It just blows my mind that summer is done and we are in our first full week of school! Our summer was packed with a lot of fun, a lot of down time and a LOT of water!
In case you missed some of our blog posts or Insta-stories, I wanted to share some of the fun things we did this summer that created some amazing memories. Some were free and some were and investment, but all of them were worth it!
We began the summer with a trip to San Antonio and a visit to SeaWorld and Aquatica. This was our second visit to SeaWorld and our first time to Aquatica. We loved the waterpark portion and highly recommend being there right at opening. My kids went on several slide 3 times in a row with very little wait at the opening of the park.
SeaWorld was amazing as always. And Jada now wants a pet Dolphin to keep in the bathtub!
Since we are obsessed with our backyard, we finally stopped talking about how expensive outdoor bars are and decided to build one ourselves. I collected pallets and Jon designed and built a DIY Pallet Bar. It was less than $100 to build and we LOVE it! It’s been perfect for every day grilling and a few BBQ parties.
We have big plans for more DIY Pallet things this fall… Stay Tuned!
Papa came down from Michigan and we went fishing. Everyone caught fish and even a few turtles!
We found a few hiking spots that are family & dog friendly and really enjoyed hiking on Saturday mornings… At least until it became unbearably hot, in which case, we spent a lot of time in the community pool in our neighborhood.
Jayden and Jimmy went to their first week of overnight camp at YMCA Camp Cullen! It was the highlight of their summer. Jimmy wears his YMCA Camp Cullen shirts almost every day and insists that next summer he will be going for two weeks next summer!
If you are looking for an amazing camp to send your kids to next summer, we highly recommend YMCA Camp Cullen! You can watch the boys week of camp review on our YouTube Channel or read more HERE.
4th of July we spent at home and the kids decorated their bikes and rode in the annual bike parade. More swimming at the pool of course, and trips to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor took up most of our days until our BIG vacation.
We planned our first Park Hop and explored the amazing playgrounds designed by Landscape Structures. It was so much fun and we are planning another Park Hop in the fall with some friends. We even made FREE printable invitations you can grab for your own Park Hop!
We drove 6 hours down to South Padre Island, TX and spent five glorious days camping at the KOA Holiday South Padre Island. It was our best family vacation to day and we hope to go back next summer!
The beaches were gorgeous with perfect temperature water and seashells littering the shores. We stayed in a cabin at the KOA and loved how family friendly and budget friendly it was. Check out our vacation recap on YouTube!
After vacation it was crunch time to get all the back to school shopping done! Burkes Outlet supplied ALL of our backpacks, clothes, and shoes for the elementary kids and kept us in budget. Jayden has to wear a uniform for Middle School… which he is still kind of mad about.
My friends died when I showed them my spreadsheet to keep track of school supplies and classrooms. When you have six kids and 156 pencils, 14 kleenex boxes, and 48 gluesticks to buy, and that’s just the first three lines… You NEED to be organized!
The first day of school was last week and everyone is excited to be back in school. Especially, ME!!!! This is the first time in 11 years that I do not have kids at home. I am excited to grow my business this fall and catch up on some housecleaning!
It was an EPIC Summer!
What was the best thing you did this summer?
You guys certainly had a big summer! It looks like you had a lot of fun.
I know we all love summer but your kids seem like a very active group so maybe school is a good thing. I miss the beach with my kids but there is still a few more weeks.
What a fun summer that you had. I love that bar that you made.
Wow! You had quite an eventful, amazing summer! It’s so awesome to be able to spend that quality time together.
Looks like everyone had a great summer. It’s hard to believe summer will be over before you know it and fall will be here.
Definitely a memorable summer! We ended our summer two weeks ago. Already back to school!
Your kids are too cute! I cannot believe it is already back to school season too, but I am secretly happy!
You’ve had such an eventful summer! You have created memories to last a lifetime.
It looks like you had a very memorable summer! We didn’t get to do as much as we wanted to this year.
What a great summer! Sounds like you all had an amazing time! Loved your pictures!
It looks like you and your family had a fabulous summer. I pretty much worked all summer. I only have my 15-year-old boy left at home so he pretty much did his own thing this summer. I need to plan a vacation for next summer.
oh how fun!!!! Sounds like back to school for your family is going great~
How beautiful is to watch the kids having fun! These are the best moments of our life!
Looks like you guys had a blast during summer. I really love the outdoor activities that you did. Fishing is my jam.
I can’t believe how fast the summer went, it was definitely a good one. Can’t wait for fall though!