How I Spent The 1st Week of Summer Vacation

My Summer Dream

I decided this summer that I wanted my kids and I to do something different than what we usually do during the summer.  Usually, we sit around, spray each other with the garden hose, and drink mojitos while we talk about all of the things we want to do but aren't because we're just sitting around instead.

No, they don't drink mojitos.  Come on.  That would be ridiculous, people.  Sheesh.

This summer I decided that I wanted to keep up with my mondo-uberly fabulous sister-in-law and get my children learning and active and not let them while away their hours in front of the TV and computer.  My amazing sister-in-law has the patience of a saint, massive screaming energy that rockets out of fingertips and the ends of her hair, and the endurance of the really good set of tires.  Her family is always going somewhere great and doing something awesome during the summer.

I wish I could spend every day with them.

I wish I could send my kids over to spend every day with them.

I wish they would open a camp for moms and kids who spend their time sitting around drinking mojitos, but for some reason they think that's kind of a weird, over-the-top idea.  Something about stepping up to the plate and taking care of my own kids.

And AA.

I don't know.

Whatever....

My parents always told me that if you want to be where someone else is, look at what they're doing and do that.  I was certain that with the right planning and preparation I would be able to sail through the summer with handwriting pages, flash cards, 47 novels, a garden of sunflowers, a flock of chickens, a spotless house, a field trip a week, and a smile on my face.

It's been seven days.

I'm fucked.

My Summer Reality

Sorry to swear.  I'm just kind of tired and I tend to swear when I get tired.  I've been arguing for a week.  Turns out, kids don't really want to do handwriting pages and flash cards and read books during summer vacation.

Although, as I've recently come to find out, my daughter isn't entirely opposed to the idea and she can't quite figure out why her brother doesn't like it.

"Math is fun.  It has animals on it."

1st grade rocks.  5th grade?  Not so much....but when you compare it to, say, running a small business and trying to make payroll in this economy,

or trying to keep the house clean with two kids making constant messes,

 or keeping nutritious foods in the house when Daddy comes home with Fruit Loops....

5th grade isn't so bad. 

But, I feel like I'm getting off track.

You know kids do want to do?

It's the same thing we all wanted to do during summer vacation when our parents were making us do the math packets that they ordered from the schools so we wouldn't forget everything we learned during the year.

Wait.  What?

Your parents didn't order those? 

Kids want to swim.

This wasn't really a swimming moment, but it happened near a pool and these little ponytails make me smile.  And smiling is one of my big goals this summer.

Kids want to ride bikes.

And when they are in doubt about their ability to successfully pass another rider without hitting them, they crash head-first into the nearest fence.

It's the better option.

Kids want to party and laugh and eat candy.

I actually had another version of this picture but when someone saw it someone was not happy with the way someone looked, and then someone else in the picture said that was too bad because he has fat eyes and that's it, and then I laughed....

Moving on.

Seeing as it has only been seven days, I'm not going to give up yet.  I still have a plan to read 47 novels, and make lemonade from scratch, and go see the King Tut exhibit.  We'll just go slow and start small.

Yesterday we went to the library.

But it was in a different town.  And it was a lot bigger than our library, with a statue of Ghandi in front.  We had a little lesson about him with everything I could remember from Mr. Val's World Civ. class while we stood there.

I felt our learning for the day was complete.

Baby steps.

I love ya'!

A Walk Among Heroes

I took my son out to the National Cemetery by our house today.  He'd never been there.

I wanted to get out there and take some pictures for Memorial Day before they took all the flags down.

As we drove in, my son, sitting in the backseat of the car, kind of exhaled and whispered, "Awwwesome."

"Look," I said pointing to the parade of cars lining the drive.  "There must be a service going on."  It seems like there's always a service going on.

We parked and began walking through the markers.  I showed him the first headstone I ever photographed.  He was the first solider killed in the war in Afghanistan and I go back and visit him every year.  If I ever met his family, I'd probably cry.

I showed my son the grave of a solider who fought in the Civil War, and we talked about what the number on the back side of each headstone meant.

He asked questions about the symbols at the top of each headstone, and was very careful not to walk over the top of each place.

Then we heard the shots.  Three of them.

"What is that?" he asked.

"That's the gun salute.  Listen....Can you hear that?"

The trumpeter was playing Taps.

We continued walking, looking at the names, the dates.  It was amazing to see how much had been built up and filled in since my visit last year.  Amazing and sad. 

"It's like Heaven here," he said.

"You think?"

"Yeah.  But a special Heaven.  One just for the soldiers.  Don't you think there's a special Heaven just for soldiers?"

"I don't know," I said.  "I think there's one Heaven for us all."

"No.  There's a special one for the soldiers who died fighting.  They deserve a special place."

They fell, but o'er their glorious graves 

floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.

~Francis Marion Crawford~

Cheers and blessings to you all.