A Pattern of Words

The kids spent hours playing in the water while we grilled hotdogs and sausages and basked in the sun.

You bet Finley went tubing, too! I didn’t get a photo (since my camera was tucked safely away in the car), but the first time it was a total s*** show and the second time he was wonderful and napped during half the ride.

Did I forget to take very many photos in August? Yes, I did. Am I going to spam with you photos from our tubing adventure to make up for it? Yes, absolutely. That said: I highly recommend paying to go tubing at New River. You leave all your coolers and bags and towels on a bus and hop into the river to float down to this grilling area. Once here, the bus sets up your items and even starts the charcoal grills for you. You can hop back into the river to go down the rapids (you have to walk back about ten minutes) or you can ride the bus back to the main parking lot to go tubing down the river again. We spent all day here, going down the runs over and over, and it was absolutely glorious.

Recently my kids have been asking why V and I kiss on the lips and why THEY can’t kiss on the lips, so occasionally they do so – just to see what all the fuss is about. But they find it completely weird and start giggling the second their noses are a centimeter apart.

We decided to take the kids tubing for an end-of-summer adventure and it was the perfect way to bring summer to a close. Excitement began bubbling over the second we arrived, despite Teta T and Dede D arriving over a half an hour late.

It’s the summer of Paw Patrols – every waking moment is spent either playing with these small characters, listening to stories about them (thanks to the Yoto), or watching the show. Giant magnatile towers are built in their honor and block ramps help them zoom from one surface to another. I’m genuinely surprised how well the girls have kept track of each piece, considering I’m always stepping on some pup or other.

Sweet summer roaming.

I found them underneath the Japanese Cherry tree pretending to be dinosaurs.

Bandaids and boo-boos galore.

I decided we needed a new cousin photo for the boys’ recently renovated room.