Last Days of Summer

The summer this year was incredibly hot.  It was hitting well over 100 every day for a long stretch.  The only thing you could really do was wake up early and get all the outdoor fun in before 11AM.  Maddie and I went to the zoo a lot.  She LOVES the zoo and there is always something new to see and learn.  The sting rays are her favorites, so we went there a lot.

 

Daddy loves to play Barbies.  I just love this photo.  He looks like he was caught playing Barbies all by himself.

The heat really went after the garden.  Maddie was very good at watering the garden every day. 

Bowling is another great way to beat the heat.  Maddie insisted on wearing a dress, though. 

Maddie loves bowling ... and has her own special way of throwing the ball.

She actually made a spare on one throw!

We loved our matching family shoes

Maddie loves playing doctor (dressed as a princess this time).  She was the baby's doctor in this case and I have lots of monitors and special things on my tummy.

Indoor golf was another way we found refuge from the heat.  Maddie loved the moonwalk the most, though!

Zsa Zsa came in to enjoy some of our beautiful weather.  The water area at the park seemed to help them both cool down.

We had to go to the zoo, of course and pet the sting rays. 

Then we went to the new exhibit - the new Sea Lion area.  It was a LONG wait, but beautiful.

Then Nana came in for a visit too.  We went back to the sting rays (they are Maddie's favorite thing to show everyone).

Daddy and I left Maddie and Nana in the St. Louis heat and flew out to Portland, our soon to be new home.  It was beautiful and about 30 degrees cooler!  We did lots of driving to get more familiar with the area.  I don't know how I will do with all the bridges.  I guess we will see!

We managed to find some pretty good food while we were there.  Nick got some sort of spicy hamburger.  I don't have the picture of mine, sadly, but it was a burger with grilled cheese sandwiches as buns.  It was as good as it sounds!

We visited the rose garden which was pretty amazing - even Nick thought so!

Nick loves moss that grows own rocks and walls.  I don't really know what to tell you ... yes, that is an odd thing to like. 

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in Portland.  We had a wonderful dinner out the night before and then drove up to Mt. Hood on our actual anniversary.  We found a brewery on the mountain (because microbrew beer is what Oregon does!) and enjoyed his and her anniversary beers (mine is root beer of course).

The drive on Mt. Hood was so beautiful. 

We flew home late Sunday night and arrived at 5AM on Monday morning.  Daddy went off to work right away and I came home and got Miss Maddie ready for her first day of Zoo Camp - Camp Joey.  She was so excited.  She had been looking forward to it all summer.  She looked too cute in her shirt and was just adorable as she walked off to class.  She had an incredible week.  I only wish it could have been longer.  She learned so much and came home with wonderful stories each day.

On the second day, they learned about animals in their backyard and made a bird feeder.  Maddie and Nana hung it up for the birds (but probably the squirrels).

Nana and Maddie had a picnic lunch in the playroom one day after camp.

Playing a little dress up with some of Nana's major glasses from the 1970's I would say. 

This is often what Maddie's room looks like.  The problem is that she does not want to clean it up because the dollies are having a party.  It is always pretty messy in that room.  We have since cleaned it and it looks much neater without the party.

Fun at the park trying to beat the heat.

A few days after Nana left, PopPop arrived!  We went over and did lots of swimming.  Maddie has gotten to be so brave with her swimming this summer.  At the beach she would only swim in her ring floatie.  After NYC, she learned to use the noodle.  Now she will swim with her water wings and loves it!

We went and visited Great Grandma Hamilton a lot.  Maddie loved pushing her in her chair.

At dinner one night, Maddie made herself a french fry mustache.  She is so silly.

August 8th finally arrived ... that is my birthday for those that maybe didn't get the memo.  :)  We went and got a birthday scoop of ice cream.  Can you tell what color it was?

For breakfast, Maddie took me out to IHOP.  It was such a fun birthday date. 

For my birthday dinner, the baby requested Indian take out.  It was SO good!

The true sign that it is the end of summer is getting back in the classroom to set up.  Maddie was a lot of help this year.  She set up my supply boxes.  Ahhhh ... the life of a teacher's kid.  Summer ends with having to work.  Maddie says she wants to be a teacher, though, so she is just getting her practice in early!

It was a WONDERFUL summer!  We made lots of fun new memories and had a lot of fun.  This is going to be a big year for the Hamilton family.  There are lots of exciting things happening and we can't wait to share them all with you!