Tennis, anyone?

Living right next to the neighborhood tennis courts, Finn has been very curious about playing tennis. We never really did go to the tennis courts. There is a very territorial tennis instructor that takes over the courts most days, so we haven't spent that much time there. Finn asked us if he could go a tennis camp this summer instead of participating in a summer sport. Um... yeah! It was just a week long tennis clinic at a local high school but Finn loved it. He went with his BFF Aidan and the rest of the kids were at least 10. Finn's tennis instructor told me that Finn did a great job but he kept switching the hand he swings with.

Sloane's latest addition...

... A face full of freckles! Sloane had a sunburn under her eyes at the beginning of summer and has since acquired a smattering of freckles. I hated my freckles growing up, but I think they are adorable on her. My little Strawberry shortcake!

Independence Day

I have attached some photos from our fourth of July. We started off the morning with our neighborhood's annual bike parade. Finn was able to ride his bike sans training wheels the whole way, and I pushed Sloane in her bike. It was fun minus the crazy neighbor who threw firecrackers from his SUV, scaring all of the children. That afternoon we went to our friends' bbq for food, fireworks, and hammock time. We were able to see the big firework show from their backyard and the kids loved it.

Padre

We didn't venture very far for our summer vacation this year. We decided to rent a condo for five days with our friends the Hodsons and Braxdales to South Padre. It was my first time to go there, and I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the beach was. I usually just hear about South Padre as a popular Spring Break spot for college students, so I was expecting a trashy beach with people doing keg stands. It was actually really family friendly with pretty clear water for a Texas beach. Our itinerary pretty much consisted of spending the whole day at the beach- playing in the waves, boogie boarding, building sandcastles, and just relaxing. My kids loved it. My curse of fair skin left me with a sunburn on the first day. Sloane and I had to slather on the sunscreen and seek shade frequently. Finn is blessed with rick's tan skin. We mainly hung out at the condo except for a few occasions. We ate at a local pizza piano bar where Sloane tried to dance on the dance floor the whole night. Rick went deep sea fishing with Finn, who immediately got sea sick and slept almost the whole time. The guys took the boys crabbing which was far and away Finn's favorite experience of the trip. On our last day we went to the Pirate Pier and visited the sea turtle rescue center. We had such a good time and will definitely go back when we get the chance.