fun on and off the dock

These boys love tubing and kayaking and boating but they also love a good jump off the dock. I'm so grateful they get to have these experiences. We make them wear swimsuits in the middle of the day but before 9am or after about 5pm it's naked time at the dock.

Weekend at the lake

Tricia and Michael visited at the lake this weekend. Tricia and I had a lovely swim down to the point (possibly through blue-green algae), the boys had some great swims, and we had lots of time for game playing between eating excellent meals.

The second strawberry picking of the season, followed by donuts with Mac and family (unfortunately no photos were taken of the latter).

Playing in the pond at Jess and Todd's house when Joan and Stu had the boys the first week of July.

One of our favorite Strathmore traditions: Fireworks at the Reservoir. For us, it's sitting on a blanket watching fireworks from North Syracuse to Nedrow from the highest point in our neighborhood. For my kids, its ten minutes of sparklers and assembling glow stick apparel and then 90 minutes of running around a huge park in the dark with your friends.

Fun while Daddy was away

The week before July 4 Daddy took an awesome Daddys' trip to Gettysburg, leaving me and the kids home. I had been looking forward to the weekend for far longer than normal because the last few weeks before the election I had been out most weekends and many evenings as well. The last weekend in June was my mantra for most of June, and we squeezed the most out of it. The first strawberry picking of the season, plus a visit with Mac and family, and an incredibly special Sim Redmond Band concert at Beak and Skiff, just up the road from us and very close to the strawberry farm. The boys were appropriately reverent toward Mama's favorite band, and all the awesome food choices were a huge help as well. It was a magical, relaxing and spectacular weekend with three of my favorite people.

End of school

Theo won an academic achievement award at the end-of-year ceremony.

The last week of school I was a mystery reader in both kids' classes.

Theo's personal interest project was on Bugati cars, and Beckett's was on mako sharks.

Theo also constructed an apartment building for an art/math project.

Daddy and Theo and Beckett

On July 4 we spent the afternoon at Jeff's friend Pete's house. Pete's kids and wife were out of town but we got to spend time with his many animals and hang in the pool.