Having fun in the summer sun...

Since it has been a while since I have posted on POH, I thought that I would also start this week by giving you a brief update on what my family has been up to:

My big helper, Karis Lynn, turned 4 years old! Apparently being 4 makes a big difference because suddenly "big girls eat everything!" and focus much better on following directions. Karis loves to cut things with her big-girl scissors, make pretty pictures with stamps, tell Karlie how to do everything, help Abbi by giving her toys and reading books to her, cook with Mama, and play ball with Daddy.

My spunky little Karlie Sue is 2 1/2 years old. She has no fear of trying new things and keeps me on my toes on a regular basis. She stubbornly dislikes the potty, but has great control so she runs around in her big-girl underwear, staying dry until I put a diaper on her for nap-time. (Yes; I know I need to just bite the bullet and get rid of that diaper, but I haven't had the nerve yet :) She is a munchkin with boundless energy and will often just chatter and sing away during nap time while Karis is conked out right beside her. She loves to do anything that Karis does and although she will tell you she is 2 years old, she pretty much believes that she is 4 like Karis :)

My sweet baby, Abbi Grace, turned 4 months old! She is now about 15 pounds and such a happy baby! She loves to play in water and watch her sisters do anything. She is starting to sleep longer stretches at night and go to bed early (around 7:00) like her big sisters. (Yay for Mama and Daddy having time alone to hang out in the evenings again!)

This summer our family is unable to take a long vacation, so we have decided to try to make quick trips to lots of fun places instead. The past 3 weekends we...

Made a day trip to the NC Ashboro zoo! It was ridiculously hot, but the girls were so excited that they did not complain a bit! We had a blast!

We made a day trip to Wrightsville Beach with our church! What a blessing to go with our church family! It was wonderful to have so many people helping us carry things and wanting to play with the girls!

For Father's Day, we had a fun day at a nearby lake! The girls loved having water they could "swim" in and still be able to touch the bottom. We will probably make many more day trips to the lake this summer!

It has been so unbelievably hot that most of our fun outside times have to include water :) But the girls love to play in the sprinkler!

And they think our little kiddie pool is ever so exciting!

We've also spent many days at the library, playing soccer with Daddy at work, and going to swim lessons.

What about you? How are you having fun in the summer heat? I'd love to hear about it and if you have blogged about it, feel free to share links in the comments so that we can get to know you better and learn from your ideas!