Outside

You wouldn't have known it considering the depressive heat that has plagued us for the past several days, but last week we had two really beautiful days. Mother Nature gave us a bit of a reprieve from the confines of our home (although it still wasn't quite nice enough to turn off the A/C...and when it's 99 degrees with a heat index of 115 degrees, the confines of home aren't so bad!) and the boys and I were able to stretch our legs outside - which is exactly where two growing boys need to be!

Wednesday of last week, the temperature peaked at 80 degrees. Lovely! In between Craft Wednesday and quiet time, we stayed outside as much as we could. We went for a walk in the morning, then spent the afternoon spinning our wheels (I'm hilarious!) in the church parking lot.

A little basketball, too.

We went for another walk Thursday morning (another 80 degree day), but we jazzed it up a bit with an outdoor scavenger hunt. I have been trying to figure out exactly what kind of hunt I could put together for the boys when I spied this free printable online. It was perfect - exactly what I was looking for and I didn't have to do the work! Bonus!

I supplied both boys with our list of things to find and a marker...

...and we were off!

Among the items on our list - a garbage can. They are in abundance when you go for a walk on garbage day. :)

The picture of the flower on our sheet was yellow, so Drew was convinced we needed to find sunflowers. I shutter to think what would have happened had we not found any. :)

Thursday night, then, we headed over to the park for their weekly family movie. Babe 2: Pig in the City was playing. It wasn't our first choice, but our summer schedule has been a bit wonky and this was the first we were free to go (we would have rather seen Up or Planet 51 which they played earlier in the summer). It was a beautiful night for an outdoor movie (meaning: no bugs!) and all three of the boys seemed to enjoy the movie.

Friday night we were invited to dinner at the Blands' home. The Carlsons' joined us, and along with the neighbor girls, we had a night filled with games, children, and FUN! The Blands' backyard is a kid's paradise - basketball court (which means concrete for sidewalk chalk art), badminton, bags, and a playset, and their backyard gates open to the neighbor's backyard, which has swings and a slide, a giant ball to roll around in, and other toys, making it an absolute dream for the boys and their friends. It was another beautiful night!

Now...if Mother Nature would just give it up already. We've had our third straight day of heat indices over 100. Have I ever mentioned my love for autumn?!?!