I have been thinking about blogging for several weeks now, but there has been no time for it amid sleeping in, vacations, camp, playing with the kids, and going to bed early (yeah, you probably thought I would say "late" here, right? that was 10 years ago - now I have gray hairs and wrinkles and need my beauty sleep). So, here are the cliff notes of our summer break. I can't believe school starts on July 30th!
Week 1: School ended with a half day on May 24th - we went straight to Sonic and took lunch to the park with lots of school friends! The girls went on their annual Beech Bend trip with their school friends the next day - I'm not sure how, but for the past 4 years, I have SENT the girls to Beech Bend with my dear friends instead of tagging along. I'm sure I will enjoy the pleasure of chaperoning at some point...the following week was a blur of packing, sleepovers, and swimming. Anna Kate absolutely LOVES the pool.
Week 2: We started the summer with a trip to the beach. I would love to say that it was restful and relaxing for me, but it was not. I did enjoy it very much though! Thankfully, Anna Kate slept all night EVERY night in her crib, and by day 5, she was ok with going to the beach! Gracie played in the ocean as much as possible - it was really rough water for the Gulf. Caroline made sand castles, saw her first jelly fish, and got her feet wet. We painted pottery - a yearly tradition, ate good food, and went crab hunting - a.k.a. squealing on the beach at night. I have the funniest video of them on the beach "hunting crabs"!
Week 3: The week after vacation we had our family pictures (and Anna Kate's 1 yr pictures) taken. As usual,
Chesley did an amazing job! I'm so pleased with them, and I can't wait to share them with you! This may have been the CrAzIeSt week we have had all summer because we packed in lots of fun. We made salt dough crafts, had friends sleepover, went swimming, rode 4-wheelers, and packed for camp.
Week 4: For camp week, Jon and I rented the girls a camper to stay in. We originally thought that we would take turns staying in there with them or get the grandparents to help out. The thought of camping with Anna Kate was scary to me, and I was not looking forward to it...Thankfully, there were a couple ladies who wanted to camp and needed a place to stay for the week, so they agreed to stay in our camper and chaperone our kids in the evenings! Gracie hung out with all the tweens/teens, played volleyball, and avoided contact with us as much as possible. She won the horseshoe competition with her cousin. She stayed up late, woke up later, and had what she called "The BEST Camp Week yet." Caroline played in the creek, hung out with her friends, and enjoyed the art activities. Anna Kate did really well. She played in the creek mostly - she is really loving the water. She would walk down to the water saying "Splash" which sounds more like "das" to the untrained ear... She rode around in her wagon - a camp ground necessity, and played with her little nursery friends.
Week 5: Camp week was quite exhausting. We spent a lot of time resting and recovering from it during this week. There were a few appointments we had scheduled that we went to; we went swimming, and the girls spent the night with Grandma. We got pedicures and did a little shopping as well. I think this was about the time when the girls started sleeping so late that I was going in their rooms to check on them in the mornings - even Caroline was sleeping late and that is very out of character for her...
Week 6: The fourth of July being on a Wednesday paired with the fact that all fireworks and grilling were banned in our area due to the extreme heat conditions kind-of put a damper on the celebration. We did celebrate the holiday though - in the air conditioned school! There was a big catfish dinner followed by fun games and activities though. The kids had a great time and my team won the tug-of-war contest! Gracie got her 1st place trophy for her horseshoe competition during camp.
Week 7: We have been reading all summer because the girls had to. Gracie spent the first 5 weeks of the summer complaining that her book (which I had already read) was boring. Through many tears, she finally finished the book. Now, we have a report to write! Caroline had two books to read. We are finished with the first one, and 75% through the second! I'm so glad we're almost done! We spent several days this week reading and working.
Week 8: We are currently in week 8! The summer has gone by so fast! There were so many things I had planned that we didn't get to do... I'm moving several of them to future dates though. Gracie is at basketball camp this week. She has been exhausted from the 9-4 schedule she's keeping! I think she was asleep on the couch at 7:30 last night when I finally took her to bed. Caroline has gone to stay at a friends house for three days! We're getting back into the grove of waking up early and going to bed on time. I have missed the schedule of the school year too!
Next week, Gracie starts middle school (she has a half day). Caroline is going into 4th grade and I start teaching computer lab one day a week! I'm pretty excited about it! Anna Kate is going to get a break from me for 1 day per week! Let's hope she likes it!
Today, Jon and I have been married for 4 years! Happy anniversary, Jon! I love you!
