Summer mirage

 

This song has been going through my head this week, one of the epic + quintessential songs from a really fun summer of my past.  "It's the summer of love, love, love." It makes me think of a little red Ford Tempo, lent by my grandparents while they were away for year, windows down, breeze rushing through my hair, twilight approaching, music up. Maybe that's why I've been craving orange popsicles and lemonade a bit.

What will this be the summer of? The kids all have completely different kinds of summer in store.

Lauren will be working full time for 7 weeks as a camp counselor in a local day camp.

Maddy will be working as a volunteer (if you visit Orchard House, look for our girl there) and attending girl's camp and EFY and doing driver's ed.

Sam will be attending an awesome service/outdoor adventure boys camp for a few weeks in July (more on that later) and then enjoying a free and easy August.  

For the first year ever, we won't all be summering to the beat of the same drowsy & spontaneous drummer. (hmm, in that analogy, am I that drummer? Yes.) Hopefully we'll still find time to go to the pond together, to bike for ice cream now and then, and go to a drive-in movie. But it'll be different kind of summer and I'll miss the old lovely togetherness (with an honest side of nagging and nerves).

However. The younger two kids are still in school for one more week. For Maddy, it's the worst week of the entire year because of finals. Is that a thing with all high schools now? Ours has university-style finals week at the end of each semester, using a special schedule where everyone takes two long exams a day, some of them cumulative for the year.  Too much and too soon, I say! Anyway, shhhhhhhh about summer around Maddy; it's all just a mirage for her at this point, a summer mirage. She's all highlighters, rewritten notes, and library afternoons until next Friday. (Go Maddy!)

. . .

photo via pinterest and this, attributed to vookie

As you wish

This week is the kids' February break. I welcomed it with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I always love the opportunity to spend more time with my littles (though not so little anymore), especially with a more relaxed, no-homework stretch of time.

On the other hand, we've had roughly 763 snow days in January and gone through our down-time wishlist several times. Also. My school doesn't have February break so there's that delicate dance of being sufficiently available to both worlds, which really amounts to doing minimal school things (emailing with students, meeting with a few) for a week. When the two roles duel at sunset, the mom role always wins and I'm fine with that. 

Last night we headed to our local theater, which was hosting a nostagia movie night with The Princess Bride on the big screen. It was awesome, complete with a cheesy trivia contest and audience participation in joining in on lines (including as you wish, my name is Inigo Montoya, & inconceivable, of course). What a blast we had. Sam and Maddy got into the spirit of things by wearing home-crafted Inigo Montoya nametags. Watch out Rocky Horror Picture Show, there's a new(er) show in town.

 

Glass choir

During Thanksgiving dinner the kids were enjoying getting a ringing sound from sliding their fingertips along the rim of the glasses. So afterwards, Lauren assembled a line of glasses, brought in the tuner and created a chromatic scale, goblet style. The rest of the weekend they spent experimenting with sheet music and original compositions (read: random playing).

It was kind of like when they were kids and they would spend hours building forts or playing with boxes.  Who knew a few glasses would keep the teenagers so busy? 

Summer launch

One of the advantages of getting out of school later than most of the rest of the country is I had time to peruse all of the summer ideas that other families were doing. I loved Jenny's (private blog) take on being productive in the mornings and leaving the afternoons for fun. I remember visiting Christie last summer and loving how her kids earn books each week (I think she has a bin full of new books she snagged at a book fair...right, C?).

We usually like to have some kind of structure (although flexible). I wanted to be able to set aside mornings to get work done on some research and writing I've commited to this summer and, at the same time, give some guidelines for the kids to get a few things done every day relatively unsupervised (and by unsupervised I mean un-nagged). I also wanted to provide some fun ideas to stave off the blahs and the floppies (as in, flopping on the couch, flopping on the floor, and whining). So this is what we've come up with.

Summer Bingo! Stacy described her Summer Bingo idea here and I was hooked (she even includes downloadable bingo forms and rules, which I adapted for my kids' ages and interests). After the kids do their beds, pick up their clothes, do a job and practicing, they can do activities on the Bingo sheet. Some are really fun, some are enriching or educational, some will help move the kids forward on goals (scouts, personal progress). They can earn tickets toward prizes every time they get "bingo" and, if they do the whole thing each week, some $ will be put toward their school clothes or something they're saving for. The best part is that it's self guided and it motivates them to get the essentials (work and practicing) done quickly.

click to enlarge^

Maddy and her best friend, Meg, have been helping as junior counselors for the Vacation Bible School here in town in the mornings. They got home and decided to do the "make something in the kitchen" option. {Mmm. Chocolate chip cookies...keep them away from me, please.}

Sam elected to do the most decadent item on the sheet first: one hour of video games. Figures!

Lauren is babysitting for a neighborhood family all week so she has yet to dive into the world of Summer Bingo.

For the afternoons, we've put together a list of activities and field trips we'd like to do together as often as we can. Our days will be just like a mullet: business up front, party in the back.

What are you doing this summer to stay occupied and sane?

