1000 Hours Outside :: June

We're definitely feeling the heat of summer, and it's pretty humid here. But it doesn't really get hot until the afternoons, so we are able to enjoy outside time in the mornings! 

{Some thoughts on the summer heat here in Virginia: it is HUMID....like, feels like Houston humid. We get a lot of rain, so that means A LOT of mosquitos. But it's not 100 degrees yet, it is cool in the mornings and evenings, and there is actually a cool breeze most days, so the heat is bearable, especially in the shade}.

We got to add on some special outdoors time at the National Zoo and the National Mall while Uncle Michael was here. But otherwise, we just continued taking walks in our neighborhood, playing in our sandbox and backyard, and enjoying snacks/meals outside. 

Of course, all play pauses when the Trash Truck drives by haha

We also pulled out the sidewalk chalk and bubbles! This was mostly out of desperation to escape the sun, since we have full shade in our driveway. We met a new neighbor friend and she has joined us for some outside play, which has been so great. The kids ask about C all the time now :)

Eli drew Trolley from Daniel Tiger {all on his own!}, then helped Maddie draw 50 of them :)

With the heat, we have been trying to find some ways to stay cool outside. I found this water play set {not exactly a table}, and we spent MANY an afternoon playing in the water!

We have also tried to stay cool with homemade popsicles! I made a whole bunch of different flavors and have them all stored in the freezer, so we can just enjoy them for the rest of the summer. I'm so glad that the kids love them so much, because they are super easy to make, and it's just frozen fruit {and sometimes yogurt!}

We have a neighborhood playground {Hyland Hills Park} within walking distance of our house. We had visited it earlier in the year, but then they closed it to do a complete overhaul. We were finally able to check it out! We went early on a Sunday morning, and we had the whole park to ourselves for a good half hour. It is designed more for older kids, so Aiden struggled a bit, but it was a fun new challenge for Eli and Maddie. 

We love that we can run around outside at the church. We play on the playground a lot, but sometimes we just run around in the back field :)

We are continuing to enjoy all the fun wildlife that we see in our front/back yards. We regularly see cardinals, bluejays, wrens, squirrels, rabbits, and geese. This month, we got to see chipmunks, a snapping turtle, and a salamander.

We have had numerous different plants and flowers pop up in our front yard the last couple of months. Our latest additions are these beautiful lilies!