Good-bye Summer

Only 1 more day until school starts back!!! Yay!!!!

Y’all, I might have overdone it this summer. Hmmm, Israel, Washington, D.C., trips back and forth to my parents’ as well as Alan’s parents’ house, camps, and the beach!!???

Who does that?

It was wonderful, and yet it was also like eating way too much at an all-you-can-eat donut buffet.

I definitely over-packed this summer with fun activities.

Lesson learned. Schedule more down time. Of course, next summer is a moving summer, so all bets are off for that one.

Daniel with his Vacation Bible School goo.

Good-bye, somewhat-dear summer.

You’ve actually over stayed your welcome. It’s time for fall to arrive. You were a well-behaved summer, the most exciting summer I can remember. There was so much rain that the temps stayed out of the 100s. Thank the Lord for that. We will remember you fondly.

But I need regular life to become more…well, regular…again. So please take a coat with you as you go because last year winter never showed up for work, so it sort of felt like you never truly left us. We’re hoping that won’t happen this year. I happen to like winter.

Goodbye dear summer, thank you for reminding me how much work referee-ing 4 youngsters all day long is when it’s raining outside every blessed day. I do love reminders, but really it is time for you to go. You really must be leaving. Australia is waiting for you.

All right, hon, you go get cooled off now. Send us some of that rain this winter in the form of snow.

Shut the door, and lock it. I over planned this summer, and I need it to end now.

School supplies are purchased, Open House was last night, and the big day is so close I can taste it.

We received an email the other day saying that the first two days of school will only be half-days, so no school lunch will be provided. I still have to feed them lunch. But I’m not going to let that kind of negativity drag me down, y’all. I bet if I leave ’em up there until 3 with granola bars in their backpack they will just think I got confused……

Kidding. I’m kidding. I will behave.

In all seriousness, we DID have an incredibly fun summer with no mishaps that I can recall. That in and of itself is enough to make anyone thankful. Plus, we went on about 3 different vacations. Amazing.

Yes, this summer actually was quite Disney like.

Here are a few photos of the highlights:

Still one of my favorite places in the world: Destin

Jesus hugging a soldier statue, at a church in Destin.

Some of you will be proud to know that Joshua always makes sure we go to church while on vacation.

This is the first time we let them stay up late enough to watch the movie at the pool. It’s always 8:30 before the movie starts, so that it will be dark, and in the past we always had babies.

Us in Jerusalem. Wait. Jerusalem? What am I whining about? Best summer ever!!!!

Alan’s cousin married one of the most beautiful brides I’ve ever seen, and their wedding was in this incredible building that used to be a Catholic Church.

We danced!

Nonna and DaddyO took the kids back to the hotel around 9, and Alan and I stayed out dancing until 10 or so!!! There should be more weddings. It was so fun to be dancing. More people need to get married and hire a deejay, and then invite us so we can dance.

They danced too.

Also, we taught the boys the YMCA song/dance on this trip.

my clingy sweetheart John David…This boy defines clingy.

By the way, those are the BEST high heels ever. I’ve had them since 2007. I wore them when I walked down the aisle at Amy’s wedding, 9 months pregnant. These are my official wedding shoes.

Just think, in 2001 this was a family of 4.

Hanging with our friends at the Lincoln Memorial

Caleb has studied this giant Megalodon mouth for YEARS, and we finally got to see it in person. *Dreams coming true*

A beautiful day for touring the National Mall

The Capitol

We gave Caleb his choice of places to go on his birthday in D.C. He chose our old neighborhood pool.

Birthday supper at Dairy Queen.

Caleb’s favorite birthday gift…..a Star Wars space ship to build. Anyone who knows Caleb knows he’s a hard core Lego fan.

Movie time with my boys that day my back didn’t work.

It looked this awesome for an hour….and then the strawberry juices ran, and strawberries started sliding off the cake. I just can’t make pretty food!!

The Ultimate Bubble Bath

Family Game Time

Nonna and Aunt Janet took the boys to see the Noah’s Ark replica.

…..and the Corvette Museum

Meanwhile, Sam’s started selling MY FAVORITE gluten-free bread. All other store-bought versions are disgusting. I love THIS stuff.

a house that Caleb built

Yes, okay, this might have been the best summer ever. While I cherish the memories, I have now regressed to “Oh it’s raining, and it’s the last day of summer….Just watch t.v. all day…Yeah, sure, play 3DS too.”

