summer in full swing

I looked at the calendar last night and almost had a panic attach. Only 6 more weeks of summer. How could that possibly be? My heart sank to the floor.





At the end of the school year, I had all sorts of ideas and summer plans...hikes and "museum days," day trips, etc. I had all my little guide books out and dog-eared...best hikes with kids, best outings in Seattle, the local parent magazines, etc.  But I never set those things in motion for one reason or another. I think the main reason being I was so totally done with any sort of schedule. I couldn't bring myself to have to do a particular activity, even if I came up with the idea in the first place.

The other reason we are rather homebound is my kids are very protective of their summer. Like me, they want to savor it and often ask me how many more weeks left, and then frown. They just want to be home. They do not want to get in the car; they have rarely asked for playdates and have actually declined a few times when asked by others.

Fruits and veggies are starting to come off in the garden...the berries alone kept me homebound for a week. In the evenings when it cools down, we all have fun going out to the garden together and picking rasberries or strawberries. Zig devises all sorts of contests to get the kids going. There is no waiting when the berries are ripe so everything else must be put on the back burner. I froze a ton and canned about 30 jars of jam so far. I am cooking a lot and just having fun being with my children. As I was thinking about all the other stuff that is out there we could be doing (and in the northwest in the summertime, that is A LOT!)  I realized that this is a precious moment in time and I should embrace it. We moved to this place primarily so our kids could have this sort of lifestyle. The kids want to be home, they want to play together, and they are happy. Sadly, they won't be content making fairy houses and climbing trees forever. They are getting dirty, being creative, having downtime, and reading like crazy trying to earn various library awards and such.  We are doing a few things outside of our backyard, but any outings we take are spur of the moment. We keep our schedules open and if things come up that work, then wonderful. Somehow the kids can be persuaded to hop into the car for Thenos Cantaloupe Ice cream! But not much else.




I've been most impressed at what the kids actually come up with on their own, and their ability to create gives me the freedom to step back and let them lead. I don't always need to provide an activity or direction. So much good has come out of the occasional boredom. Some of the things they've been up to are farm stands (of course!), a village of fairy houses, bird watching/listening, playing with their animals, creating a farm/neighborhood newspaper to pass around to the neighbors, berry picking and eating, playing on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath, a big art show, the biggest hopscotch you've ever seen, campfires, homes in the trees, and all manner of pretending. I see them zooming around the yard all day on their bikes. I have no idea what they are doing several hours a day and I love that too.

As a family, we've been mountain biking twice in the past couple weeks and it's awesome now that we can  ALL go. Evan bounces around in the Burley and everyone else can ride well. There are some wide trails near our house so we don't even have to load the bikes. We took the older kids to St. Edwards to ride there one day and left Evan with Rachel, our babysitter for the summer. It was so fun to see Rollin ride over roots and rocks and fly down the hills. He is crazy and just as good of a rider as I am.

The only organized sport we are doing is tennis. All the kids are taking lessons most of the summer. The courts are four minutes away and while one has a lesson, the rest of us play on the outdoor court. Everyone is improving and enjoying it more and more. Sela is on a team and is going to a University of Washington camp next week. I'm excited for her. Nina is about to be moved up to the class Sela was put in when she was 8. She's improved tremendously this year and is quick as a jack rabbit. One day when I was inside watching Rollin's lesson, Sela tried to work with Nina and they were hitting back and forth when I came back. Sela was so excited and Nina was BEAMING!





Evan just waddles around the court kicking balls and chasing the "pink ball."



May the next 6 weeks pass by oh so slowly. I love the lazy days of summer!