You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘summer vacation’ tag.
There is something to be said for taking the boys on vacation. It is definitely entertaining. They are a force to be reckoned with and their incessant teasing of each other, makes for some great entertainment for Tom and I.
There’s the gang together waiting for dinner…..
TJ’s ever changing facial expressions amused them….
Ian took advantage of some “green space” to chill out waiting for a ride home from the beach.
One of the most hysterical things was when the other boys placed lots of chips and pieces of bread on a sleeping TJ at the beach … with a lot of hungry seagulls hanging nearby…. while they simply stood there falling over laughing….
There was some summer reading for school…..
Tim sporting his new shades…..
But it has been apparent that Alex has been quite popular with the girls during the trip (in the under 5 age group) ….fighting over who is going to sit next to him.
We have arrived. After a very long journey we have arrived at the last week of school. The last week of intentionally waking up at some very ungodly hour to get kids up and out. The last week of yelling to get sleepy kids out of bed. The last week of being the deli at 6 a.m. Not that I mind any of those things (okay, well some mornings I do mind) but I think about how sooner than I’d like, there will be no one to wake for school and no one to make lunch for early in the morning.
That means onto summer — see my personal feeling is that despite what the actual calendar says — summer begins when kids are out of school and falls starts when they return. I know that we are still a week or so away from “actual” summer and fall doesn’t come until right around when my birthday rolls around each year but still — it must be the perpetual student in me that lives by the school calendar.
So… Happy Last Week of School to you!
It spreads out before us as blank slate, leaving the possibility of so many opportunities. The summer calendar. Those days, weeks and months to which the warm rays of sun and lazy days belong. On many occasions we try to take the calendar and fill in the days and weeks with so many things that we can’t help but wish for summer’s end. We have had those summers, where the boys’ calendar was jam packed with things – I felt more like the administrative assistant than the mom. This summer they are not as jam packed and I may be living to regret that two days into summer vacation.
When they are busy, we are all on a schedule, which has its ups and its downs, admittedly but no one is staying up late and everyone is out and about for most of the day – leaving us to do work which after all is a good thing at least as far as their stomachs and the bill collectors are concerned. When they are not busy, they seem to forget that the parents still do have work and that my life (insert aghast look here) does not revolve around them entirely (really? are you sure about that Mom?). It’s basically a Catch-22 situation.
This year, our oldest is enrolled in driver’s ed at school for four weeks (every day, no absences allowed or he fails -supposedly no kidding) and our youngest is working at an autism camp for one week and then everyone is off to scout camp for a week. Then comes vacation (hip, hip, hooray) and then basically we’re back in school mode with soccer practice, cross country practice and school starting all well before the end of August.
I always like to think of all the things that we can accomplish during the summer and sadly, most of them we usually don’t get to do, or see.
With a sigh, and some dejected looks, the boys are off. School is back in session and the countdown to exams is on. They were hoping, dreaming, praying for a snow day – to put off the reality of having to go back to school – even if it does mean seeing all their friends again – for one more day. I remember Christmas vacation. It is almost as hard as summer vacation. To put all those lazy days behind you and get back into the routine of school, homework, activities, everything that goes along with the regular grind…is, well, boring.
The magic of Christmas is over. The anticipation is gone. There is nothing to look forward to except the next day off, which doesn’t come for a couple weeks.
I feel for them, I was them not that long ago (at least in my own mind). No one wished for the phone to ring with that lovely automated message that school was closed this morning, more than me. To not have to get out of my nice warm bed, to not have to leave that layer of dreamy sleepiness, now that would have been a good present. Despite the snow (which appears to be measured in feet, not inches) that has fallen on the ground, school goes on, the vacation is over…there is work to be done. We live in a place where snow is snow, much like rain, school goes on. No ice, then there’s school. Simple as that. No wishing, no dreaming, no snowstorm that lasted for days to slow it down.
Happy First Day Back from Christmas Vacation!
This morning marked the “official” start of summer vacation at the T’s. Middle son finished the last of his exams this morning and just got home a few minutes ago. Summer has officially started (“Hooray” say the kids!) Approximately 64 days until school starts (“Hooray” say the parents!) Seriously, though, I wonder how long before “I’m bored” resonates the T’s house? There is lots to do this summer and lots of down time in between. The boys have boy scout camp, a 50 mile canoe trip and family vacation to Maine to look forward to. They have plenty of projects planned so we’ll check back and see what got accomplished.
