logan when the girls (and Samuel) were about 18 months old and Logan wasn't even born yet. We met them through the Moms Club and Deb and I hit it off right away. One of the sad parts of moving from our house is that we moved into a different elementary school, so the girls don't get to see Samuel every day at school. Luckily whenever we do get together, they all have a great time playing together and Deb and I get to chat about ... well, everything!:

Day 52: Lizzie's back in the pool!!! She's wearing an ear plug and was a little worried at first, but very happy to have something to do in the hot and humid August afternoon:

Day 53: We went to my nephew Casey's graduation party. Here are his happy parents (Terry under the tent, Ray wearing the somewhat loud Phillies shirt). Everything was great, except the weather, but we didn't mind that too much because there were lots of tents to hide from the rain. And the 8-year-olds were as happy running around in the rain as they were in the pool. Happy Graduation Casey (who is not in this picture because he was off hanging with his friends at the pool house, leaving the old people to fend for ourselves):

Bonus: Hannah and Lizzie didn't mind being left to their own devices at Aunt Terry's house, as Aunt Terry's newest dog, Max, offered them lots to do. For some reason I see a King Charles Cavalier in Hannah's future: