As I think most of us usually do, I had a pretty ambitious to do wish-list for this summer. Of course I didn't get everything checked off, but here's how I faired:
Stock up on craft supplies I did manage to visit a local school supply store and stocked up on essentials like construction paper, glue, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, watercolors, clay, etc. Coloring/painting/gluing/cutting paper into a million pieces are some of the kids favorite activities--a plus when they can do it themselves (the paint and glue gets a little messy though).
Go to the pool. Unfortunately we waited until the last few days the public pools were still open, but we did make it to our favorite, San Pedro Springs, for Skyler's birthday party.
Get back to the gym. I should have been more specific with this one! I did make it to the gym--a very small handful of times. It helped to start meeting up with a good friend of mine who I don't get to visit with often. (We were so excited as we talked on the treadmills someone had to ask us to quiet down.) I think it'll help having a more regular schedule now that school is underway, though.
Sign up for the summer reading club. Again, should've been more specific here. We were very proactive about signing up for the library reading club, but when it came to completing it, we totally bombed. In our defense, we had four reading logs to keep track of, and we have an over-abundance of books anyway, so getting four more new ones isn't a huge deal. I am a bit peeved with myself for passing of free books that aren't torn or chewed on--we did do
tons of reading though.
Check out the annual tent sale at the main library. Luckily we actually remembered to go. I think I came home with a few Allan Ahlberg books for the kids, but didn't really find anything I liked for me.
Go on a family picnic (or two). We did take a picnic with us for dinner one evening after letting the kids loose at a local splash pad (which we made it out to at least once more). And we enjoyed a picnic lunch on our
beach trip, too.
Finish our picnic blanket. Did you catch a glimpse of it
here? I didn't have a big ta-dah post about it (I think I was just eager to put it to use), but I
love how it turned out. Plus it's nice and big.
Watch a movie outdoors. I took the boys out to Hemisfair park to see a couple outdoor movies (Dispicable Me and Beethoven) put on by some friends of ours who run the
Slab Cinema. It's becoming a beloved summer tradition--I can't wait till the girls are big enough to go out, too.
Take the kids to the movie theater. We weren't successful with this one, but hey, I sure don't miss not spending the money.
Family trip to the beach. Check out our visit to Mustang Island
here.
Make a reading tent. Another year gone by without checking this off my summer list. Maybe the third time will be the charm?
Bake cookies with the kids. Nope, not this one, either. I did mix up some homemade play dough with the kids this afternoon, though.
Make popsicles. Nada.
Catch up on photo albums. Sort of. I made Chris a photo album of the fire academy for
his birthday. And I bought a gazillion photos and a new album for Amelia, but I still haven't stuck a single photo in, and poor Eleanor still doesn't even have an album. One of these days. I promise.
Take a trip to the flea market. Yes! We did do this one. Check out all the cool stuff we found
here.
Make birthday plans. I didn't plan any parties out to a T, but we did have a couple big parties for Amelia (thanks to my sister for helping me decorate) and Skyler--on back to back weekends--I know, I'm crazy. It did make it easy in a way to have Skyler's party on location; we didn't have to make a mad dash cleaning up the house on top of everything. I think we'll definitely be looking at combined parties in the future.
Buy a set of reusable party ware. I lucked out
finding a bunch at a local Goodwill. Now to find some we can take to parties not at home?
Remember to relax. I think the fact that I didn't complete my entire list is evidence that I took it easy at least a little bit (as much as a mama can with four little ones!). I did enjoy some time with a couple of friends here and there, as well as taking Skyler out on a little crochet date, and spending some one-on-one time with Eleanor for a little photo shoot with a friend. And of course, soaking up any moments of quiet alone time during the day, even if it is in the wee hours of the night!
It's funny how summer seems to be so long and short at the same time. Regardless, it's certainly been filled with joy and laughter and sunshine (and a lot of sweat to go along). Now here's for a little rain to finally come our way!
at the library, they were full of ideas. 
