If you just add water...

 

No matter the age of your children or even adults, I can guarantee they will have fun if you just add water. And in the summer the Boyen Bunch spends much of our time in the water. If you know us well, then you know we visit our neighborhood pool frequently. Even though we don't go quite as often as when the kids were little, we still make it at least once a week. Every summer the kids also beg to hit the beach, even for a day trip to the Texas Coast. This summer we made it to the beach for a whole week! (Stayed tuned for a beach blog post to follow.) 

Barton Springs was one of the places on our water bucket list this summer, in addition to the beach. We started our 4th of July celebration in Austin on July 1st. We love visiting Savannah and Jandro in Austin (and Emily too when she's home!). We hit some tourist spots and made a trip to Barton Springs. We went to El Arroyo (the famous sign place) for a bite and walked around the Capitol Mall area so Savannah could show us the lab building she works at for Dell Labs. She had an internship all summer with the University working in her beloved lab. 

Jonas makes friends wherever he goes. 

Austin has many cool features including scooters, self-driving cars, and great architecture at the University.

Although it was packed, we enjoyed our time at the Barton Springs pool. Savannah and I were not brave enough to get into the water. It was cold! Lorelei enjoyed doing a few dives off the diving board and I manage to make a mom friend in a short time who also had four kids. All sons, but two were divers. 

There rest of the 4th of July celebrating took place at home. We headed to the Helotes Fireworks and hung out at home and had dinner with Bailey. 

July included a few more appointments and some adventures around town. 

You are never too old for some park time. 

We had plenty of puzzles and pool time.

Jonas has been driving all summer and goes on August 17 for his driver's license! It's been kind of nice being chauffeured around. 

This month Lorelei has also been trying a new narcolepsy medicine called Xywav. It's not been easy. This is such a specialized medication that it has its own pharmacy and support. The medicine is delivered to your house via FedEx and is super expensive. They do have a ton of patient support and so far we haven't paid a penny while they battle it out for coverage. It's got a lot of regulations and directions, like no food two hours before, and the worst part is a second dose two to three hours after the first dose, I mean she has to wake up for it!! We do see some improvement in the fact that she sleeps more soundly, but the daytime sleepiness is still there. This girl could easily nap twice a day and still feel sleepy. 

It's liquid and according to Lorelei, it tastes like sweat, with a side of bitter and sweet. 

Before Xywav this is what her bedhead would look like. 

Proof of a sound sleep. 

We aren't sure if this medicine is worth all the effort but I told her she has to try it for at least a month. 

~~~~~

The last week of July we headed for the beach. It's been 10 years since the Boyen Bunch took a beach vacation to Myrtle Beach. When we mentioned to Bailey and Savannah that we had an opportunity to head to the beach with Nana, they cleared their schedule. On July 22, we hit the road for Perdido Key, Florida! We had five fun and sun-filled days at the beach. 

To be continued...this beach trip is worthy of its own blog post. Stay tuned.