Mine were a bit closer together, and I found having a paddling pool at home was great for the summers right up until DS2 was 5yo, in many ways it was easier at home in Summer than winter in that respect as we had a shaded deck area with a 6inch deep pool & a sand pit. One part that made it a bit more fun with the padding pool was to have ice cubes made with coloured water, pop one or 2 in to the water & they'd love watching the colour melt into the water. Lots of equipment such as buckets & funnels really helped & they'd both play for hours.
Another thing I used to do was have breakfast picnics at the park, where I am it gets HOT in summer (high 30's C, with high humidity) & so some days we'd hit a playground around 7.30 & be home by 9.30 & then later in the day after naps, they could play at home & then every so often DH might be able to get a little earlier & we'd hit the beach or a pool together.
