Squeezin' in Summer

We really had a lot of fun this summer.  Brian was out of work and had a good bit of free time.  We went to the creek and the water park and the neighbor's pool.  We had friends to dinner, and friends sleep over.  But we still didn't have nearly enough time for all of the lovely things we dreamt of doing.  The summer bucket lists still had lots of things on them (especially mine!  especially cleaning projects - bleh.)  Anyhoo, I reminded the kids that there really is still a month of summer and we're still working on checking things off. :)

Last week, we tried to to knock out a few wishes involving going downtown.  It sort of worked.  The coveted trip to the candy shop flunked a little, because it apparently went out of business recently, but we hit another store with a good variety of candy and the girls made a great karaoke dvd at the children's museum (just a few weeks left on that pass!), but we didn't get to splash in the fountains.    Hopefully we'll get another chance at that.

Yesterday I taught the 3s Sunday School  They were way too cute and very attentive - Moses has a great story!  We hurried home for lunch after a parent meeting for Ethan's new middle school class (middle school?!). I was locked in a debate about taking the kids to the minor league ball game that we had free library program tickets to by myself, but decided to try it with the promises of Brian's prayers, he's had such a lousy month with all the stormy weather, then caught the little big we passed around too.  It ended up being perfect.  I had picked up $1 team t-shirts on clearance last year and they got another t-shirt from the library program, as well as free kid meals (thanks Bi-Lo!).  Faces were painted, the Drive won in the bottom of the 9th, they received free frisbees for running the bases after, and we rode the trolley back to the parking lot (Bella did

a lot of cheering about this). I'd held off requests for treats during the game, promising a cheaper alternative after resulting in a slushie "picnic" (Bella asked, "I sit in you lap and have a picnic?" at the outdoor tables) at QT.  We arrived home in the gathering dark, and I happily succeumbed to thier pleas to try out their new frisbees.   Brian pulled out some tattered strands of energy and joined us - six players and four frisbees.  We even tried adding glow stick to the frisbees so we could see them better - that didn't really work, but it was fun trying and watching the glow stuff go slinging through the air.  The day was crowned  by earning Rose's much-coveted "Best Day Ever!" pronouncement. I agree.  It was rumored to be the best Sunday ever, particularly, and really had a stellar quality over the hectic, stressful Sundays that have too often been the norm.

Today I tackled a request from Anna's Summer Bucket List, Giggle Day.  Yes, you read that right.  Sometimes presenting yourself as the maker of family magic does backfire a tad.  Anna and Rose's lists were rather full of themed ideas that would require a bit of effort from someone (who could that be??). :)  So, a Giggle Day was requested, a day of giggles all day long.  And now, it needed to mix with school.  We took a school day, and began with a tickle fight.  Then we dressed in crazy clothes and hats.  Next came a breakfast with the cereal in cups and the apple juice in the sipper bowls and Bill Cosby telling a story about Go-Carts and parents trying to kill off their children by building playgrounds with see-saws and monkey bars.  We learned the bases with Abbot and Costello, then we studied hard, doing our reading from joke books, writing a book report on them, then doing grammar by mad libs.  We took a short history break from the giggles, but really, they were learning about the Celts in ancient Britain, one of Brian's favorite topics, how bad could it be?  Then hot dog pieces with spaghetti trailing from them and covered in cheese sauce surprised them for lunch, and they assembled for some Three Stooges.  Finally we embarked on some Bible study and shopping, but rounded out the day with pizza, ice cream, and Mr. Popper's Penguins.  Yes, Anna, I know it would have been better not on a school day, but I think we did all right.  She went to bed happy.

Soon I have some letterboxing, sleeping under the stars, a bonfire, and  using the telescope to squeeze in.  If you have a great location for a lemonade stand, let me know!