Our Summer Bucket List.....

So, I saw my first firefly tonight....a true sign that summer has begun! Can it really be only 100 days ago that we were dressed like this?!?!?!?

Now we are spending our days like this....

And this.....

We made a list of all the things we wanted to do this summer.

Summer Reading Program

Go to the National Zoo

Go Blueberry Picking

Pick Peaches

Go to Frying Pan Park Farm

Visit the Welters

Natural History Museum

Ben Franklin Institute in Philadelphia

Swimming at the pool

Practice Math and writing

Go to Utah for a family reunion

Go to California to visit Great Grandma Brown

We've started the summer reading program and spent some time at one of our favorite places, The National Zoo! My cousin, his wife and three cute kids came up for the weekend and wanted to go, so we packed up and went! The humidity has hit and we are in a heat wave. Despite all that, we had a great time!

This little guy belongs to my cousin...I fell in love with him! So cute!

Because of the high humidity in the east coast, when the kids walked through the sprinklers, the water just beaded up on their heads....Eleanor thought it was like sparkling jewels in her hair! As you can see by the crown she wore that day, she was delighted!

Garrett is such a good big brother. He is sweet and kind and always willing to help. He insisted in pushing the stroller the entire time we were in the zoo. He made sure Savannah didn't slip in the sprinklers.

One of the mommy gorillas was out with her baby. Eleanor wanted a picture in front of her....

Then this little girl, who had been watching Eleanor, jumped in and asked if she could be in the picture....of course! Her dad apologized and we told him not to worry about it! She was very cute!

Hands down, the elephants were the favorite animals. One was carrying a tire around and they were throwing dirt on themselves. We stopped to rest there and the kids just stood and watched them for the longest time.

Savannah wanted to know how to get inside to see them!

Just resting....it was really hot and humid that day!

Frying Pan Park Farm

Another favorite place for my children...another hot and humid summer day!

Savannah was going nuts over all the animals!

She loved the calves!

There were a lot of questions about the pigs.... they couldn't believe how big they are!

Of course, the pig didn't care. She was too hot to move!

We took a break in the shade of a huge oak tree.

Then, this morning, we were told it was going to be the hottest day of the year so far.

I decided we would leave early and go blueberry picking! Oh! It was heavenly!

Garrett had a butterfly land on his arm. It wouldn't leave him! He stood very still and it crawled on his arm.

Eleven pounds of blueberries! We had fresh picked blueberries for breakfast, fresh picked blueberries for lunch, fresh picked blueberries for a snack and fresh picked blueberry cobbler for dessert tonight. I felt like I was going to turn into Violet Beauregarde from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!

One of my favorite memories of summer was the trampoline...Xander had the hose on and was jumping tonight.....He asked me to take some pictures and here they are....

We are having a great summer so far and are enjoying the time with our dad. He starts teaching at a music camp on Monday. Xander and Garrett will be going with him. They get to attend for free, since he is a teacher there. Eleanor will start swimming lessons Monday morning. I'm pretty sure that if she doesn't have something to do, she will punish me. So swim lessons it is!!! I hope everyone is having a great summer like we are! We still have a lot of fun things to look forward to still!