Summer is Slippin' Away

We made a bucket list of the beginning of summer and I thought it was pretty relaxed.  No problem, I thought, we can do those.  Yikes!  There are three and a half weeks before school starts and we'll be cramming a few things in.

Our summer has been such a welcome break from the last year.  I desperately needed the break from homeschool.  With a new curriculum for a new year, I'm looking forward to it again and getting excited.

I had a whole slew of DIY projects to tackle over the summer, too, but I'm afraid I won't get many of those crammed in before school.  Something about being a ping-pong mom between small children makes it nearly impossible if not unenjoyable to try to get any projects done.

What have we been doing this summer?  The reading club at two libraries, getting more comfortable in the swimming pool, sleepovers with cousins, library story times, dinners with neighbors and friends, birthday parties, watching fireworks, and more screen time than I care to admit.

Early in the summer, J camped in the backyard with the girls.

They zipped up the tent early to keep the mosquitos out and played lots of go fish and read a big stack of books.  We were quite impressed that they made it through the night.  Of course, I took one for the team, and stayed inside with Z.

A has been to VBS and two day camps with a neighborhood church--one week of active, outside rough and tumble camp and another week of inside, creative choir camp.  It's been very interesting to see how differently each child behaves when one is taken out of the mix.  Good practice for fall when A will go once a week to co-op classes.

While A was at camp, I took C and Z to a kids' event downtown to see The Biscuit Brothers perform.  C gets really excited about The Biscuit Brothers.  I really think they are so special to her because she saw them perform at a street concert just after we moved and they were heavy on the crowd participation.  Very real, very fun and then she saw them on tv.  So when we had the chance to go see them again, I stretched out of my comfort zone (with the help of my sister) and made her day.

I know she looks a little creeped out, but she was elated.  She even mustered the courage to ask them a question and tell them her name clearly enough to be understood.  When we walked away, she looked up at me and exclaimed, "Mom!  They know my name!"  It was pretty cute.

We have a road trip planned to visit friends and family yet.  Plus a trip to the children's museum and a little party with the girls in A's class at church.  I have a few more items on the get-ready-for-school list.  All in all, it's been a sweet summer.  I know time is going to scream by once school gets going and Christmas will be here before we know it.  Going to make the most of these next few weeks and then grab school by the horns and relish that ride.