Our Summer - in Numbers

I'm going to steal Time magazine's numbers idea to give you the lowdown of what we've done this summer:

4342 - Number of puzzle pieces put together. Noelle (and Marissa sometimes) were puzzle making machines. They started the summer with a 350 piece-er, and put it together in a couple hours. So, Grandma Nielson gave them a puzzle challenge, with a few of her 1000 piece puzzles. They put together 4 more of those, and have a fifth one about 1/2 way done. Each takes 1-2 weeks, with Marissa helping with the border and the last few pieces so she could claim she helped too.

**Why 4342, and not an even 4350? A couple of the puzzles were missing a few pieces, so when they kept track, they only counted the pieces they actually put together. Funny girls!

1 - Awesome jeep ride through the desert with their dad. They went out with a couple guys from Kirk's work and traversed Bull Dog Canyon.

360 - Jobs done. I made up a great chore chart at the beginning of the summer, and each girl had four jobs to do each day. They thought I was working them to the bone! I estimated that they each had four jobs for 9 weeks of summer, but they only did them about 2/3 of the time. That's okay though, they were great helpers.


13 - Clubs made. I was kinda a stickler on TV watching and computer time this summer, so they came up with some other fun things to do. They usually involved moving furniture, and a big mess, but they were lots of fun!
(Also, do you like Marissa's stuffed kitty's two-story house she made? She even painted it, made curtains for the windows, and made furniture to go inside. Are my kids too old to be still playing with stuffed animals?)

1 - Lemonade Stand. They wanted to have a lemonade stand one day during the hottest part of the day - thinking they would get lots of business. Sadly, they were out there for about 4 minutes before their bowl of ice had melted and their lemonade was almost boiling. They came in with the saddest, red faces, and their dreams of fortunes dashed.

2 - Parties had. Marissa and Noelle are the queens of planning fake parties. They love to plan out decorations, activities, and refreshments for months in advance. This summer we celebrated Friendship Anniversary Day and Buddy's birthday.

189 - Times I heard "Summer is not even long enough!"

189 - Times I heard "I'm bored, what can I do?"

22 - Cousins played with. We loved having my brother and his family here for the summer! It's always funner with more cousins around!

2 - Camping trips taken. Nothing like spending some quality time in the great outdoors!

1 - Family trip to Newport Beach. Yeah, I forgot my camera on our main vacation of the summer. We bought a couple disposable ones, but have yet to actually take them in to get them developed (yeah, that was way back at the first of June). So, we have 0 memories of that trip. Sorry!
1,000,000,000 - Good times had. I love summer and spending time with my kids, but am greatly looking forward to school starting tomorrow. Love ya, girls!