Summer time and the living is easy. That is the line in a song anyway. For us summer time has been a mix of easy living and a hectic pace, a sort of controlled chaos. When the boys were really young, the days seemed long and we filled them with park play-dates, visits to the local pick-your-own farms, museum trips, movies and afternoons by the pool. It was a fun simple time.
These days, summer begins even before school ends. The boys have classes through the middle of June and swim team practices begin right after Memorial Day. It is a juggling act the fit in daily practice with homework, school, piano lessons, social activities and a reasonable bed time.
This year, there were end of the year projects, graduations, first communions, birthdays, piano recitals, sporting events, dinner groups, book clubs and swim meets twice a week. Then when school finished, there was a week of Cub Scout Day Camp. I had the privilege of chaperoning a group of 14 boys from our pack along with two other parents on two days and chauffeuring six boys on two other days. It was a fun filled, action packed week, but I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when it was over.
Before camp, my dad visited for a week. The week at our house was sandwiched between a trip to my sister’s house in Oswego, NY and my brother’s house in Herndon, VA. From there he headed south to North Carolina to see his sister. I think he thought that during his visit we would get to spend some time together going out for meals and just visiting. Unfortunately, he arrived during that transitional time from school to summer and we spent a great deal of time running around hauling the kids from activity to activity.
Tomorrow is the last swim meet of the season. This will be the first meet that I will miss this year and it’s a big one. Nate is swimming three events, free style, breast stroke and butterfly. At 9, he has come a long way from the days when it took him more than a minute to swim a lap. Will at 7 will also swim. He will swim “up” with the 9/10 age group and he will also swim the breast stroke. This is the first time this season that the two boys will actually compete against one another.
The reason I am missing this Divisional meet is because I am on a plane to Las Vegas, NV to meet up with my niece, Nicole, her boyfriend and several of my sisters and their husbands to celebrate Nicole’s 21st birthday. Nicole and her mom have been through a lot in the last five years, and I want to go an help them make some happy memories. I don’t anticipate this being a wild trip ala The Hangover, but I am looking forward to fun, relaxation and a bit of bonding with my family.
Next week we will have our fourth set of house guests since summer began and we are all looking forward to our friends from Michigan visiting. They also have three boys, so I expect it to be more controlled chaos. After their visit, our family will go on vacation with Matt’s parents and his brother’s family. After that trip, we will have about two weeks free left of summer to hang out by the pool and do various other stay-cation activities. I am sure the time will quickly be filled up.
We will try to squeeze every bit of fun we can into the summer while enjoying some quiet time at home as well. After all it is summer time, and the living is easy.
kcheney's Blog 