Summer Time Fun ... part 3

It feels like summer has been over for a long time, but the calendar says that today is actually the last day of summer. Either way, I thought it was about time that I posted the third and final installment of "Summer Time Fun." There were lots of memories made this summer, but I think for this post I will stick to those included in the collage. You can probably tell that this is all about SWIMMING! My boys LOVE to swim! Lucky for me, Minneaplis has a lot of wading pools and community pools (most of which are free).
There are a wide variety of experiences to be had depending on where we go. One pool we go to has no water features and is only about 1 1/2 feet deep, but the boys often request this one. I think they like that it is the same depth everywhere. Then there is the one with a 10 ft. rock in the center with water spraying in all directions from it (sorry no pics of that one this year). They also love the Splash Pad, which has no standing water but arches, fountains and sprays all over. We also have one a few blocks from our house (the one with the mushroom waterfall in the middle). The kids really liked this one because the workers (not lifeguards) there are often their Tball coaches and they usually had water fights with them. And it was great to be able to run up there on the spur of the moment.
This year we also made our first trip to the Crystal Cove pool; it is the community pool for our neighboring city. The kids have been dying to go there because we often drive by and they've been taunted by the water slides they could see but had never been on. So I finally broke down and paid to go. The first time was so fun, we ended up going a second day. And I've told the kids we will probably get a season pass next year, so we can go all the time. They are very excited! Both Bryant and Benjamin can go down the big waterslides by themselves and there is a little slide for Grayson. It's also great, because so many friends from church or school have passes so you usually have someone you know there to play with. Even Connor got to play in the water at the Crystal Cove and he thought it was great.
The other nice thing about most of these pools is that they usually have a fun park right beside them. So after swimming for a while the kids could go over and swing, slide, run and climb.
I guess that about sums up August ... lots of swimming and playing at parks. We even made it back to the Chutes and Ladders park during the last week before school started. I didn't take pictures this time, but this is a cool aerial shot (just scroll down a little to see). Hope you enjoyed reading about our summer fun ... and hope it tempts you to come visit us in MN! We love to have visitors!