Summer winding down

We are getting dangerously close to the end of summer.  Spencer starts 2nd grade and Elliott starts preschool on Monday, July 20th.  We've done almost nothing from our summer to-do list.  Oh well, I guess we'll just move that stuff to our fall break to-do list.

Elliott is also getting dangerously close to being done with his weekly physical therapy sessions.  He has one more tomorrow and then he'll go to monthly sessions.  I should mention that I am writing this on Tuesday with plans to post on Thursday, lest you be very confused about the continuity of days.

Last Wednesday, the 8th, he did great, as usual, at his second to last session.

He loves going in the crash pit.

And he did great for his first time on this bumpy, roller slide.

As has been our summer schedule (well, for 4 weeks of summer) we went to the IDEA museum after PT.  Both kids were wearing shirts that we thought would look really cool in the black light, but both were total busts.

My shirt was surprisingly awesome though.

But look at this. That stain is not there at all in regular light.  You can't see or feel anything.  What the hell is it?  I feel like this shirt needs to be burned.

The Museum of Natural History is across the street from the IDEA museum.  We had to laugh at what it looked like was storming the building. 

Can you see him? 

We went to TC Eggingtons for lunch after.  Elliott made a huge mess with his blueberry pancakes.

On Thursday we had to wait at home all morning for the technician to come replace my car windshield.  I was told he would be there between 8 and 12.  He arrived at 12:20.  We were ready to get out of the house a little after he left so we went to the mall.  Spencer convinced me to buy these teeny tiny European bathing suits from H&M.  He wanted the Mario one and so did Elliott, actually, but they only had Spencer's size.

They are so tiny.  But easy to take on and off.

On Thursday night I met my brother Nathan at the airport.  He had a 2 hour layover before flying to Reno and we haven't seen each other since November, 2013.  Luckily Phoenix International Airport has several full service, sit-down restaurants, so he got to eat a good dinner and we shared a nice bottle of wine.  

It was actually the waiter who insisted on taking two pictures, each from a different angle.  He must be a blogger.

This is the only picture from last Friday.  The heat makes me lazy.

On Saturday Michael's brother brought his family to stay with us for the weekend.  First, they hung out at our house for a few hours.  The kids all played.  Ginger slept.

And then we did something we've been talking about doing for years.  We went to the portrait studio for formal pictures of the entire family.  They came out so great that we ordered the CD with all of the images.  I want to wait until I have the CD to share all of the pictures so that the quality is better, but for now, a sneak peek of the grandkids.

When we got back home Bryant and I took a picture just to show how much taller he is than me.  I was there in the hospital when he was born.  It was a few weeks before I turned 19.  I can't believe he'll be out of high school in another year.

We went to a brewery for dinner that night and since their wives were driving, these brothers sampled a lot of beer.

I took Jenn and Bryant (along with Elliott) to the Mall on Sunday morning so they could buy some Arizona souvenirs.  Elliott insisted on holding Bryant's hand the whole time.  Then we stopped at the grocery store on the way back home.  Bryant was a little tired of Elliott's slow walking (he's pretty pokey) so he picked him up and carried him.  Elliott was in heaven.  I told him not to expect the same treatment from mommy.

We spent most of the rest of the day on Sunday in the pool.

They had to leave to start the long drive back to Florida early on Monday morning.  Hopefully it will be less than 4 years before we see them again.