Jenny's Thoughts: Summer Wrap-Up

Summer’s come and gone. My oldest baby’s now 12 years old. And taller than me. And a budding trumpet player in 6^th grade band. And a middle schooler. And I’m starting a new job – teaching music 4 mornings a week at a nearby preschool (in addition to my 2 afternoons a week of traveling to different Montessori schools with my Little Ditties classes). We’ve got all three kids in three different schools with different pick-ups and drop-offs and it’s a little madness and I’m just trying to take lots of deep breaths and take it one day – no, like one drop-off/pick-up – at a time!

Kayliana is in pre-K now at a new preschool and is LOVING it. She just started soccer last week and starts a ballet/tap dance class this week. Dance and soccer practice happen to be on the same day, so I’m hoping that maybe she’ll actually be tired and sleep well (at least one night a week)!

She was SO excited as we headed to her first soccer practice last week. She kept referring to her shin guards and cleats as her “blazes.” (Don’t know where that came from, but she’ll obviously be very fast). As we arrived at practice she said, "Is this a dream? I'm going to be so awesome! I hope they like me. I'm going to be the awesomest. Mom, you can totally cheer for me." After practice she said, "When I win, everyone will throw me in the air and hold me up."

Team names that were suggested at practice: Dragon Fireballs. Purple Lightning. Fast Puppy (Kayli's suggestion). Then apparently girls were getting inappropriate with butt-themed names and Coach decided to table the discussion for the time being. (I wouldn't be surprised if Kayli 'forgot' to mention that the butt-themed names were also possibly her suggestions).

The summer wrapped up with super fun awesomeness. We were a little disappointed that our ONE camping trip of the summer – with our best friends – had to get cancelled due to finally getting some much-needed rain. (Good for the WA wild fires, bummer, for us, but oh well). We decided to staycation. We let the kids ‘roast’ marshmallows over the grill. We even pitched the tent in the garage for the boys to sleep in. The kids did a good job playing ‘camping’ (and staying outside) until the wind picked up too much. We even had a visit from some local wildlife! And despite being in the comfort of our own home, one night, during the pouring rain, we suddenly had water dripping from the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. Mike and Jason had to climb up on the roof to clear gutters and try to find the cause of the leak. Nothing like a little excitement!

We’ve become masters of Staycationing with our BFF-fam. We ignore the phone and email (as much as possible) and eat and drink and play games and go for walks and just chillax. This time ‘round, we also spent a day at the beach (before the weather turned) and we all went and saw a movie – Shawn the Sheep. It was silly and hilarious and it’s possible Rebecca and I enjoyed it even more than the kids.

Despite having 4 adults and 7 children in the house together for four days, it’s never EVER enough and we’re all sad when our staycations are over.

The boys have had some fun adventures during our summer staycations this year. They went down to the woods behind the bus stop where there’s a little stream and all the neighborhood kids have been working to build a bridge. One day, after playing down there for hours, Matthew and Noah arrived back up at our house in all states of craziness. Matthew was holding up his right arm like he’s ready to be prepped for surgery. His arm was caked in mud from fingertips to elbow. Noah was only wearing one shoe and they were both covered in mud up to their shins. Here’s the scene:

“Um, hi guys, what’s up?” I ask.

As if this is the most obvious thing ever, Matthew tells me, “We got stuck in quicksand.”

Noah nods, and adds, “I found gold and then it went into the quicksand so I was trying to get it and I got stuck and my shoe came off and then Matthew tried to get my shoe. We never found them.”

Oh, of course! The gold and quicksand in the woods near our house. Right!

“So, you were panning for gold, huh?” I ask as we start trying to unmud them with the hose.

“Well, no,” says Noah, “I found Tupperware so I used that.”

“Ahh, so you were Tupperwaring for gold in the quicksand when you lost your shoe?”

“Yup. And the gold. I lost that too.”

Obviously.

We had more adventures on Matthew’s Birthday – September 5^th. We spent the day at Lake Cavanagh with Jason and Rebecca and kids and with Rich and Sue our dear friends (and co-coordinators) from Engaged Encounter. They hosted us all for the day at their lake cabin. Despite being a little chilly, it was super fun. The kids played in the water all day, used the paddle boat and kayak and then we all went for a cruise on their party barge. Sue even made a cake for Matthew! Yesterday, we had mom and Chris for Matthew’s at home birthday dinner (he chose chicken noodle soup – which makes Zach cry and question my love because he hates soup so very much. Supposedly Matthew LOVES chicken noodle soup and he’s not just choosing it to upset his brother). Mike’s taking the boys and two neighbor boys to go do laser tag and then we’re having some other neighbors here for a bbq. Last hurrah’s of summer, my friends. We’re packing in as much fun as possible!

Trying to convince me that they're sound asleep!