seasons » Stop, Drop and Blog

Goodbye, Summer

Aug 312010

I feel like a petulant teenager on the night before school.

I don’t want summer to be over. I don’t want summer to be over. I don’t want summer to be over.

Granted, it’s still seasonally summer, and the temperatures agree. 93 degrees is no fall-like day. Despite what the mercury says, our summer ends tonight. Tomorrow both boys go back to school.

BigBrother will head downstairs to the Big Kids Class, an air of confidence about him that comes from having two years of preschool already under his belt and the knowledge that he is almost five. Five is apparently a magical number and being said age in preschool is like being a senior in high school. He is Big News.

LittleBrother will head upstairs for the first time, a bit more tentatively than his older brother. This will be the first time that LittleBrother does anything more than hang out with mommy and daddy without his brother’s presence. I have no reason to believe that he won’t be okay, though he did admit that he was scared the other day before we made our way to his classroom for orientation. I think once he saw the toys, including two classic Buzz Lightyears, he forgot to be afraid. I wish it was that easy for me.

After I drop the boys off at school, I’ll likely meet my friends for coffee — a weekly treat during the school year — instead of packing away our summer. I still need to wash the bathing suits from vacation. They’ve already been washed once, but they dried on the deck railing of our beach house and they smell like sunshine and ocean breeze. I keep thinking that if I never wash out that smell, I’ll feel less forlorn during those long winter months where sunshine and warmth are at a premium.

We have enjoyed ourselves so much this summer, from bubbles to water guns to camp to the beach to geocaching to relaxing. FireDad and I got to fully enjoy the deck that we built last summer. I am bummed that it is over for us. We are no longer free to travel as we have all summer long. We are tied down by schedules that are not our own. When I think that next summer will be even shorter thanks to the realities of kindergarten, well, I get even more upset. So I won’t think that way.

I will instead work on our annual beach trip photo book when I’m not working. And reminisce about the happy times. But not too much. Something tells me that the next season of our lives will bring some fun, too.

How could it not?

_
[Tomorrow we'll be in a rush. Tell me what you do during the Breakfast Squeeze for a chance at $100.]

Children of the Corn (or In It...)

Parenting, Photography 10 Responses »

Aug 172010

I remember summers as a child with a fond, warm heart. I don’t remember the rainy, stuck-inside days. Or days that I chose to stay inside to play with toys. What I remember most about those summers is the constant outdoors. The swinging. The chasing of birds and bunnies. The hide and seek. The swimming in the creek and eventually the above ground pool.

The running through Grandpa’s corn in the garden.

I am thrilled that the boys get to have the same experience in their great-grandfather’s cornfield as well. We spent some time at FireDad’s grandparents’ house while FireDad helped Gramps with some outdoor tasks. I took the opportunity to let them run up and down the rows.

Corn Fields

The laughter coming from deep inside the rows made my heart warmer than the sun beating down on us. It also made me think of my days back on The Farm, the carefree summers I spent outdoors with various members of my family. I may love the city, but I also love the wide open spaces in our lives. I love their blatant enthusiasm for all things outdoor, even as much as they love technology. I know my Papau would be proud to know that the boys spent time running back and forth, getting corn stalk scratches and generally embracing the land.

Corn Fields

I hope that someday these two wild and crazy (and loud) boys can look back on some of the things we do in the summer with the same sort of happy nostalgia that I do. Maybe they won’t remember all of this summer: our first summer of geocaching, many fishing trips, camping, carnival rides, playing in the park, swimming and, yes, the cornfield. But I will remember them.

I also hope I will remember how bright the sun was…

Corn Fields

…and how LittleBrother — my moon spotter — found the moon before any of us did. (See small white spot in right hand side of photo.)

Corn Fields

Lucky, lucky children in the corn.

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[What are you doing with your last two weeks of summer (or...less)? Tell me and win $100!]

Wordless Wednesday: Oh, Summer

Photography 2 Responses »

Aug 042010

Nice

Waldo

Mmm

Double

Summer 2010, I Kind of Love You

Living Life, Parenting 7 Responses »

Jun 212010

I’m not a heat and humidity lover. The combination kind of makes me grumpy. And I don’t like shorts. And I’m too short for most capri pants. Despite my fashion woes and general distaste for sweating when I’m not running, I’m loving Summer 2010. Okay, technically summer didn’t start until today but we’ve been on summer break from school since mid-May. We’ve kind of settled into a non-routine routine.

Here are some things that we’re loving and are working for us this summer:

1. The Chore Chart. I had been wanting to make a chore chart for a month or two as BigBrother had been doing chores with little to no complaint for awhile. He also wanted to start collecting the Toy Story 3 Duplo sets. I figured he could do some chores to earn them but couldn’t come up with a way to fashion the chore chart properly. Then I saw this chore chart which allows the child to earn a toy/privilege/whatever-you-choose after they collect so many stars. So I made my own! BigBrother has been happily making his bed, sometimes without asking, setting the table and helping me with other chores since we hung it up on the fridge. When he earns 20 stars, he gets his first set. I made the amount of stars so high because he has six different things which earn him stars, some of which he can do multiples of each day. As an example, he earned three stars the other day for making his bed, setting the table and helping me water the flowers. If I had a lower number, he’d earn everything before the end of June. This is working for us.

Chore Chart

2. We’ve been outside. A lot. Whether it’s been a bubble blowing extravaganza or a water gun fight or kickety-kick-ball in the side yard or a walk to the park in the wagon or any number of things, we’ve been outside. As soon as the grass dries off in the morning, they want to get outside. I’m 100% okay with that idea.

Chase

3. Grilling! Grilling! Grilling! I’ve been staying creative with our two-week menu plans by adding in some fun grilling meals. We’re not just kicking up some burgers over here (though we do that, too). I whipped up some chicken fajitas this past weekend and one of our new favorite meals is grilled lime chicken with black bean sauce and a side of cilantro lime (aka: Chipotle’s) rice. The best part of all of this? My kitchen doesn’t turn into a sauna. Oh! And the mess is (sometimes) less! Hooray!

Mmm

4. Our deck. We built the deck last September since we had leftover money from our vacation fund. We knew we would love it but didn’t have much time to enjoy it before the Never-Ending Winter of Gloom and Doom moved in and we had to shovel over 30 inches off of said deck. But, man, we’re loving our deck. We love sitting at the table for snacks, lunch, dinner or even working on workbook pages. We love racing cars on it. We love sitting on it to read books. We love sitting on it to watch the birds, including our hummingbirds (more on them later this week). We love our deck. I think it’s the best thing we’ve done to our house thus far.

Popcicles on the Deck

There are other things that we’re loving. We’re seeing Toy Story 3 today. BigBrother has been having a blast with his camera. We’ve been fishing and we’ll go again. A lot. We’ll be going to camp. We’re going to the beach. I’m going to BlogHer ’10 with my two best friends. The Farmer’s Market is rocking my flip-flops and taste buds and wallet at the same time. Reading books in the sunshine is the best thing ever. That new show The Good Guys is making FireDad and I laugh. A lot. Popcicles. Pineapple. Tomato sandwiches. T-ball. Swinging on swings. Naps under the ceiling fan. The list goes on.

I might forgive the heat and humidity just a little bit as long as Summer 2010 keeps on keeping on. How has your summer been thus far?