Summer pastimes

So the first week of summer vacation is over and we survived it. Although there were challenging moments, I'm feeling slightly more optimistic about the eleven weeks remaining.

The theme I chose for this week was "Summer" -- how's that for straightforward? We went to the library last Sunday and got books about summer, and I pulled out some of the summer books we own. You know that thing about how you're supposed to rotate your children's toys in and out so they don't get bored with them? I never have managed to do that, haven't even tried. But I do rotate their books in and out. I have books for almost every holiday, books about summer and books about winter, etc. -- and I carefully move the out-of-season books to a high shelf and bring the in-season books down low. And then the twins climb up on the headboard of Kid B's bed and pull down Christmas books in the middle of April and whatnot. But at least I try.

So, summer-themed activities. First of all there's swimming. We're taking a 2-week swim class, that meets 3 times a week each of those 2 weeks, and that seems to be working out well. It's in an outdoor pool, Spruce Pool, which they complain about endlessly (too cold!) but I think they're having fun in the class. Don't they look like big boys, sitting there politely with the rest of their class? Quite a change from a year ago.

Spruce Pool is kind of a pain, because there isn't enough parking, so you drive around and around the nearby blocks looking for a place and wishing the Powers That Be in Boulder would just Face Facts and stop trying to get everyone to ride a bike everywhere. We live a little over 3 miles from Spruce Pool and there is no easy bike route (no easy car route either), plus can you really expect two 6-year-olds to ride 3 miles back and forth to swim lessons?

Anyway. Swim lessons are going well.

I thought we'd visit a different park every day, the way we did last summer, but so far we're sticking close to home. We go to our neighborhood park quite often, but we also spend a lot of time in our own front yard. I vowed that this year I would not let the boos go outside by themselves, because they got into a lot of trouble last year doing that. So I'm training them to TELL me when they want to go outside, and then I get my book and my water and sit on the porch while they play.

This is supposed to be an artistic shot showing my book on the porch railing, the flowers we planted, and the twins playing with water and chalk on the sidewalk. Here they are close up.

This game started out as just chalk drawings on the sidewalk, but then they discovered how much fun it was to add water, and now their sidewalk play mostly involves water. They fill up the watering cans and pour the water into the gutter to see how far down the street it will go. Fortunately we have no water restrictions this year (SO much rain and snow), so I think this game is OK. And I'm enjoying my time on the porch while they play. Doing lots of reading!

One of the "summer" books we got from the library is called something like The Berenstain Bears Have a Lemonade Stand and so of course boos thought it would be fun to have a lemonade stand too. I had anticipated this and purchased some frozen concentrate. So today after lunch I mixed up a pitcher of limeade, actually (they decided they'd rather have that than lemonade) and we attempted to sell it to passersby for a quarter (which was the same amount the Berenstain Bears charged).

Our street normally has a lot of foot and bike traffic, but it was kind of quiet today. Still, we sold limeade to our two next-door neighbors, Dad, a workman from down the street, a lady driving by in her car, a lady out for a walk, and it seems like there was one other, but I can't remember who. Boos were very passionate salesmen, shouting "Limeade! Get your limeade here! Don't you want a glass of limeade?" to everyone who went by. I passed the time by pulling weeds, averting my eyes when the sales tactics got especially embarrassing.

So, that's pretty much been our week. Swim lessons, the park, and hanging out in the front yard. We've had some summery meals too -- corn on the cob, fried chicken from the grocery store. Next week they have a "camp" in the afternoons, so Rocket Boy and I will be able to get some work done, and the week after that we're planning a little vacation (but more on that later). Next week's theme is going to be "Vacation," to help us get mentally ready. And on we go.

Of course, I'm leaving out all the bad parts: too much TV watching, never remembering to brush teeth (!!!), the endless screaming and fighting. Thursday morning I woke up to find them eating leftover fried chicken in the living room (complete and utter no-no) and just lost it. This post makes everything look so perfect and of course nothing is perfect. But considering who and what we're dealing with, I'd say we had a good week.