We accomplished a lot this summer! It started with Nonna and Nonno visiting right before school let out. We celebrated Sebastian's birthday a little early = extra fun!
Right around the same time was when Bas and Marek rocked the Symmes Elementary Talent Show with their black light yoyo show!
Which was followed by Bas graduating from elementary school. Pretty exciting!
The day after school ended, we headed straight to Virginia Beach. We were ready for beach time!
And pickleball...
Symphony on the Lawn...
Annual group photo!
We got back to Cincinnati just in time for Rockdale's Bicentennial to end with Rock the Block, one of our favorite events. We had perfect weather!
Then cake and ice cream!
And Tony and I went out to dinner to celebrate! π
The Rockdale ladies!
Meanwhile, back at camp...
Samuel wrapped up Invisalign. Say, "Cheese!"
Brie and Paige biked to Kroger for some candy shopping--one of their favorite activities!
And we held Sebastian's birthday a few weeks early (yes, party #3). This one was especially cool...a video game truck!
The truck (camper?) parks right in front of your house and has every popular video game. The kids played inside for hours...
Other summer highlights? Over a dozen of my friends completed Rockdale's Adult Mitzvah program. They were AMAZING and I was so proud!! π
THEN...our trio ALL went to sleepaway camp...yeah!
With all three kids at camp, Tony and I got a little taste of empty-nesting, which we took full advantage of. It was so much fun...here we are at a wine-tasting with buddies!
A big highlight was getting out of town for the weekend. We rented this little house on a farm and spent the weekend hiking, walking and trying local restaurants in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
We didn't realize that Yellow Springs is the coolest place in rural Ohio!! We loved walking around the downtown, which was full of coffee shops and cute stores. It's also home to multiple state parks, so we took Blossom on some great hikes!
The farm had cows and Blossom found one that looked similar to her!
We brought ingredients to make a yummy breakfast to enjoy on the pond in the morning.
The next weekend, Beth came to visit and we went to see DJ Jazzy Jeff, Paula Abdul and New Kids on the Block. The marching order from the bands was "Neon!" I think we got the memo!
We had such a fun group and the most beautiful night. Yay, for outdoor shows at Riverbend!!
Bas really enjoyed his first experience at sleepaway...
And Samuel had an amazing time with the Adventures Unlimited group...they camped, cooked, hiked, rafted, climbed, swam and paintballed their way across three states. His stories were pretty awesome!
And...the last big part of Sebastian turning 10?? His trip with Granddaddy Rob!! (You may recall that Samuel and Granddaddy Rob went camping in Yellowstone when he turned 10 and Brie and Gammy went to NYC for their big trip.) The two of them spent a week out in Oregon! When exploring trip options, they looked at many destinations; between Granddaddy Rob's family in Portland and Bend (both of his parents were Oregonians) and a series of books that Sebastian read that took place in Portland, as well as studying the Oregon Trail, this was the perfect spot!
On the first night, Bas and Granddaddy Rob had dinner with his first cousins in Bend. Here they are from left to right: Cousin Rick, Granddaddy Rob, Bas, Bev (Rick's wife), Cousin Barbara, Cousin Janet, Jim (Janet's husband), Lauren (Janet's daughter) and her husband Joe. We heard that the entire evening was wonderful conversation and stories...and Dad said the photos in the house were all a walk down memory lane. They had the most special evening!
Lauren and Joe.
Barbara on the grill.
Rick and Bev Francis.
Barbara and Janet.
The next morning, the adventures began!
They hiked in Smith Rock State Park and spotted Monkey Rock!
On Day 2, Granddaddy Rob went biking...
While Sebastian took a rock climbing class! π¬ Apparently, he did the entire climb: wow!
The next day was a group bike ride and lunch on Mt. Bachelor.
Here's Sebastian (with Sophie--in the same tour group) dazzling everyone on the way down with a little Rubik's Pyramid action!
And some horseback riding! Bas rode a horse named Tough! (During the ride, Granddad biked 43 MORE miles!)
With views of Mt. Bachelor!
Did I mention the good eats?!
Bas on the hotel flume!
Ready for hiking...
In Crater Lake National Park! They hiked the rim--about 8 miles...and then managed a 600-vertical-feet trail down!
Snow in July!
Sebastian and Sophie got to "ride bronco," right at the front of the raft.
Bas front and center!
One last bike ride, complete with a coyote sighting!
Happy and excited with how much they accomplished! π₯°
While they were in Oregon, we had fun with Gammy! One especially cool fieldtrip was going to see a collection of Torah pointers at our local Jewish art museum.
Also...Brie turned 14...with a baked potato bar...
And red velvet cake!
And then Tony headed to Barcelona for a work conference!
Complete with a wine tasting, of course!!
And siblings!
And more beach!
We tried Sandy Pony Donuts!
Last night movie night!
Yay, vacay!!
And participating in the Paulmeadows Olympics...go, Team Japan! πΊπΎ
We had a strong showing--3 silver and 2 bronze medals! 
With a VERY successful summer behind us, we're ready for a great school year!!
That week, Bas and (yoyo) buddy Marek went to Lego Robotics camp. What they made was pretty awesome!
While Tony was flying home, we drove to NoVa to meet him at Nonno and Nonna's...it was beach time 2.0! We picked Rehoboth, Delaware, this year and it really exceeded expectation in terms of beach, shops and restaurants, the house we rented, you name it. It was wonderful!
Cousins at the beach!
The home we rented was in a community with two pools and tennis courts!
Cousin bonding!
And Miyagi Ramen!
And The Ice Cream Store!
One Deck Dungeon with Uncle David!
Olympics viewing!
And a pic of the joke of the week: a broken sign in Brie and Lily's room that cracked the up. Due to it's break, it read, "RAT THE BEACH." (As opposed to "BETTER AT THE BEACH.")
Then we were home just in time for Marching Band Camp!
And painting our front door...much cheerier!
There were events for everyone, like Homerun Derby, paper airplane building and throwing (for distance), corn hole...
And speed race Lego building!
Team Canada (can you tell?? π) hosted a fierce rock, paper, scissors competition. Auntie B was sad to miss Justin...
Yay, Paulmeadows!
And then (can you believe it?)...it was the first day(s) of school! Day 1 was Brie...
and Bas!
And since they stagger the start, Brie and Samuel both went on Day 2! (Perhaps Blossom is smiling because a quieter house during the day means more naps!)
P.S. Why this title for my post?? With no little people to prep for bed and tuck in each night for a few weeks, Tony and I found ourselves with LOTS of extra time in the evenings. So...we watched a lot of movies, including several of the Mission Impossible moves that we'd never watched before. They are really fun!
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