7 Years, 10 and 11 Months: aka Summer

Summer flew by in a blur. The boys' school let out at the end of May and returned August 8th, meaning summer was effectively only two months long. The first two weeks of June, my parents came up to Santa Cruz. The boys wanted to have a taste of "real summer," where they could just goof off and do nothing, and my parents helped facilitate that for them since Steve and I had to work. 

The third week of June, the boys attended soccer camp. 

Jack:

 

Henry:

They enjoy this particular soccer camp, primarily because soccer is somewhat incidental, with the hiking, camp songs, hanging out with friends and playing in the creek next to the soccer field being the primary attractions.

One of the boys' favorite pastimes, now that their bedtime is a little later, is getting to watch Dad play video games:

Sure, kids, you definitely both still fit on that riding toy:

Steve managed to rig up a pretty good water slide in the backyard using a sump pump and a kiddie pool:

One of the highlights of the summer was their friend Bascom's birthday party. For his party, Bascom invited his closest friends out to dinner at a very fancy local restaurant, with ties and pocket squares as party favors.

Henry, Miles, Charles, Bascom and Jack in the funicular that takes you down to the riverside restaurant: 

Boys in the funicular: 

Henry dinner portrait:

Jack dinner portrait: 

Jack, Bascom, Henry, Charles and Miles, goofing around:

I admit that I thought Bascom's parents were crazy for taking five 7 and 8 year-olds out to a fancy dinner, but apparently the kids had a blast and managed not to get kicked out of the restaurant.

Back at home with Dad after an exciting evening:

The boys spent the last week of June in a half-day "inventor's workshop" camp at the local community college. We then went to Southern California for the first week of July. Then the boys spent the rest of July in all-day summer camp run by their school's aftercare program while Steve and I worked, so before we knew it, summer break was over and it was time to go back to school.