School's Out For Summer

It's the day that I dread all year: the last day of school. Well, that's not entirely true. While the kids were super excited this morning and I was less than enthusiastic, Reagan said, "You don't like summer, do you mommy?" I actually do like summer for the first month. It's nice to wake up a little later than normal and have nothing to do, nowhere to be, no homework to make you feel like a complete idiot (Are you smarter than a 5th grader? Apparently I'm not!). If you want stuff to keep the kids busy (camps, summer reading activities at the library, etc.), it's pretty easy to find for the month of June. But for some reason, it becomes harder to find programs that run past the first week of July. So by mid-July, I have two kids that are needing stimulation, and I've run out of steam.

Also, as I've said before, Pierce thrives on a regimented schedule. Without one, he's much more prone to moments of frustration. I'm filling our calendar with many opportunities to stay busy, but Pierce had an episode on Sunday that makes me fearful of taking him to public places on my own. Before heading to Panera (our usual Sunday lunch stop), we had to stop at my father-in-law's house to drop something off. Pierce loves grandpa's house, because there is a pool. He didn't protest when we left, so I thought he was alright with us not going swimming that day. But when we got to Panera, he freaked. He tried getting away from us and ran towards the very busy entrance to the shopping center. He was way too strong for me; Tim tackled him. If he hadn't been there, I don't know if I could have regained control of Pierce.

So far, we have a few church activities (including camp for both), summer reading through the library, dance camp for Reagan, the "Kids Bowl Free" program, and free summer movies. If you have some fun summer plans, I'd love to hear them. Also, if you have a pool to share (hey, I ain't too proud to beg!), we may need it. Grandpa may or may not be putting the house on the market. It probably wouldn't show well with a couple of noisy kids splashing around in the pool! Have a safe, fun summer and shoot up a prayer or two for me. Lord knows I'll need it.