winding down...

Yes, summer is winding down around here. It's hard to believe, but Em and Nick will start back to school a week from today. We're still trying to fit some fun things into these last few days, though.... Here are some pictures from the past week.

Aug. 13th, Ben discovered the pieces to this Lego train, and couldn't wait for George to put them all together. He's been playing with the train daily ever since! : Aug. 14th, middle school registration for Em: Aug. 15th, the fluffy fountain grass we planted last year: Aug. 16th, some "wild" alyssum. I didn't plant any this year (though have the last 2 summers), but this showed up in the crack between our driveway and our garage. It makes me wish I'd planted a bunch along our sidewalk again: Aug. 17th, I took the kiddos to Brookfield Zoo (George had to work). We had a great time! We loved seeing the snow leopards up close: and brushing the goats in the Children's Zoo:
Nick dressed up as a zookeeper in the Hamill Family Play Zoo:
My attempt to get a picture of all 3 kiddos looking at me and (sort of) smiling! (Em painted her face at the Play Zoo):One of our favorite moments was seeing the aardvarks. Normally they are asleep when we see them, but on Sunday they were awake, out in their play yard, and being quite silly! They were digging and playing chase with each other: Aug. 18th, our russian sage has really taken off this year, getting much bigger than it has in the past: