Today marks the beginning of the last week of summer vacation around here. Really, summer vacation doesn't actually apply to anyone but Tyler in this house, but I guess we all kind of inherit the attitude and the laziness factor even though we aren't in school. It amazes me how fast his summer vacation flies by when I remember my summer vacations as a child being long. Or seeming long anyway. The truth is though, he only gets 10 weeks off and since some of that time is spent in Denton with his Dad, it goes by in fast forward. So I find myself this morning wondering if we hit all of our 'fun goals' for the summer and if Tyler enjoyed his time off. Also - what should we do this week to finish it off?
Growing up, I spent the bulk of my summer vacation time in Wisconsin visiting family and friends and I can't remember being bored very much. Mom kept kids in our home so when we were at home, we were AT home. We would do swimming lessons in the mornings for a couple of weeks and if the moms in the neighborhood could organize a car pool, we spent a lot of afternoons at the local pool. But most of the time we were playing with our friends or lounging around the house watching tv. Then through various means and circumstances, we usually found ourselves in Wisconsin for several weeks, shuffling between my dad's parents and my mom's sister, Kaye, seeing all of our cousins and friends. And the best part of those trips was that the three of us kids weren't always together. Matthew spent extra time with Aunt Valerie and cousin David, Asheley enjoyed some time alone with my Grandma and Grandpa Brawand, and I got to go stay with my Emmrich buddies or Jennifer Clemens ALL BY MYSELF! Woohoo! We had lots of time together too, but I really loved being on my own and doing things that didn't involve being a big sister all of the time.
Because I am the oldest, and understand how that can sometimes be seriously challenging, I empathize with Tyler a lot. And as our family has grown with brothers for Tyler that are quite a bit younger than he is, I have tried to find things for him to do during the summer that are just for him. We have done a lot of day camps over the summers and this year, we've had two days a week that the little ones were in day care and it was just the two of us - even if that meant he had to hang out while I worked. I had really hoped that at least one of those days could just be big kid time with mom each week, but it hasn't really worked out that way. We did get to hit one movie on our own though and we had a great day at six flags with some cousins and no little brothers.
We also had 2 great vacations. The first was to Wisconsin. Even though Tyler was born here, he has always wanted to be from Wisconsin too. He loves it up there and it's always his favorite vacation. This year, I got to share a Wisconsin 4th of July with my kids, something I've always wanted. And, I got to take Tyler to Summerfest (for those of you not in the know, this is the largest music festival in the world held on shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee every summer). For my music loving 10 year old - this was great. He even wore his favorite Beatles t-shirt because he thought it was appropriate. And while we visited with family and friends, there were always enough big kids around for Tyler to play with so he was never bored.
The second trip was to Clovis, NM to see Scott's sister and family and our newest nephew. The cousins loved playing together and Aunt Doo and Uncle Aric made sure all of the kids had plenty of fun stuff to do including a bounce house in the backyard, a trip to the Air Force Base for Scott, Tyler & I including a tour of a very large plane and a basketful of water guns which were endlessly entertaining. The best part for all of us 'big kids' though was getting to peer through Aric's night vision goggles for a minute! Wow! You wouldn't believe everything you can see through those things!
Tyler has definitely had plenty of down time this summer, watching tv and playing video games. He has also had plenty of time to play with his best friend and next door neighbor, Jerry. Plus, his Grandpa and I have been tearing down closets and building walls which he has got to help with. That can't be all bad. He's also done Vacation Bible School and a weekend at the family lake house at Lake Texhoma where he loves to fish and swim at the beach. Also, his dad took a whole week off when he was there for one of his visits. They have done a couple of nature hikes together, he got his first pocket knife, he has gotten to boat with Jenifer's parents and they have done quite a bit of swimming at both beach and pool. He's also gotten quite a bit of time alone with both Brian's parents and mine which I know he really loves.
I know he really wanted to do a water park this summer and swimming is just something we haven't done a lot of. I feel bad about it, but really it's a serious challenge for me. Getting 3 kids to a park or pool is difficult, but not impossible. Watching 3 kids around water by myself, now that's tricky. Plus, it's just too darn hot. I know at 10, Tyler doesn't really notice it, but 105 + Heat index for me is way too much. It's too hot to really enjoy being outside, even if you are in the water.
The back to school preparation has begun around here and I have just realized it's my last summer to do this for just one kid - Scooter will start kindergarten in a year. School supplies were pre-ordered last spring, but the new backpack and lunch box are purchased, as well as a new bike lock. Tyler's room is reorganized and cleaned up, ready for a new year. Bed time is slowly being reinforced so we aren't zombies the first week of school. Schedules are starting to come together. And Tyler has begun to have that gloomy 'it's almost over' look about him. Sometime this week we'll get info about his teachers for the year and on Thursday night we'll venture to the school to meet them and let him reconnect with his school friends.
Maybe this week we'll cram in another movie or make our way to the small water park in Rowlett (enlisting Grandma for extra help, of course), or maybe we'll just take it easy and enjoy the last week of freedom mixed with a fair amount of preparation for school. Either way, I hope Tyler isn't disappointed. I hope he had a good summer off. I'm always glad when school lets out each year, and equally glad when it starts up again. But I've really enjoyed this summer and for the first time in a long time (maybe because the babies aren't babies anymore or maybe because we haven't been driving to day camp after day camp) I am not quite as anxious to see it end. I love the schedule of the year, but I could do with a couple more weeks of just chillin out with my big kid. After all, he's ten and going into 5th grade. His childhood is racing by - just like his summer vacations do. I don't want to waste it.
God Bless!
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