Dog Days of Summer

Summer always ends too fast, but we made the best of it!

We picked up a piece of farm tarp on our last trip to Idaho and by Labor Day we had perfected the art of the Slip n' Slide.  Brandan and the boys spent several hours building up dams and at one point we had water pooled up to Sport's waist.
Here is a look at some of our early attempts.

The boys on the tarp!

 

Brandan even joined the fun.  I especially love his little Colty shadow.

 

It took a little while for the water to feel warm.

 

Sport took a leisurely floating around the pooled water.

 

One item on our summer bucket list was to make a trip to Flaming Gorge.  We started running short on days and had to pick a not so super warm day, but the water was great and we had a good time anyway.

Enjoying the Gorge!

 

Dash spent most of his time at the Gorge trying to lure and catch seagulls, or, according to Sport, 'eagles'.

 

Sport liked rolling rocks into the water.  He isn't really angry in this picture, this is just his concentration face.
 It was a big rock!

 

The cold water didn't seem to bother Sis a bit.  She loved it!

 

I had to keep a close eye on Sissy because she kept sneaking rocks into her mouth.

 

All the family helps with the summer yard work...

Breeze took a nap in the backpack while Daddy mowed lawn.

 

In August, we read Summer of the Monkeys with the boys.  They absolutely loved it, especially the ideas on how to trap animals.  True to form, they started plotting and came up with some pretty good ideas of their own.

Dash made a net out of a Ziplock bag, a broom handle, and the ring from inside the microwave.  He and Colt also built a birdhouse from the toy set.  The plan was to entice the birds to the lovely home and them net them.

 

One day the boys pretended Sissy was a poisonous snake that kept getting into their house forcing them to make a quick escape out the doors and windows.  This continued for nearly an hour at which point Sis started bawling in frustration.

Here is snakey Sis sneaking under the house wall.  You can sere the boys immediately beginning to scatter.

 

Once Sis even chased Sport through the window.

 

Of course, not all our activities are outdoors...

Dash "taught" Sport and Colt to play chess (all according to his own set of rules).

Breeze proudly displaying the tissues she shredded (one of many left about the house).