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A quick rundown on a summer gone too quick

Can you believe it's September? How did this happen? Astounding! I'm sure you were off enjoying your summer and hardly noticed that I haven't been here since June (yipes!), but we have some catching up to do. I'll try to bring you up to speed on the summer that was 2011, the high points, at least.

A good snuggle after camp
June-August: Happy goes to YMCA summer camp and loves it. Well, all except for Color Wars week...which Happy really hates but Mommy really loves. (Have you ever run as far as you can while screaming, like a human javelin? It's fun. Try it.) Every day he comes home exhausted and ready for a snuggle.

Hometown 4th of July parade
Birthday bash #2
July: We spend the 4th of July with our Besties -- then Mommy, Happy, and Zippy have a week off, which includes a trip to Ocean City, a trip to the Delaware Museum of Natural History, a day at the pool, and a birthday party weekend extravaganza (four parties in three days, two of which are in New Jersey).


July: Mommy, Happy, and our friends Miss B and Princess D go camping! In tents! Under a full moon! At the beach! And cook all our meals over a fire! Perfect weather, perfect company, and a perfect beach spot to play, splash, and hunt horseshoe crabs and critters. By far one of the best weekends ever, one I will cherish always.
Crikey!

Camping at Cape Henlopen



Watching for the moon over the ocean
Girlfriends in the Big Apple

August: Mommy spends a fabulous grown-up girls' day in New York City with long-time girlfriends. Sweeeet!

Bros on the beach
August: Penny the Beloved Murano goes into the shop for a spankin' new transmission (and we luck out with full warranty coverage!) so we pile into the teeny rental car and head to the beach!

Happy takes on the Capitol
August: Big Daddy takes Happy to Washington, DC, for the first time. He gets to ride a Metro train AND a taxi! And Happy wears a big ol' grin all the way through the Smithsonian "dinosaur and space-plane museums."
 
Snail hunting at Bellevue State Park
Swimming in the Brandywine
Philly Zoo
August: Mommy takes the last week of summer off to have some Mommy-Happy time -- and a happy mommy time it is! We go snail hunting in Bellevue State Park, wild animal watching at the Philadelphia Zoo, noodle-tubing and swinging on the Brandywine River, and relaxing in the movies (with a teeny bit of last-minute back-to-school shopping thrown in).

The boys and Ben
September: We spend the final weekend of summer in Philly, scooting around the Franklin Institute with friends, then stomping around the city on our own...and it all ends with us witnessing a naked bicycle event down the Ben Franklin Parkway!


Philly Naked Bike Ride 2011!


And in between all this fun stuff, we did a lot of playing at the park (where Zippy perfected his sliding technique), ate a lot of corn on the cob, had some blazing backyard campfires, saw a couple of concerts, weathered our first earthquake and hurricane, watched a lot of baseball, and just generally had a good time. It's hard to say goodbye to summer, but a little easier when you've made such happy memories.

My little firecrackers

(No toddlers were injured in the taking of this photograph.)
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