It has been a whirlwind of summer so far. I can hardly believe that July is right around the corner! I think I expected it to be a little more laid back this summer. It is laid back in some ways I guess. We don’t have the full school schedule to contend with right now, although they are at LCC two days a week. Evelyn goes to day camp on Mondays and Tuesdays and Mitchell is right across the hall in Manatee Room (3.5-4.5-year-olddaycare). Full time daycare at a center is a first for us since we’d been with Titi since Evelyn was three months old. But nothing lasts forever and Titi decided to retire this year. I can’t blame her for that… she’s been watching children in her for over thirty years. But we miss her so much. She was more than just our babysitter – she was a part of our family and she helped us raise our kids. It was very hard to say goodbye to her, but hopefully we will see her again!
So far, Mitchell is doing very well at daycare. He likes all the activities and he takes pride in showing me what he did in school that day. When I pick him up, I like to stand back and observe him before he sees me. He seems to get along well with the other kids and listen to his teachers. He gets a good report each day from them when makes me happy! But the best part… the enormous hug that I get each day when he sees me. He runs into my arms and squeezes me so tight. I’m going to hang on to these moments for as long as I can because I know the day will come when he’s too cool or too big to do that.
Evelyn is loving camp as well. Several of her kindergarten classmates are at camp too and she’s made many new friends. It seems like a good mix of organized activities and free time. They do a lot of art projects, which Evelyn loves. Every weekhas a theme. They saw a magician and made wands during Magic Week. They learned to lasso and be cowboys and girls during Wild West Week. Evelyn told me that she joined a book club, she writes in her journal and they do a little bit academic stuff each day too. All good things!
We’ve been spending our summer evenings at the pool or outside with the neighbors for the most part. The house is a mess because I never seem to be inside to clean. I get home from work and the kids immediately want to play outside with the neighborhood kids. Maybe I’m being over-protective, but I do not let them play outside unless I am out there too. They are still young and learning the rules and I need to know where they are. This can make it very challenging to get anything done inside the house so I’ve had to learn to let some things go. Truthfully, that’s really not in my nature. I’d prefer thing to be clean and orderly. But you only get one childhood and I want my kids to enjoy summer and be outside running around as much as possible. If that means the clean laundry doesn’t get folded for a few days or the toy room stays messy for a while, so be it.
I hope to have a few adventures of my own with the kids this summer as well. Our weekends have been busy with weddings and birthdays this month, but I’m hoping to find some new places for us to explore. There are several neat parks that I’ve heard about that I think the kids would really love. I want to take the kids to the Franklin Park Conservatory since I’ve never been and I’ve heard that their new Children’s Garden is amazing. Pat and I have talked about taking the kids to the drive-in movies and Hocking Hills. A baseball game and at least on summer festival is also on the list!
