Summer is Here!

I haven't decided if I like summer or not! I think it scares me now! It used to be my favorite time of year when I was a teacher and before kids. Then, I had a full ten weeks off of work -- and I still got a paycheck! I remember the glorious days of sleeping in, doing house projects, meeting friends for lunch, going to the movies, attending wonderful English conferences all over the country, reading stacks of novels, taking trips with Stuart, etc. It was such FREEDOM!

Now, summer means I have three kids age 6 and under with me 24/7 for the next 12 weeks! Yikes! It means no more mother's day out until September. It means having to find a babysitter for every haircut, dental cleaning, and any other significant appointment I have for the next three months. It means taking all three kids to Walmart which takes three times as long! It means that I will have to be very vigilent about limiting their television and computer time every day. Now . . . summer is work!

But, it also means that we can have more relaxed time together as a family. We can eat dinner outside on our deck. We can lay around in our pajamas until 9 a.m. and be less strict about bedtime. We can enjoy playing outside in the yard. I can indulge in my regular Sonic Cherry Limeades -- which always taste best when it's over 90 degrees outside! All of the activities have stopped for the summmer, and there is no schedule imposed upon us by school, cub scouts, soccer, etc. For me, that means that I create a schedule (ha, ha). No, really.

If you see Owen, you can ask him how his summer "schedule" is going! He seems pretty excited that we have a set weekly schedule for TV viewing time, computer time, scheduled reading, and daily homework review activites! I wonder where he gets that need for organization?

I also came up with a plan to take the kids on an "excursion" or field trip once per week for the every week of the summer (I thought they should at least have a little fun!). They listed some places that they wanted to go, and we picked one for each week, and put them on the calendar (spreading out the more expensive ones). We will also try to find friends to go on some of our excursions with us, so that the boys can have play time with other kids their ages. At the top of our list is Chuck E. Cheese's which we are going to next Monday! Then, we have Jump Zone (a place full of those inflatable jumping things), The Wonder Place, Splash Zone, painting pottery, bowling, the zoo, Mcdonald's playground, etc. I'm clipping coupons for admissions as I can find them, and I've limited the budget to $60/month. I think it will be a lot of fun to have a new activity each week. Arden might get left with a sitter for some of the activities (like Splash Zone) since she's too young, but for the most part I will be trying to take three kids with me! Pray for me! If you're up to joining us, email me, so we can meet up on one of our outings.

Today is Owen's last day of school. Yes, we are the mean parents who made him attend on the last two half-days which were make up days for snow. That's just the teacher in me ("If school is in session, then you are going to attend!").

I hope your summer is full of new adventures and treasured memories with your kids! As Owen says, "May the Force be with you!"