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We are closing Summer 2016 out with a BANG! And A LOT of travel.  Whew, I'm not ready for school but I am ready for a break from vacations. Never thought I would say that! :)

Mike and I went to Scottsdale the first week of August and stayed at the Four Seasons, which was pretty fabulous!

We were scheduled to be in Cancun. I'll spare you the details, but we ended up in Scottsdale instead.  We hiked up (6 miles round-trip) Pinnacle Peak one morning (the mountain in the background of this photo).

We actually lucked out that it wasn't too hot to climb, which is often the case in Arizona in the summer.  We had the most amazing view of Scottsdale from the top. 

Then on our way down, a storm rolled in. We literally had to hide behind boulders at one point to escape lightening up at 3,000 feet!

When the worst of the storm passed, we hiked back out in our completely soaked clothes and shoes and laughed about it all. It really was fun! You know we love to be active and outdoors, and wet when it's 100+ outside. HAHA!

The sun came out by the time we got back to the hotel and had breakfast, and we spent the rest of our time relaxing by the pool. 

Funny enough, we met new friends at the pool who had also changed their vacation plans from Cancun to Scottsdale at the last minute.  They were two couples from Tulsa that were close to our age.  We got along so well that we ended up going out to City Hall steak house with them one night. I didn't get any pics, but we had a blast! 

We spent one morning shopping in Old Town and at Fashion Square in Scottsdale, and then grabbed lunch at an amazing place called Diego Pops. I had read about it on a food blog, so we decided to try it. SCORE. The food and tequila were GREAT, and the decor and atmosphere were funky and cool. 

This was LEGIT.

When we came home, the boys and I took the week to hang out. Tate decided to cut his own hair with scissors from the kitchen knife block.  Again.

OOOOOOH, this child. He will be starting Kindergarten with a short chia-pet-worthy buzz cut.  I was NOT HAPPY with him... until he came into my office one morning and showed me that he finished his Pre-K to Kinder Bridge Book (a 100-page summer workbook of letters/numbers/shapes/basic science skills to help the brain stay sharp over the summer), bonus pages and all!  He earned a LEGO for that feat! 

By contrast, the Fourth Grader did about 10 pages from his entire Bridge Book this summer.  But his hair is on point for the first day of school. ;)

We booked it to Austin this past weekend for a visit with the Andres.  More swimming, hanging out, and HOURS AND HOURS of Nerf gun wars between these four smiling balls o' energy!

The adults hit up District for dinner and the Austin 360 Amphitheater at Circuit of the Americas for a Wade Bowen~Chris Stapleton~Hank Williams, Jr. concert.

Jessica Montañez, Katy, and me before the show. We had great seats in the VIP tent. I had so much fun, though we all wished Chris had played more songs. Bosephus sang for a long time, but his show didn't compare to Stapleton's part. I wished Cole could have seen all of the musicians' amazing talent on their instruments (piano/harmonica/guitar/etc.) He would have loved it!

I'd like to say we are ready for school, but this summer has sped by WAAAY too fast.  The boys met their teachers this evening, and we have one more day to rest before they are back to the grind, and I'm back to being the homework monitor, lunch packer, uniform ironer, lawyer, school volunteer, and mom. 

For teacher gifts to start the school year, I had small notepads made with the school name, and tied up cards I designed with some cute pens and ribbons in Brook Hill colors. 

Perhaps I can keep the boys off the trampoline on the last day of summer. Did I say I wasn't ready for school to start? ;)

xo,

Linds