Last Day of Summer Vacation

This week we squeezed every bit of out the last days of summer that we could, sandwiched in between getting ready for school with shoe shopping, middle school orientation, elementary school meet the teacher/ice cream social and high school textbook pick-up. 

We went swimming several times and had fun at the Bellaire Aquatic Center Friday with some friends, thanks to the Bellaire Summer Reading program prizes.  The kids all earned free passes for hitting the 50 book/5000 page mark and it was a fun way to celebrate the last official day of summer vacation.

Kennedy and Hayley

Hayley and Luke coming off the slide

Trevor on the slide

Luke on the Frog Slide

Luke splashing at the pool

After swimming for a few hours, we went home for quick clean-up before heading over to the elementary school to meet Jake and Hayley's teachers.  Jake's 1st grade teacher has only been at the school a couple of years, and is new to us.  She is super nice and Jake was first in line to meet her.  They had a good conversation about the classroom and swimming (she saw his newly scrapped chin & he told her it was from the bottom of the pool that morning).  Hayley's homeroom teacher was also Michael & Trevor's 4th grade math teacher so it was fun for Michael to go with her and talk to all his old teachers on that hallway.  They loved seeing him and couldn't believe he was taller than all of them now.  Trevor had already deserted us to go say hi to last year's 5th grade teachers and find old friends.  After meeting the teachers, everyone cooled down with a Popsicle before going home again.



Jake enjoying his Popsicle



I snapped this picture as they were walking back to the car. It's hard to see Hayley in front of the boys, but fun to see Luke trailing behind them, bringing up the rear at the school, just like he will be in a couple of years.

Our Past, Present & Future Kolter Cougars

Friday night we ended the fun at Princes Hamburgers, cashing in on the free kids meals the kids had earned as another summer reading library prize. Boy we sure love our library!  By the end of the day, we were pretty tired.  It was a great last day of summer!  We will miss you summertime!!

A Day in the Life of a 15 year old

This summer Michael has managed to stay pretty busy.  In addition to basketball camp in June and playing basketball every chance he gets, he did a few other things.  He went to Scout Camp in July and helped his troop earn the prestigious camp award, in addition to his other merit badges. 





Michael on top of the peak at Scout Camp


When Michael has been home this summer, he has had a couple part time dog-sitting jobs and a pool cleaning job for the summer.  He was on his own for the pool cleaning duties, but his younger brothers and sister loved helping out with the dog duties...it's really the best way to have a pet :)

Getting ready for another fun afternoon of shelving books

For the second year in a row, he also volunteered over 36 hours at the local library this summer.  The librarian's all love him and while he is great at spending hours shelving all those books we love to read, Michael helped out a lot with the various children activities they hold throughout the summer.  He spent 4 1/2 hours last week helping run various parts of the End of Summer Party.  But by far his favorite shift was the one where they were having a Gaming afternoon on the Wii for ages 6-10.  He got to play Wii for 2 hours and beat all the little kids.  That is the way to volunteer!

Michael getting into the Dino-Dance at the library activity

Trevor visiting Michael on the hot MoonWalk duty at the party

As the summer winds down, Michael is ready to tackle another year of high school, seminary, and probably the scariest job of all...drivers ed!! (probably more scary for us than him!)

We are really proud of Michael and the young man he has become.  He is such a good example to his younger siblings, he does great in school, has so many talents, and honors his priesthood duties at church.  He is so fun talk to and just a fun person to be around.  Watching him interact with different siblings this week, talking to Trevor about middle school starting next week, tutoring him in the ways of Nike shoes, Scouts and so much more, it was just great. 

We love you Michael!

Hot Enough to Fry an Egg?

Not quite, but it was a fun experiment during this hot, dry summer!

The Beach

Friday we went to Galveston Beach with my brother and his family. It was fantastic! We got there early, found a prime parking spot for the car and our stuff on the beach.

Luke excited to be out of the car at and the beach!

The waves were incredible, bigger than anything I remember in recent trips to the beach. The kids had so much fun riding the waves. Luke was crazy over the "bubbles" the surf make, just giggling and pointing, yelling bubbles over and over.


 


Jake running in the surf

  

Luke losing his suit in the water

Hayley and Luke cooling off in the water



Luke loving the water



Riding the waves



Playing in the water

Of course there were hours spent playing the sand, building and digging, searching and finding shells and partial sand dollars.

