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No, not the heat or the mosquitoes by any means. Rather, the long stretches of unscheduled time, the escape from the rush of the routine and the crush of planned activities. Fionna returns to school in just two weeks. And then shortly thereafter, we'll return to some other regular activities like Kindermusik and weekly open gym time for Grady and dance class for Fionna. Combined with our never-changing commitments of Tuesday playgroup, Wednesday community potluck night, two La Leche League meetings a month, and the monthly API meeting that I lead, our scheduled commitments will more than double.
This summer, being our first with three children in the family as well as our first summer vacation from school, I feel like I recaptured that old childhood feeling of summer being a sacred, magical time. There's certainly been a good number of nights where we weren't watching the clock for bedtime (as we'd grown accustomed to in the school year), where the kids stayed out and swam until the mosquitoes literally sent us dashing for the house, nights where we'd linger over dinner or a family Nintendo challenge, nights when we would lay down to sleep but the constant bursts of giggles stretched the night into another hour (or two) of wakefulness.
This summer's memories are magical too with lots of firsts. Ainslie is at the age where she changes daily -- new almost-words, sounds, talents. She discovered a deep affinity for watermelon and squash this summer. We got our puppy, Mo, just a couple of weeks ago, and now our puppy memories and baby memories are probably hopelessly entangled. Mo can knock Ainslie flat and she'll just clamber up again and say "Oh, Oh" (Ainslie-speak for Mo). Grady's firsts include learning to swim and pretend in gloriously involved ways. Fionna made her first overnight (two nights actually) trip to Granny's and discovered too the joy of sleep-overs sprung upon unsuspecting moms at the last minute. And my firsts...well, the dreadlocks can't be glossed over, lol.
This summer, being our first with three children in the family as well as our first summer vacation from school, I feel like I recaptured that old childhood feeling of summer being a sacred, magical time. There's certainly been a good number of nights where we weren't watching the clock for bedtime (as we'd grown accustomed to in the school year), where the kids stayed out and swam until the mosquitoes literally sent us dashing for the house, nights where we'd linger over dinner or a family Nintendo challenge, nights when we would lay down to sleep but the constant bursts of giggles stretched the night into another hour (or two) of wakefulness.
This summer's memories are magical too with lots of firsts. Ainslie is at the age where she changes daily -- new almost-words, sounds, talents. She discovered a deep affinity for watermelon and squash this summer. We got our puppy, Mo, just a couple of weeks ago, and now our puppy memories and baby memories are probably hopelessly entangled. Mo can knock Ainslie flat and she'll just clamber up again and say "Oh, Oh" (Ainslie-speak for Mo). Grady's firsts include learning to swim and pretend in gloriously involved ways. Fionna made her first overnight (two nights actually) trip to Granny's and discovered too the joy of sleep-overs sprung upon unsuspecting moms at the last minute. And my firsts...well, the dreadlocks can't be glossed over, lol.
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