Believe it or not, summer is not stressing me out very much. You (and I) might expect it to be otherwise, considering that there is now a small human in the house who requires a great deal of feeding, changing, quiet time for sleeping, etc., but it's a case of more hands makes light work. I love dodging out to go grocery shopping or to hit a yoga class knowing that my kids are taking the best care of their little sister (and that I don't have to wake her up from a nap to strap her into her car seat). We don't have as many weekly plans as we do most summers, but we are managing to hit the pool with friends at least once a week, and to spend the day on the beach at least that often as well. The bigger events are harder to manage, because there aren't always good spots to slip away and nurse a baby (Cora is not a very disciplined nurser), but we managed to fit at least a couple of those in anyway.
One of our big events was the Del Mar Fair, which was loud and bright and a complete thrill for most people in our family. We got in some pie-eating and monster-truck watching (using torn-up earplugs to fit in Cora's tiny ears), and I was just as happy when we were done. We followed that up with a visit to a tractor and steam engine fair out in the direction of Julian, where we saw a few of the old cars Aaron loves as well as some well-preserved farming equipment and a huge display of electric trains. My favorite hands down, though, was making good on the tickets Aaron rounded up for us to go see Harry Connick Jr. when he did a concert downtown--the first of his tour. We left our little snuggler with a friend (who said she slept nearly the whole time), and Aaron and spent a marvelous night hearing from one of our absolute favorite performers, along with his fantastic band. Favorites for the night were definitely our old standard
It Had to be You, a killer rendition of
How Great Thou Art, and a new favorite love song,
Nobody Does "I Do" Like We Do.
The kids have had a fair amount of time to themselves this summer, and it's awesome to see what they get up to when left to their own devices. Asher has practically melded his feet onto the skateboard his awesome friend got him for his birthday, heading down to the nearby skate park whenever we'll let him (though there are usually several hoops to jump through first, including doing his jobs, practicing piano, and reading), and has perfected the arts of "dropping in," "ollying," and "trey flipping." Addy has been making good use of the bike she bought herself this spring, riding down to her friend Rhea's house, or parking near a neighborhood tree which she and Rhea climb and talk for hours. Emerson and Sera have made the best of losing their playroom (now Cora's nursery), and have moved their Lego exploits out onto the balcony, which has actually proven to be a spectacular location. Aside from making my occasional morning yoga practice in that location undesirable, I can't say I have many objections to a playspace that doesn't require constant cleaning or monitoring, and yet is contained.
During the last week of July, Aaron signed all our kids up for vacation bible school at the Lutheran church where he plays. Emerson and Sera got to be camp participants, while Asher and Addy volunteered as camp leaders. They came home with a bevy of new songs and sayings, as well as a better familiarity with several Old Testament scripture stories, from Daniel to Moses to Elijah.We enjoyed the opportunity to eat lunch with them and the rest of the camp leaders on a couple of occasions, and appreciated the opportunity to be involved. It's hard to believe there's less than a month before everyone goes back to school, and this time I'm less excited about that prospect than ever before!
