GET GLOWING

One of our favorite summer activities, by far, is our annual glow stick swim party. Each year, we invite a different family for a night of food, friends, and frolicking. Lame alliterations aside, it really is one of the best nights of the summer. We eat and play until well after dark. And the moment the sun even hints at nearing the horizon, we pop dozen upon dozens of glow sticks and throw them into the pool. Then it turns into a swimming scramble to see who can collect the most. This is one activity that never gets old and we had a blast two weeks ago with some of our favorite people.

365.3: WEEK 31

School is almost back in session and I couldn't be more excited. We've survived the summer and have made some fun memories along the way. Now it's time to buckle back down on our routine and get into school mode. Shopping for school supplies. Jumping on a friend's trampoline. Soaking up the last of summer cousin swim. Getting new shoes for school. Having our annual glow stick pool party. Enjoying a spontaneous trip to our favorite lake. Visiting family on a Sunday afternoon.

July 30th - August 5th

Same trampoline, four years prior HERE.  This last one reminds me of THIS photo of her oldest sister from four years ago...

365.3: WEEK 27

Late. It's been a hell of a week. AND IT'S ONLY WEDNESDAY. As I was getting my hair done on Monday, the mr. texted me to let me know that our AC wasn't working. Not good if it's the dead of summer. And you live in Arizona. Long story short, we had to replace the entire AC, but that didn't happen until today. Who knew 48 hours could be so long... I won't bother getting into the difficulties that we faced - it's just not worth it and better left in the [recent] past. But it was hard. And caused me to be late posting my 365 photos. So last week. Watching the last Harry Potter movie (since the oldest finished reading the last book). Looking through all of our Chatbooks. Celebrating the 4th of July. Playing with puzzles at the library. Competing in Minute-To-Win-It games for Friday Fun Day. Hiking with lifelong friends in Prescott (after a botched run). Keeping a balloon afloat while jumping on the bed.

July 2nd - July 8th

I SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I AM UP TO NO GOOD

Last week, we had a MAGICAL Friday Fun Day. Seriously, I'm still giddy over how well this one turned out. It was our Harry Potter party, complete with spell books, mandrakes, and Bertie Bott's beans. We invited some good friends over (with their five awesome kids) and had them enter via Platform 9 3/4. We stopped by Ollivander's for some custom wands, Three Broomsticks for butterbeer, and Honeydukes for licorice wands, troll boogers, and every flavor beans. We uprooted mandrakes and decorated our wands. We watched the first Harry Potter movie and practiced casting spells. It was such a fantastic night.

EARNED IT

So, summer with six kids is basically all about survival. We've got a great routine in place, but that doesn't mean our summers run effortlessly. Oh, far from. To help things go a little more smoothly, my six have the opportunity to earn fun activities and extras through behavior. And if they have a perfect week, they get to have a one-on-one date with mom or dad getting a treat of their choice. The first week doing our behavior charts, the oldest earned this awesome extra. We went to Petersen's Ice Cream in downtown Gilbert, where he was treated to rainbow sherbet topped with gummy bears. On our way back to the parking garage, we passed Rocket Fizz and curiosity got the best of me. In addition to the sherbet, the lucky kid walked away with a strawberry Fanta and some red vines (to share). If an incentive encourages better behavior, I am all for it.