Summer Fun

Summer is Minnesota is short and therefore so precious.  As harsh and long as the winters here can be, once summer arrives, it's easy to forget that snow and cold and the need for layers and layers of clothing ever happened.  Yet the harsh winters are the reasons that cool summer nights and sunny summer weekends are savored.  They are so fleeting that we don't know when that perfect summer day will be the last we experience for the season. 

Chris, the kids and I experienced many summer pleasures, from the mundane to the grand.  Here's a bit of what we enjoyed the most:

• Spending the evening at the splash pad or biking down to the river and playing in the fountains after enjoying a picnic dinner
• Strawberry picking
• Oliver going to the cabin with Dad
• Gardening
• Oliver's camping trips with Dad
• Playing with the water table
• Seeing our neighbors!
• Meals on the back deck with friends and family
• Eating raspberries off the bush in our alley
• Saturday morning playdates at the park
• Lake swimming
• Cheering on Dad's softball team
• Barbecues at our neighbor's house
• Walks with the stroller up to Grand Avenue with a stop at the playground on the way home
• Spending the week down the Shore in Ocean City, New Jersey