This summer was hard and incredibly precious. As my kids get older I get more sappy and nostalgic, I see the finite number on each day.
It winged by, but some of the days were long and now it’s in the past tense and my mind is reeling. By the time my kids are out of school again for an extended period of time we will be having a baby any day.
This summer we didn’t
-make it to any summer movies
-only went to the lake once
-go paddle boarding
-go skim boarding
-look for crawdads up the canyon
– only made it to the library twice (completely unheard of for me)
– didn’t do any kind of structured learning activities
-didn’t do any kind of structured service
-didn’t organize any activities for our friends
-didn’t go hiking or to any nearby national parks
-set or accomplish any goals
(all of which are standard summer activities in the Taylor home)
The days poured by, starting and ending as slow as the sun rising and setting. We rarely made it out of the house before ten and often, my kids were up way later than my sleep-loving heart usually allowed.
We did, enjoy each other, swim, Anna, Max, and I busted out two crafts,play several hundred board games – mostly Chutes and Ladders and Score 4 on repeat, with one epic game of Monolopy thrown in (I won – which should be documented), spent some time learning to cook, and towards the end as I entered my second trimester, we deep cleaned the house (sprng cleaning is overrated; summer is much better when all your kids are home).
We weren’t stressed and only occasionally bored. Partly the kids are older and happier to entertain themselves and play with friends, and partly I was sick and tired and happier to be home. Either way – I call it a successful summer.
Now my house is quiet. Max and I putter around, getting things done, playing, and then there is blissful naptime when I can write, and be. The circle of change always seems to occur just before my heart is ready – I wasn’t ready for summer – and I wasn’t ready to send my houseful back to school for the whole day – but both were just what I needed.
As mentioned we did take two family vacations. The first: In the midst of “June Gloom” we headed to Oxnard for the annual Esplin Family beach week. Continue Reading