Summer Fun

We returned from our trip refreshed and ready to take on summer break. I have a love/hate relationship with summer break. On one hand I love not being tied down to a schedule, but on the other hand, I miss our routine. I thrive on routine. I am an all-around happier person when I have a set routine in place. During the summer, that routine is thrown right out the window.  

To kick off the summer, we went to Holiday World. Ella and Autumn are now old enough to ride all the roller coasters by themselves which is crazy to me. I feel like it was just yesterday I was taking Ella and watching her ride all the little kid rides. 

I sat by the exit of all the rides and let them ride by themselves. 

Autumn and I rode the Thunderbird twice. Ella was not feeling great after riding the wooden coasters so she missed out. :( 

Paige had a fun time riding all of the little kid rides. It was just yesterday I was watching Ella on these same rides and now she is on all the big rides. 

One last ride on the Raven before we left...

Paige started swim lessons at the beginning of the summer. She started out with arm floats and a ring (in our pool) and now she is swimming in the deep end like a big girl! She caught on so quickly. I think it's a combination of watching Ella and determination. I don't even really think she needs swim lessons, but it's good for her to learn the correct techniques when swimming.

We have gone on a bunch of golf cart rides this summer before bed. I love watching the sunset on the golf course!

I can not tell you how many pool days we have had. We love our pool so much and get so much use out of it. It took awhile for the water to warm up this year due to lots of rain and cooler temps. It didn't stop Paige from getting in though. 

The water finally warmed up at the end of June, and we had plenty of weekend pool days. It's always fun to swim on weekend afternoons. 

Ella finally learned to dive this summer. She had been trying for awhile but just couldn't get it right. It finally clicked this summer!

I had fun with my underwater camera. I love watching their tricks underwater. 

It wouldn't be summer without a trip to Burdette. My mom won passes on facebook so we put them to good use one day. This was Paige's first trip there, and she loved the little slides. 

The big girls rode all the big slides. 

Trying to get a picture with Paige...

We packed a lot of fun in this summer, and we are just a few days away from it being over. I hate to see our easy, slow days come to an end, but it's definitely time! Stay tuned for a recap of Fourth of July, Michigan, and our last hurrah at the Gaylord.