So it’s definitely time to go back to school. Some of the boys were even wishing school was starting back today! Me too, y’all. Me too.

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

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aprilmomoffour

April is an upbeat, Christian, blog-obsessed, military wife, and home schooling mom of four little boys. She writes about education, travel, and humorous adventures in parenting. Follow along if you’d like a little bit of encouragement and a whole lot of crazy.

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View Comments

Candace says:

2017-08-13 at 4:50 pm

That's a great summer! I want to go visit the Ark too!
- aprilmomoffour says:
  
  2017-08-13 at 5:19 pm
  
  Thanks! Me too! The boys went, but I missed out.
Debbie Roberts says:

2017-08-12 at 6:38 am

Hi April, you have had a busy summer, and judging by your photos you have created some good memories. I think your cake was pretty and probably looked even prettier with strawberries sliding out of place. I love the photo of the boys having a very bubbly bubble bath.

How great must it be watching a film whilst swimming? Now that's something that would go down well over here. I'd certainly give it a go.

Thank you for linking up with the #MMBC.

xx
Jen says:

2017-08-10 at 4:03 pm

There is a Noah's arc replica out there?! That is soo cool. We have been back to school for 6 days now, and I already have someone home sick..... Hoorah! Good luck :)
Tamara says:

2017-08-10 at 12:21 pm

Certainly a summer to remember!
1. Caleb.. I really think we'd be friends!
2. The cake? I love it. Pretty food lasts long enough for photos, luckily.
3. If you like winter, come here for a bit! You'll love it.
4. Noah's Ark! Is it really that big?? I want to gooo!
- aprilmomoffour says:
  
  2017-08-10 at 1:33 pm
  
  Oh yeah. Caleb is highly lovable. Shy but he quickly warms up. I got the cake idea from you!!!!
Anonymous says:

2017-08-09 at 4:46 pm

Ditto to all McMom said! Love this post!
McMom says:

2017-08-09 at 4:35 pm

This may very well be my favorite post of the summer. Although, that Army Wives series is hard to beat… Either way, I have so many comments!

“Goodbye dear summer, thank you for reminding me how much work referee-ing 4 youngsters all day long is when it’s raining outside every blessed day.” HAHAHAHAHAH!

“But I’m not going to let that kind of negativity drag me down, y’all. I bet if I leave ’em up there until 3 with granola bars in their backpack they will just think I got confused……” Now I really can’t stop laughing. You are probably right!

Destin – fabulous picture of the beach! Also, I had no idea they did pool movies! I guess that’s one of the perks of going down during actual beach season. The Jesus hugging the soldier statue made me tear up – beautiful.

“More people need to get married and hire a deejay, and then invite us so we can dance.” Bahaha and Amen! I am so jealous y’all got to dance. I love dancing!!!!!

Great shoes – they look like they match everything. What a cool bride to let you wear whatever shoes you wanted.

Looks like JD was real broken up about your back hurting ;)

The cake looks great! Those Southern temperatures are not decoration-friendly.

I have had a “big bubble bath” in our huge tub on my to-do list for way too long. I kept thinking we’d do it one day when it was too cold to go out, and as you said, that never really happened! My kids would love it!

Bye bye, Summer! Enjoy your Fall! :)
- aprilmomoffour says:
  
  2017-08-09 at 5:32 pm
  
  Oooo I really enjoy what you did there with "enjoy your fall!"" Lol and thank you!!!
Mary says:

2017-08-09 at 3:23 pm

I’m so sad that summer is coming to an end. I feel twice as bad for back to school season, it has to be hard for the boys but I get some great deals on back to school art supplies. sounds like you had an eventful summer and that’s a great thing. Nothing wrong with back to back to back vacations. I always overpack, I’ve gotten better over the years but I still don’t have packing down to a science. I love all the pictures, especially the wedding pictures :)
Eric says:

2017-08-09 at 1:47 pm

Enjoy back to school time! We don't start until after Labor Day. I love busy summers except for the fact that it makes them go by far too fast. Good luck to them to save up for the Switch! Mine just finished saving up for it and got a couple weeks ago! Good Incentive!