Summer Fun: Jumbo Slides and Bouncy Castles

Of course, you can enjoy them any time of the year but they seem to be even more abundant in the summer when festivals fill the week ends. Plus they seem even more fun when you can enjoy them in shorts or a bathing suit.

My nephew had a huge slide brought in for his birthday party this year. After the guests left he and his sister turned it into a water slide with the garden hose. Then the fun really began.

I took the opportunity to capture some photographic evidence of some jumbo slide authentic summer fun.

Summer Fun

I've been thinking about Summer and fun and how during this season it shows up in unexpected and often small ways. Appropriately enough, my daughter brought me home a bracelet that spelled out SUMMER FUN from camp yesterday. I was thrilled. I brought her home a Incredible Me cup caked. She was thrilled. That was summer fun in two small packages.

We don't have anything big planned this summer. A new job means no real vacation days, so I been feeling a lot of pressure to squeeze fun out of the little bit of free time we have.

Pressure and fun are never a good combination, so I'm trying to lighten up. I'm also thinking ahead to winter and an idea is brewing. I'm going to see if we can swing a winter vacation in a warm spot (aka Florida). I've amazingly never been and it is the home of a number of well known princesses. I don't want to jinx it by saying more but I'm hoping we get an extra week of summer this winter.

Favorite Summer Things: Black Eyed Susans

Our Black Eyed Susans rallied after a deer attack earlier this summer (not so our beautiful tomato plants). Now, they are blooming away and cheering us with their simple beauty. If all flowers have a certain character and mood to them, then Black Eyed Susans are straight forward and happy and a perfect reflection of a sunny summer day.

Zombie Fever

I finished World War Z over the holiday weekend. We were all recovering from very bad summer flus. Reading in bed during a beautiful summer day seems like a waste, but we were really wiped out.

At least feeling sickly added to the war torn feeling of the survivors tales I was reading in the book. I enjoyed the structure and feel of the book, although I wish there had been some explanation of what caused the the zombie pandemic. I would have liked at least some mention of attempts to solve the problem scientifically. In the end I was a bit zombied out. I was glad to turn the last page and leave the undead and rejoin the living. All in all zombies make for a good summer read.

Camp Starts

When I told my little one she was going to camp at her school she thought she was going to be sleeping over in a tent. So cute.

I had to explain the idea of day camp. I have to laugh though, at the image of a bunch of little kids pitching tents in the playground, singing around campfires and sleeping over when their houses and parents are just a few blocks away.

Sculpture Studio

I'm amazed what my little one can do with a pack of Play Doh . I don't remember ever being so creative with Play Doh when I was a kid. I just made some stringy shapes and ropey twists with the contraption that came with the Doh.

Maybe I would have gotten to cool sculptures if my mom were not secretly throwing out my Play Doh as quickly as she could. I remember catching her. That's a whole story in itself. Me asking where my Play Doh was. Mom saying I must have misplaced it. Me finding it in the garbage.

I guess I can forgive her now considering that Play Doh can ruin a carpet faster than anything and seems to naturally find its way to the nearest susceptible floor covering.

We are solving for this with a kitchen only rule and dinner plates as a sculpting surface. I have to say I love the stuff my little artist comes up with. I still need to photograph the bowl of corn flakes she made.

Coming Undone

I just finished my second summer read featuring a woman coming undone. Where'd You Go Bernadette almost got tossed aside but I'm glad I persisted. It was another train station buy and as I tried to make my way through the first chapters I was annoyed at first.

Annoyed because it wasn't exactly what I expected, annoyed because my mood was tainted by stress at work. I was turned off by the petty grievances and concerns of a fairly privileged lot of characters living under the Olympic mountains and looming giant Microsoft. Was I supposed to sympathize with their woes about fund raising for their so so private school? No, I was supposed to laugh and as things escalated and started to come undone find sympathy for an imperfect lot. Now I'm glad I hung in long enough to enjoy a memorable mud slide.

My Happy Place for the Week

This bit of manicured lawn looks like the perfect mental retreat if things get wacky this week. A perfect place to layout a blanket and take an open air nap. For the more active a perfect setting for a game of badminton or even of hide and seek. Lots of hiding spots in the gorgeous surrounding foliage.

First Day of Summer

Friday was the first day of summer. Being a hectic work day, it could have gone by unappreciated. Luckily, a few things happened which reminded me to enjoy the day even while I was rushing.

First, I looked out the back window and saw five baby deer. There is always a day when the weather really warms up that we first see the babies come out of the woods. It was not the first baby deer we saw this summer but these are our deer so it's special. The fact that there were five together and they were playing made me think of a nursery school. The mommas were nearby supervising the outing. Made my morning.

Second my little one turned to me and randomly told me she loved me. Nothing gives me the energy to go on through the craziness more than she does.

Third, I saw our fox as I was closing up shop for the evening. For some reason seeing her (a baby fox spotting confirmed our fox is female) always makes me happy.

A School Year Older

I was surprised at how much bigger all of the kids looked at the end of year party for my daughter's kindergarten class. Clearly some growth spurts had occurred. They seemed to have out grown the little chairs and tables that were perfectly sized for them at the beginning of the year. They finish the year a lot bigger and truly a little older and wiser.

Suddenly the my little one who looked so young to be going off to kindergarten looks like she's ready for first grade. Sigh!