This summer I was hellbent on not letting pregnancy slow me down or take away anything from the kids. But on the flip side, I knew there was a good chance that I would be a little slower, less active, and less interested in the usual activities.
Tonight on the eve of the first day of second grade for Caden, I think we pulled off a fairly awesome summer. (Adele still has a few weeks before preschool and my sweet Livvy will attend “school” just one day a week.) To recap:
- The weekend after school ended we surprised the kids with a trip to Disney World…does this not earn us the Gold Medal in parenting??
- We wrapped summer up with a long weekend trip to Jellystone Campgrounds in Luray, VA with another family. (Definitely Glamping rather than camping. AC and electricity included.) Not surprisingly, the kids ranked this right next to Disney on the Awesomeness Scale.
- In between, Kids 1 and 2 enjoyed two VBS camps and French camp. Caden attended weekly math enrichment courses and Adele took horse lessons every other week. Frequent trips to the library ensured there were some academics happening among all the play.
- There were endless days swimming in our pool and others’, playdates (admittedly not too many), playground/park visits, ice cream and s’mores, many, many family evening walks to our lake, and even a trip to the bottom on a quarry to see dinosaur tracks.
Perhaps most importantly, my kids bonded with each another. Livia and Adele took their sisterly relationship to another level, which I can see taking on a new look almost daily. Caden and Livia meanwhile have an amazing bond and affection for each other. She simply adores him. Caden and Adele are a dynamic duo. Always out and about together getting into trouble, playing, laughing, and of course fighting and dealing with how best to manage that.
In my eye, summer is many things. It’s long days that spill well into darkness. It’s dark nights looking for fireflies and shooting stars. It’s lazy mornings with sunshine pouring in through every window. It’s watermelon juice running down your arm; sun-warmed tomatoes plucked from the vine; zucchinis the size of a small baseball bat. But summer is also relationship-building in an organic environment. No one tells them what to do (aside from eat, wash, and pick up). They are free to make their own schedule, cure their own “boredom” and fantasy-play about castles, storm-troopers, and puppies.
So while I may be slowing down considerably these days as Baby #4 packs on the pounds and gets ready for her grand entrance, I am so proud of Kids 1, 2, and 3 and the wonderful memories they helped create for me and themselves this summer. I feel like I say this all the time, but I simply cannot love them any more than I do. They are all beautiful inside and out and I am, without question, the luckiest person on the planet.
Summer 2016 gets an A. Here’s to an equally as awesome school year and baby homecoming in just a few weeks’ time.
Daily Dose 