Signs of Summer

The garden is finally all finished, school is one week away from being done, the pool has been visited, a trip has been made to the mountains already....all signs that summer is upon us! I love the freedom that summer brings. Barefoot toes running through the grass, hose battles, multiple clothing changes due to the hose battles and overall just a headlong pursuit by my children to find excitement in every day. I have purposed this summer to join in their fun more instead of just sitting on the sidelines playing referee. Properly bruised legs are a part of our summers Eating watermelon late in the afternoon as I prepare their dinner.....

Being goofy.....

If you have read my blog for any length of time you know that the mountains are a huge part of our summers. We love the peace that comes with being disconnected from everything. And if we ask the boys if they would rather go to the beach or the mountains there isn't a moment of hesitation - mountains!!

Sitting in the sun after getting soaked in the creek.

My two girls playing with my sister Beth's oldest daughter Ashleigh! Lots of years separate our kids but my children love all their cousins!

Tristan didn't seem to mind playing with the girls at all! He dutifully was their cat, baby or whatever they deemed he should be.

Cheese?! I hope she soon learns to smile in some sort of normal fashion so we don't forever get the scrunchy eyes and opened mouth "smile". For now it is cute! Notice the bruised legs and scraped up knees....she is learning how to beat herself right along with the rest of the kids.

Heidi had an appointment this week with a pediatric orthopedic doctor to assess her little legs and feet. I have noticed since she was itty-bitty that her feet and legs seem to turn inward but her doctor and myself have really hoped they would straighten out over time as she walked (which is what normally happens). She does fine walking but seems to trip up all the time when she runs. Her knees are always scraped, bleeding and never get a chance to completely heal since she seems to think she needs to run everywhere. She has what is called femoral anteversion which is a fancy name that means her little legs are rotated all the way up where her femur connects into her hip joint. Her tibia is also somewhat twisted. So both legs turn in slightly which cause her frequent stumbling episodes. Nothing to worry about, nothing to be done and the hope is she will slowly grow out of it. But if she doesn't there are no long term effects other than the scraped knees! Kind of adds to her sweet and silly little self!!