Bob and Cynthia relaxing on the beach

Luke building in the sand

Alex and Anna filling their pails

It was a perfect day at the beach!

COUSINS!

What better way to end the summer than with a fun visit from the cousins. My brother Bob's family came down from Dallas Thursday night for a long week-end and we had so much fun.  We played, swam, went to the beach, had sleepovers, ate great food, and swam some more.  Friday we had a blast at the beach in Galveston.




Jake and Anna at the beach


Bob got a fun hotel room with some vouchers he had for a two of the nights which was a great treat.  So Friday night we had a Girls + Jake Sleepover at the hotel and Cynthia painted crackle nails on the girls.  We slept in dreamy beds, had so much fun talking, giggling and playing, and had a fantastic breakfast and lazy morning.

Anna at the Girls + Jake Sleepover

Anna, Jake and Ashlynn at breakfast

Poor Bob's morning wasn't quite as peaceful...Michael conned him into playing three hours of basketball early Saturday morning before heading over to swim with us.  Wouldn't you want a 6'7" uncle on your team?!  But it sounded like they had a lot of fun. Later we had a great time swimming together at the pool, and Bob was able to relax some in the hot tub.



Trevor, Michael, Ashlynn and Cynthia chilling at the pool

 


Jake, Anna, Bob, Abby  and Hayley having fun in the hot tub
while Luke splashing in the shallow part of the pool




Trevor styling with Uncle Bob's shades


Later we went back to the house and grilled hot dogs and played.  We ended the day by having a late night swim at the hotel.  There is just something fun about swimming in the dark by the lights of the pool.  Trevor stayed with Alex and Ashlynn and Bob and Cynthia at the hotel that night & the rest of us headed home.  Early Sunday I took the kids back to the hotel for a fun breakfast of carb overload before grabbing my kids and bringing them back to the house to get ready for church.  Bob and the gang met us back at the house for a little last bit of fun and then they headed home. 




Carb overload...snuggling after breakfast

By the time they left Sunday, everyone was worn out but still didn't want the fun to end. It was such a great visit!

What do you do in the Summertime?

We go swimming a lot...

Luke splashing at the Y pool

And then find lots of things INSIDE because of the intense heat we've had.  Things like...



Making Homemade Jam and Bread, Library fun, Dog Sitting, Playing Video Games, Mask Making, Reading Lots of Books, Watching Chopped on the Food Network together, Eating Yummy COLD things, Playing Games like UNO, Monopoly and Apples to Apples,  Dances, Harry Potter Movie Marathons, Basketball, Indoor Playdates with Friends and lots of other fun stuff.


Here are a few pictures of some our adventures this summer...

Jake playing Star Wars

Hayley with one of her masks

Movie Time!

Tyler and Michael playing ball

Jake painting his Pet Rock at the library

Luke and Pearl - a month long dogsitting adventure

Typical Trevor pose

We've been library crazy this summer...I knew we had a problem when I
saw we had 76 items checked out one day!

Ice Cream...why dirty a bowl?!

Play Hard, Sleep Hard!!

 

Jake and Luke worn out

Muggle Fun

Trevor and I went to the 12:55 AM premiere showing of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.  We are crazy but it was so fun!  If Michael was home from Scout Camp, he would have been sure to join us, but we just couldn't wait.  It was a great movie and so fun to hang out with Trevor and eat popcorn in the middle of the night! 



Trevor as Harry Potter, 2011



I guess it is now a tradition to bring an 11 year old son out at midnight dressed like a wizard.  4 years earlier, in July of 2007 Michael and I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Book 7 at Borders.  We did learn one thing from that night and skipped the hair dye that permanently transformed our bathtub. 

Michael as Harry Potter, 2007



Loving the final book, he read for 5 hours straight



Root, Root Root for the Home Team...or Not!

In July the Boston Red Sox came to town to play the Houston Astros, our two favorite baseball teams.  Grammy and Grandaddy surprised us all with tickets and we had a great time together.

Hayley having fun

Jake and Luke enjoying the popcorn

We were a split family, cheering on our teams.  The best was singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas" during the 7th inning stretch.  

Fun with Grandaddy

Talking during the game

It was a fun night - thanks Grammy & Grandaddy!! 

Luke enjoying the game