Summertime Fun

Summer of 2021 was a much needed break from a difficult school year.  There were lots of lazy days and an extra set of hands thanks to the help of Mrs. Nelson (our summer nanny/tutor that we've been blessed to have for the past 5 years.) Aria's therapy appointments kept the two of us quite busy so I was very grateful for the help. We stayed close to home this summer and the kids had fun just being kids without a care in the world.  

Owen enjoyed a week of sailing classes on Pleasant Lake. He's been taking the same sailing class for several years and has gained some great skills. He sure looks like a pro sailing around the lake while the girls enjoyed playtime at the beach.

Both Owen and Rose had private golf lessons at North Oaks Country Club and spent many, many weekends on the greens. Kate begged every time to go along so Shane started taking her to the driving range to hit balls. Between the four of them, they may have set a Slominski Family record for the amount of time spent golfing in one summer.

Rose and Kate spent Saturday mornings learning the basics of soccer with Soccer Shots. Their summer session was a very small group of just three kids. They had so much fun learning how to handle the ball that after the summer session wrapped up, they were eager to sign up again for the fall.

With Rose having mastered her 2-wheeler, we spent several weekends biking around our neighborhood often with Kate and Aria loaded into the bike trailer and Cole tagging along on his go-cart. Growing up in a small town where you can bike down the middle of the road and not see a single car, I have pretty high anxiety on our busy streets with our easily distracted crew. But with Shane in the lead pulling the little ones, followed by Cole and then Rose and finally me bringing up the rear, things tended to go smoothly and safely. The kids' favorite destination was the gas station up the road where they could have their choice of sugary treat. 

With the heat of the Minnesota summer and most of our time spent at home, we knew early on that we'd need to upgrade our Easy Set pool. No matter what I tried, I simply could not keep the water clean. So we said 'bye-bye' to the 8' Easy Set and 'HELLO' to the 12' metal frame pool. To make it as easy as possible to maintain, we went all out with a sand filter pump and a saltwater system. The upgrade was so worth it! Throw in a bag of salt, turn on the pump and saltwater chlorinator, and voila!! Crystal clear water all summer long. We spent hours, and hours, and hours splashing around in the pool and the kids even mastered a few new swimming skills.

Every summer evening, our amphibian friends would come to visit. We have the most crazy frogs that sneak out at dusk to climb onto our windows and snack away on the insects that are drawn to the light. Rose and Kate can typically be found outside on the deck, gathering up all their frog buddies and gently placing them on the windows. The girls sure do love frogs and will be so sad to say their goodbyes with frog season coming to an end soon.

What a great summer fulled with memories! It was exactly what we needed to rest and rejuvenate before the start of another busy school year.