work and play in Summer

We have been at home for the most part this week. The days are getting so hot that we have to think of fun things to do outside in the early morning and late afternoon, and during the middle of the day we mostly do projects in the house. Our only exception for all day outdoor play is the lake. We are swimming a bunch this year. Even little Nova can go under water and try to swim towards me.

All of our flowers are so beautiful right now. The birds planted this mystery plant in my front yard flower bed. I thought that it was a squash when I first saw it, and then it began to grow into a stalk. I almost pulled it, but I'm so glad that I decided to give it a bit longer to grow. Its beautiful!


Nova loves to help with weaving the morning glory around the wagon wheel each day. He also checks the toad houses every morning to see if we have any little visitors. So far, no toads but we do find crickets pretty often.


Lots of other things are blooming right now: a miniature sunflower, beautiful gourd flowers, cosmos and zinnias...



During the hottest part of the day, Clover loves a baking project. She has been making delicious zucchini bread. I will post the recipe soon since it is one of our favorites.


Sometimes we go on a bug hunt in the late afternoon. We get rid of the garden pests like Japanese beetles and tomato caterpillars, and admire the nice ones. We have lots of bees this year. Indigo and Nova were fascinated by cicada exoskeletons. At this time of year, they are all over the yard.



The big evening project with Daddy is the canoe. All of the kids love to help with it. Willow, Indigo, and Nova drilled holes for rope and bungee cords. Clover used her finger knitting skills to make a rope handle. We are all hoping to try it out sometime this weekend!




Summer is my favorite season!