1) Baseball season happened. Four kids played (one was softball)... from March thru mid-July in some permutation or another. It was great. Glad it's done (we need a break).
2) School happened. The end of the year is crazy busy with work, assignments, field trips, special events, and so on and so forth, and honestly, we're still finishing up some homeschooling stuff we tabled during softball season. I think we're also still recuperating. Oops. School starts in under 4 weeks....
3) All the end of the year music happened. Recitals, performances, rehearsals, etc. Very fun, very beautiful, very busy. And it's not like we don't keep playing all summer. But it has a different pace and feel to it.
4) It rained. We asked for an ark. It rained some more. For roughly six straight weeks, including flooding etc. Vermont reached saturation point and even 1/2" of rain, which is normally no big deal, meant the flash flooding warnings statewide for much of the month of June and into July. Fortunately our house was ok but many local homes and roads were not.
5) I got my garden in near the end of June - the rain was a real issue. I think I've been back a couple times. Really not sure, but when it stopped raining (mid July), things finally started to grow. Today we picked our first tomatoes and green peppers. (First visit in two weeks).
5) July happened. I was gone for two weeks in July, or thereabouts, and the time I was here it was mostly raining, 90+ degrees, and/or I was buried under Mt. Washmore. We had company and birthdays and people over in there too. Fun, but crazy. I used to like July, but it's usually so busy, at least the past few years, that I generally feel run over by it. I am working on picking myself up and dusting off the tracks today.
6) We've done the braces thing - Patience's braces are off, and Andante's will be going on (in a few months, after a proper dental cleaning). But that's after several appointments and meetings and discussions and decisions.
7) I survived the youth retreat (I actually enjoyed it) in early July. But it did involve recuperating afterwards. A week later, we thoroughly enjoyed a couple days with Papa Bear's sister and family from SC including swimming, ferry rides, a visit to the granite quarry, and ice cream. Thankfully the temperatures were nice w/11 people in the house (they arrived the day after the 5-day heat wave). We then went to the White Mountains (NH) w/his whole (extended) family, but one brother, in late July, which was very fun and relaxing, despite my not feeling well. The weather was pretty much perfect. Canoeing, hiking, swimming, gondola rides, zip lines, visiting streams, and playing with cousin Maggie (a golden retriever puppy) totally made the month a resounding success "fun"wise.
8) We made "the viola decision." Patience has been renting for four years and we were going to pay it off and own it this September. She began taking private lessons early this year and she auditioned for the local youth orchestra. She'll start that this fall (mini-camp in two weeks!), and it was time to upgrade to a higher "step-up" quality bow and instrument. We researched, shopped, and bought just two days ago.
9) It's August 1st. The laundry and housework and garden loom large but that's expected and par for the course. I'm finally catching up on mail, budgets, lessons w/the kids (mean mom - no actually, kind mom, who knows what they need and is making sure they get it), and beginning to prep for the next school year (seriously, there is always paperwork and prep to do, whether we're homeschooling or not).
10) Oh yeah, and there are still about 10 folks I still haven't sent "Christmas" letters to yet. Really, they're coming... I just am bound and determined to say a proper and personal "hello" and reply to your correspondence with it (if applicable).
.jpg)
.jpg)
1 comment:
I haven't seen you guys all summer. That is crazy. Sounds busy and FUN!!!
Post a Comment