A Summer Synopsis So Far

With the exception of a trip to Hawaii for the adults, it's been a pretty slow summer.  The kids and I have gotten into a rhythm with morning swim lessons, soccer practice, earning screen time, etc.  Now that the kids are older, I feel less compelled to plan adventures.  My goal this summer is to let them be bored.

Robin has been a good sport about swim team practice.  He gets to hang with me while his siblings swim.  Generally, he brings a book to read and his special Pokemon lunchbox full of Pokemon action figures.  I don't play with him.  He gets to entertain himself.  I read a book or talk to other adults, occasionally peering over the balcony to watch the kids swim.

Piano lessons happen once a week.  We all sit in the living room of the school music teacher while Linus and Eileen each have a lesson.  Again, I don't entertain.  I'm surprised by how much I don't mind listening to the kids' lessons.  Both Eileen and Linus love their teacher's two cats.  They don't mind the dog too much.  Robin is less sure.

The afternoons typically involve reading, folding laundry, and playing outside. There has been a lot of reading by everyone.

We celebrated 4th of July with only a small amount of fanfare, a slow morning followed by the Edmonds Parade.

In the afternoon, we set up the slack line and used the hand crank to make ice cream.

My sister, Sally, and her new husband, Gino, as well as my parents came over.  We didn't even grill.  I made roasted brussel sprout salad and it was delicious.  Yard games were played.  We relocated to Sally's in order to watch the Kenmore fireworks.

It was a simple and quiet day.  Robin became a crazed maniac and went to bed early. I still woke the kids up for swim team in the morning.

Since then life has been quiet.  While I cleaned and reorganized the garage.  The kids played outside.

We reconnected with friends at the beach one afternoon.

Our beach day ended abruptly when Robin decided to throw a rock at another child (who we didn't know).  It hit the poor kid in the shoulder.  I apologized to the kid and parents and then packed us up.  Robin was not too pleased, but he got the message. 

We went to the zoo with some other friends.  We packed lunches and bought nothing.  Linus balked at first about being at the zoo.

I let him be the official photographer with my phone.  He took over 100 photos.  These are the only 3 that turned out.  At the end of the day, he admitted the trip had actually been really fun.

baby mountain goat

 Our friend had better luck taking pics of the kids.

One weekend afternoon, Dave gave us a tour of his work, Blue Origin. No pictures allowed!  Trust me when I say the place is cool.  It was really fun for the kids and me to not only see his workplace, but we got to learn about the Blue Origin space program.  

The work atmosphere at Blue Origin is a far cry from the school teacher experience.  They have a nice large kitchen stocked with snacks of all kinds (for free!) and there is a fridge with things like creamer and yogurt (for free!).  There are nice lounge areas to work besides your desk. I think it's that whole idea of work being such a pleasant place that you don't mind working a little longer.  

Today we met friends for donuts and a walk around the Edmonds Marsh and waterfront after swim team.  I was disappointed by the marsh boardwalk, but the morning itself was relaxing. We mainly walked, there was no "beach day" with beach toys and sandy kids.  The days are simply easier when spent with another mom and her kids.  So much less fighting.  They are also more willing to commiserate in their boredom.  Linus and another child found the whole thing lacking, I responded, "At least you have each other."  It was true.  They did and it was enough.

I've been surreptitiously turning on NPR when in the car to see if the kids notice.  Yesterday a really cool story about a haunted house came on and the kids were sucked into it.  We didn't get to hear the end.  Today they asked me to try and find it so we could finish listening to it.  With a little investigating, I found that we were listening to Snap Judgement and their series, "Campfire Tales."

The kids all stopped what they were doing to listen.

This is significant:

1. Campfire Tales is something we can all enjoy.

2. They sat quietly, listened intently, and did not touch one another.

3. Later in the car, all three started chanting, "NPR! NPR!"

In conclusion, my summer days are filled with swim team, swim lessons, soccer practice drop off, laundry, lots of reading, and occasional low key outings.  My mantra has been, "I will not entertain you."  Toys are now getting played with!  The kids are even playing together.  Linus asked for a slow summer.  I am happy to oblige.