Off kilter

Something's amiss when I get this in the mail

before the kids even get out for summer vacation.

Or put on their new swimsuits.

Four more days (and counting)!

Both of my daughters are heavily ensconced in studying for finals

all the way through Thursday.

On the other hand, Mother Nature has cooperated by giving us entirely UNsummery weather.

The better to study for tests, my dear.

Boo! review

Usually we carve pumpkins earlier in Halloween week 

but this year we "saved it" 

(read = I never got my act together) 

until Halloween afternoon. 

This meant only three of the five of us were there.  

Which is why it looks like I only have two children.

Sam, bless his soul, crafted his costume on his own 

using things we already had on hand.

He went trick-or-treating with two of his friends,

(plus all the dads).

Maddy and her friends established many weeks ago 

that they would go together as a theme: angels and devils.

(Remember seventh grade is high pack mentality age?)

She went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood

with two of her friends, stopping here

to dump off candy midway.

Lauren is in the pep band and they had a football game tonight 

where they played.  But they wore their costumes and,

according to L, had an "amazing" time

(this is the most common adjective she uses right now)

I made her pose for this late tonight when she came home.

Hence the sleepy eyes.

It was a beautiful, starry night.

60 degrees.

I'm guessing we had around 300 trick-or-treaters.

(I ran out of candy and

 had to raid the kids' candy haul at the end there.)

The night was not without drama.

(Remember 7th grade is ripe with drama?)

A couple of hours before trick-or-treating time,

Maddy's friends called and informed her they were no longer going as devils.

Instead, they were going as Sarah Palins.

Maddy was disappointed that the theme was (so arbitrarily) broken

but she rose to the occasion and  handled it graciously.

Like a good angel should.

;)

Thank you for Flying Summer Airlines

Bye.

6:50 a.m.

Buh-bye.

7:15 a.m.

Bye now.

               8:15 a.m.                                

Enjoy your stay in school land.

Come fly with us again next year.

{wink}

{wave}

The good and the not-so-good

Last Week.

Good: We went on a Great Outing with Louie

Not-so-good: It ended with the need for a makeshift, plastic-bag doggie diaper

Still: We had a good hike through beautiful grounds
and have a funny story to tell.

Good: G and I went to the North End (Italian section) of Boston for an evening

Even better: We ran into a charming street festival 

(St. Anthony's festival. It seems like there's a festival 

every weekend there) 

with food, music, crowds, and this cute band (I want that backdrop!):

Not-so-good: The kids called and were spooked by a strange sound
so we came home early. 

{We found later that the sound was a bicycle helmet falling off a hook.}

Still: we enjoyed the time we had 

and strolled arm-in-arm in the perfect weather.

And our kids are old enough to leave on their own. Usually.

Good: We went to the White Sox/Red Sox game Saturday night.

Not so good: This (below) is the best shot I got of the night.

I think G enjoyed it a bit more than he's showing.

Still: The Red Sox won, we did the wave, Take Me Out to the Ballgame,

& Sweet Caroline & caught every green light on the way home.

Other not-so-goods: Lauren had several days of mysterious hives so we spent some time in the ER and doctor's office this week, I spilled an entire bottle of Febreze on myself at Target (and embarrassed Maddy in the process), and our beloved pond closed for the season.

Great: We *love* all our neighbors 

& got to know them better at a Labor Day cookout

{who knew that the guy down the street manages rock bands? 

or that the new couple on the corner both teach high school? 

or several neighbors had such great doggy advice?}

Good AND not-so-good: Tomorrow's the last day before school starts for the kids!

{And it's the first day of school for me.} 

The Silly News

Maddy and Sam like to video themselves doing newscasts. They write the scripts, dress up, create props, and tape it with our home video camera--the whole business. Then they assemble us all for a screening of The 22 News, which is actually a lot of footage of laughing and had-to-be-there joking on tape. Trust me, you really had to be there.

I came across a yet-to-be-shot outline for their next production, a brainstorm list of stories and assignments. Here it is, as written (with typos and all):

• men's fooseball olympic match (US against Japan, 9 - 9, US get goal, win championship), (Sam)
• "You Dance Good" finale (Sam & Maddy dancing contest)
  
• Ron the Clown (Maddy) interview by Sam
• Pickle famon in Zimbabue: officials begging others for pickles (Maddy)
• Local Ikea has to close down because of lack of meatballs (Sam)
• This Day in History (Maddy)

Although not strictly in the news department (but--hey--local news is constantly airing infotainment segments, right?) I'm especially looking forward to the "You Dance Good" {I'm imagining a neanderthal dance contest where the judges grunt "You. Dance. Good."} and the Ron the Clown segments.

And to get the full funny, you have to understand that Sam really likes the meatballs at Ikea. And pickles.

Now, back to you...

Wildwood love

A heartfelt (sometimes blurry) love letter
to a place I love
(& one of the capital cities on the map of my childhood):

My soul spends summers in Wildwood

even when the rest of me can't.

Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma Pax,
for creating and hosting
such a place.
Pure magic.
And love.