Tales From My House: End of Summer

Today was the first day of school. There will definitely (well, maybe) be a blog devoted to that at some point. But first I have to conclude the longest summer break of my life. Actually, that probably isn't true, but I can say with a fair degree of certainty that it was among the most dreaded. I was really worried about having the older kids (6, 6, & 5) and a newborn. Luke was only 3 months when school got out and I had no idea how I was going to manage him and the other kids all day, every day. Like most things I dread, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I expected.

The kids spent 3 weeks at camp. Two of those weeks were mornings only, the third week Thomas was out of town, so I let them stay the whole day. Another week my sister and her family were here. So, that really only left 6 weeks to fill. So, how did we fill them? The usual ways: the pool, park, library, crafts, and playing with friends. At this point, I need to give a shout-out to our playset. It was a huge investment for us and now, four years later, I can say with surety that it was one of the best purchases we've ever made. Possibly, even the best. The kids use that thing virtually every day. They play imaginative games, get fresh air, and have a spot that they can enjoy with their friends. I love it!

A LPS town

Back to summer. I am trying really hard to make sure that the older kids have no reason to resent Luke. The three of them are so close in age that their interests generally intersect and having a baby has been a huge adjustment for all of us. I didn't want them to have to sit at home all summer because I didn't want to nurse in public or because it is too much work to take a baby someplace. As yet another aside, that nursing in public thing is no small task. At the start of summer, I was lucky if Luke went 90 minutes between feedings. So, we got into a routine. We would have breakfast, do some schoolwork (because I am the meanest mom ever), and then do something fun. In the afternoons, we would have lunch, quiet time, and play some more. Jack became an avid reader, spending hours with books he chose from the library (almost always with a Star Wars theme). In fact, he would routinely follow me around the house with a book asking me things like, who do you think would win in a Lightsaber battle, obscure character #1 (that I've never heard of) or obscure character #2 (that I've also never heard of)? When I told him that I didn't know who he was talking about, he informed me that I could get some books to read to "become smarter." Anna and Kara's favorite things to do was create a town for their Littlest Pet Shop toys to live in.

Here is something that may surprise those who know us. One of our children was incredibly difficult this summer. Which one did you think of? Okay, not that one. Who is your second choice? Yeah, not that one either. Suprise! It's Kara! She has been awful. Like, really rotten. Tantrums almost daily. We had to take everything out of her room, because it was just too much work to repeatedly clean up after her. She has been mean to me, mean to Thomas, mean to Anna, mean to almost everyone she came in contact with on an almost daily basis. Honestly, dealing with her has been the hardest part of the summer. It was just so unexpected. Gotta love how kids can continually surprise you! She went from being the sweetest child ever, to the sassiest and we definitely didn't see it coming. On a positive note, Jack and Anna have been amazing. For the most part, they have been patient, agreeable, and cooperative. Of course, they had their days too, but nothing outside the normal realm for a 6-year-old. Overall, I would say they were outstanding. Some kids have the terrible twos, other suffer the tyrannical threes. I think ours just have the Fitful Fives.

Because I can't possibly write about everything we did, and even if I could, no one would want to read it, I will summarize with the last week. I asked the kids what their requests were for the last week of summer. Anna asked to go to Dairy Queen and swimming. Jack requested the library and a specific park. Kara chose Rita's and a park (we like our ice cream in this house). So, that's what we did our last week. We saved the swimming for Saturday, so Thomas could go with us and had an awesome day. We went to the beach, then to a park and then to Rita's. Finally, to conclude the summer, we had a backyard potluck party with our bus stop friends. I have been so thankful for our neighbors this summer. We would have never been able to make it to the pool without their helping hands. Sitting with the moms watching the kids ride bikes or play on the swing-set made the summer fun for all of us. So, for me the potluck party was the perfect end to a (less than) perfect summer!

I'm not going to say it was easy or that I'm not breathing a sigh of relief that it's over, but overall I would have to say that Summer 2014 was pretty darn good.

And now, the pictures. Because most of the stuff we did was so routine, I didn't take very many. But, here are a few from my phone:

Face painting at a neighborhood party

And, here's Kara. Jack opted not to get his face painted. He didn't want to waste the time when he could be jumping in a bouncy house or running around.