Last Day of Summer

While I worked three full days last week (more than my typical 2.5 days), today felt like our last day of summer. Opening day is tomorrow and kids' first day is Wednesday. I don't think we have really left the house in the past three weeks. No swimming at Zsu Zsu's. Toddler Time is on it's summer hiatus this month. It's been rainy so no zoo or park trips.We've maybe gone to the grocery once or twice, and that's pushing it! I've just felt pretty sick and lethargic - so, we've taken it easy, bumming around the house.

That being said, I wanted us to be able to celebrate and have some fun on "our last day of summer." The plan was to go to the splash park for a couple hours and then the zoo to ride the train. It was supposed to be a cloudy day, so I thought perfect for avoiding the crowds.

Good news / bad news. Bad news is: nothing went as planned! Good news it: you were good sports and still had a blast!

We pulled into the splash park only to find Monday's are cleaning days! We've made this mistake before, but had been able to stall and wait for the park to open back up. So, we headed over to some of the trails and went on a short, thirty minute, mini-hike. You loved seeing the creek and wanted to get as close as possible! (It was a little too slick for our flip flops to get down to the creek though; we obviously weren't prepared with hiking gear).

 

 

By now, it was 11:00, about the time the splash park opened last time we made this mistake. We headed back over, sadly to see, they were nowhere near finished cleaning. It was goodbye splash park and off to the zoo to ride the train.

As we drove, Ryan you sang, "Train, train, gonna ride train!" and I silently prayed, please let the train be running today! Tse Tse was able to sneak away from work on her lunch to join us too.

We entered the zoo and saw the rope up, blocking off the train entrance - they were doing test runs, making sure the track was dry enough for rides. So, we stalled on the merry-go-round. After a couple rides, we saw the train pull into the station. We hurried over to jump on board...only to find, still not open! So, we stalled some more - potty breaks and a picnic lunch. After about another half hour, the train still wasn't running and Tse Tse had to go back to work. Stalling some more, we headed back to the merry-go-round for two more rides (you bravely rode only on the second trip!).

 

As we headed back to the train station, the train was now gone, doing another test run. Sadly, it was time to leave (luckily without tears, since the train was out of sight).

So, we did not spend our day quite as we had planned. We had even planned to spend our evening after dinner swimming in our little pool...only to find it has been infested with algae. Bummer!! So, we problem-solved yet again, and headed to Zsu Zsu and Paka's for a fun evening in their pool.

 

Even though not one part of our day went as we thought, we still had a blast celebrating our last day of summer. I say it every year, and I'll say it again, I just can't believe how quickly the summer has come and gone. It's been so fun watching you grow into brave little fish, swimming underwater and jumping off the ledge. I love watching your imaginations continue to grow and your love of playing. And while we say goodbye to summer, there is so much in the near future for our family: preschool starts, Tse Tse gets married, our fun fall family traditions, and more! There is still so much in store for this year.