Lazy Days of Summer

I don't know how it happened, but summer is upon me.  Late May and early June brought rainstorms and it totally threw off my mental preparations for summer vacation. Normally the weather starts to get nice and I start to wrap my brain around the idea that "summer is coming - school's ending soon!" but this year summer vacation really snuck up on me.  Just a week or so ago I was quietly sitting on the couch while the boys were at school, looking out the window, and thinking to myself "How can it possibly be summer vacation in a week when it looks like November outside??" 

It's interesting for me to think back to this time last year, when I was in a deep funk about our school closing and full of uncertainty of where we'd end up.  All the angry and persistent emails I wrote all summer long to the school district office, insisting they transfer us to a decent school, each day hoping for a phone call or email with good news.  Now, the school year has passed and though at times it was filled with angst and frustration, we're all none the worse for wear in our new school.

Domino started his GATE camp this morning.  He was very anxious in the car on the way there but as soon as he saw a friend from his class at school he lit right up.  They'll be creating a magazine and each child will be writing an article about something that happened a specific year - the year from a penny they each pulled out of a jar.  Domino got 1980.  And you know what that means he gets to write about?!  (I didn't either...) The eruption of Mount St. Helens!  It's like a gift from the penny jar gods for my little volcano junkie.

The challenge I face right now is figuring out how to entertain us all on a dime (or a nickel!) this summer.  We'll be hitting the neighborhood parks and setting up the water slide in the backyard when the weather cooperates, but I fear far too many hours of Wii video games are in our future.  I bought them "educational" Wii and DS games and told them they could play only those games during the week and "non-educational" games on the weekend.  How long before I cave on that rule?  I give it 3 days.  There's only so much nagging I can tolerate and sometimes the Wii is the best babysitter!  And I've been known to try and beat them in a round of Mario Kart or two.  TRY being the operative word.  Rascal is the reigning champion!

Summer vacation also means I need to adjust my routines again to having kids underfoot 24/7.  As crazy as my volunteer schedule is at the school during the school year, I still had a few precious hours here and there to go grocery shopping solo, squeeze out a few billable hours of work in silence, do a few loads of laundry without forgetting a load in either the washer or dryer or both, and if I was really lucky catch up on my DVR'd episodes of Glee.  Now?  All of the above must be done while mediating fights, answering questions, getting boxes off of high shelves, stepping over Hot Wheels and on Legos, insisting they "stop shouting!", "be nice!", "apologize right now!" "are you kidding me??" and the popular "get off the dog and leave her alone!" all while doling out monitored snacks and drinks.  Each day I tune out portions of the insanity, but there's a constant noise and distraction level when the boys are home that makes my brain buzz. 

Clearly, summer vacation is also taking its toll on the dog.  I can't tell if our "indoor dog" is glad to finally see the sun after a strangely cold and rainy late May-early June - or if she's tired of the boys yelling at the TV while playing video games while laying on top of her, poking her in the eyes and elbowing her in the ribcage - and she just needed a quiet nap in the backyard sunshine. Alone.   

Either way, I can totally relate...