A Goebel Story: Summer Odds & Ends

There a a few things I wanted to share from our summer activities (and my Grandma sweetly requested an update), so I thought it was about time to get caught up. This one is for you, Grandma!

On Drew's last official day of summer vacation (I say official because he's put in a lot of hours this summer), we took the kids to the McLean County Fair. We got there early in the morning. We stayed long enough to visit all of the exhibits and have a corn dog before the intense heat came and the rides opened. Although the kids loved the animal barns, I was surprised that they really got into the vegetable, flowers, and food exhibits too (especially cake decorating).

Two Christmases ago, we promised the kids we'd put a playground up in our backyard. When summer got here (last summer) we started shopping around for playgrounds...then Drew took the job in Clinton and we put our house up for sale. It wasn't a very good time to build a playground in the backyard. Well, the house remained for sale the entire summer and the playground never came to be, but kids never forgot the playground promise. Since we've been moved, the kids have been bugging us about building one. Summer was quickly slipping by and I had a feeling it wasn't going to happen this summer either. All until the morning Drew woke up and decided he was building a playground...today!! He took his friend John to Menard's. They came back with a truck full of wood and their heads full of dreams (that's right, they had no plans to build from). I had a sinking feeling this was not going to turn out well, but I kept my mouth shut.

They put in 2 full days of work. Things were looking pretty good, but it was slow going. Then John had to go back to work and Drew was left on his own.

It is an understatement to say Drew is a hard worker! He spent day after day (after day), in the brutally hot sun (I'm talking heat index of 115),working on this thing. Details are not Drew's specialty necessarily, but no detail was overlooked on this project!

I'd say, this is something to be proud of! Drew had a plan in his head, and it showed up in our backyard. The kids love it! And, so do I.

One of our favorite activities this summer was swimming. I'm am so excited about how far the kids have come since the beginning the summer. Back in June, Ben ran around the pool deck whining...to scared to even get in the wet. Look at him now! (Pardon the gross looking water, its a long story but we were assured it was safe...)

Kate has started diving. Not only off the side, but also off the board! She also enjoys trying to beat Dad's cannon ball splash. (Which is probably why they are adding water to the pool in this picture.)

As much as I've been enjoying a break from the heat and these cool, overcast days, I'm really hoping we will have a few more hot ones. We've had so much fun with the kids at the pool this summer, I'm not ready for it to be over yet.

Another of my favorite activities this summer has been our garden. I just love being out there with the kids. At the beginning it was Kate who was my little garden helper, but now it is Ben! I'm never out there without him right by my side. He loves to pull the carrots and pick the tomatoes. And, if I don't have a job for him; he works on the hole he is digging in the corner. I couldn't love anything more than being out there with my little man. I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed with my first garden. We have way more jalapeno peppers and tomatoes than one could EVER want, but they have made us popular with the neighbors. We were a little late harvesting our sweet corn, but we'll know better next year. All in all, it has just been fun!

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I built a huge tent in Kate's room. Then we had a slumber party. We played games, made shadow puppets, had snacks (lots of snacks), and then Kate and Ben slept in it. The kids were so over-the-top excited about the tent; it was contagious. I realize from the pictures it just looks like a big mess (and it was a big mess), but it was also "the best tent in the whole world"!

And now the rest are just a hodge-podge of pictures from the summer. Here are Grady and Ben "hiding" from me. The best part is I could hear them giggling as I searched and searched for them, and they totally thought they were hidden.