Adventures in Summerland

My daughter in period dress for Jane Austen festival

Sadly, summer vacation is nearing its end. I think overall it has been a good summer break for me and the kids. We've gotten to see most of the summer movies we wanted to. Though my son would remind me we still haven't made it to see Transformers IV yet. There have been trips to two amusements parks, a couple of visits to the water park here in town, and many afternoons spent swimming in the college pool. We've made it to two block parties and still have hopes we will get in one free summer movie in the park before school begins. There has been a lot more traveling back and forth and visiting with family than I expected. Part of this was the result of my mother's health issue that cropped up unexpectedly before summer vacation started. But she is doing well in spite of it.

Photo courtesy of Derby Dinner Playhouse and Molly B photography

 My daughter did a musical theatre camp at Derby Dinner Playhouse this summer which she thoroughly enjoyed. She got to learn songs from the musicals Pippin and Newsies. It was only a week long camp this year. She didn't want to commit to anything longer because summer break started so late. But she is hoping to do one of the Kentucky Shakespeare camps next year. Especially after seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream in Louisville's Central Park.


The shows are all free and are professionally done and performed in a beautiful park setting. I highly recommend them. For those of you who don't know Kentucky Shakespeare is the oldest free Shakespeare festival in the United States. Just something to be proud of here in the commonwealth of Kentucky. Sorry had to brag about that. For more information here is a link:http://kyshakespeare.com/

Most of my winning loot from Silent Auction

This past weekend I also got to enjoy the 7th Annual Jane Austen festival at Locust Grove with my mom, sisters, and daughter. I won something in the silent auction for a very good price. It has re-inspired me to read Persuasion before the year is through. I might even do a weekly post of my impressions of it compared to some of Miss Austen's other works as I read it.

The 4 of us at King's Island

I'm going to be sad when all our fun adventures end for the season. But we've made lots of great memories and we still have a few weeks left to go before it is through. My little girl has a birthday the end of this week (she'll officially become a teenager. YIKES!) and there is a week in Williamsburg, VA to look forward to. All in all not too bad for a shorter than usual summer break. What about you? What have been some of the things you've done this summer that were fun and memorable?