Summer break 2014

August 26, 2014

Summer break 2014

The kids are devastated that summer break is over. Who can blame them? Staying up late, sleeping in, very little responsibility and by virtue of that nearly unlimited play opportunity, no homework, no tests- what's not to like? Here is an overview of the summer of 2014. Overall, it was fairly uneventful. If not for documenting it here, I'll bet we'd be pretty likely to forget about it quickly :-).

Trips- we didn't go on any. We had thought of trying to go to Hilton Head when Brian and his kids went but that proved to be impossible when the only week he could go was a week that the kids were still in school. Then I was going to take the kids to Canada to see Katy and kids but the only week we could do that, the polar vortex wrecked havoc with the weather. We had so many fun warm weather activities planned. I was so displeased with the weather forecast that I scrapped our plans to go. Oh, Donnie and I went to Mexico in June but the kids didn't leave the state the whole summer. Sorry kids!

I did something I'd been wanting to do with the kids for awhile- reading aloud to them. This was something my mom did with my siblings and me and I appreciate now more than ever the time she took out of her busy days to read to us. I'm not as busy as she was and mornings during the week proved to be a good time to read to the kids. We only got through two books, but still. I read to them The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian by CS Lewis. The girls really liked the books and enjoyed watching the movies afterward. Jacob is a little harder to impress; he didn't seem too taken by the books or the movie. I want to finish the Narnia series and move on to Madeline L' Engle. At the rate I'm going, it's going to take a long time!

Jakey went to one soccer camp that wasn't exactly mandatory but one that most of his soccer teammates went to. He also took a couple of classes to get his SAY soccer referee license (under duress. I made him do it). Other than that, his summer consisted of playing video games, hanging out with Malcolm, AJ, Casey, Blaine, Lily and Whitney, going to Kings Island and complaining nearly everyday that he was dreading school starting and he wanted it to stay summer vacation forever. Can't say as I blame him...

Abby continued taking dance classes once a week and mandatory dance camps to learn new routines. She also participated in the Miami Valley Youth Talent Contest which kept us in dance mode in June and July. She played with Alyssa mostly. They played in the basement a lot when they played. They did some gymnastics and role played WWE characters. Abby played some with Giovanna and a little bit with her dance friend Hanna. She is very into her phone and Instagram. She has a Dance Moms fandom account on which she posts pretty often and has many followers. On her personal account, she recently posted a picture of Giovanna, Alyssa and her. She wrote, "Hanging with my 2 best friends." I never thought that at close to 12 years old, she'd consider Alyssa to be one of her best friends, but it makes my heart happy that she does.

Alyssa attended two soccer camps- one was a mandatory team one and one was one that most of her team did in West Chester. Her soccer team played in an indoor soccer league in Mason so she played soccer games in Mason on Saturdays. Other than that, she had a playful, carefree summer. I let her get a premium member Fantage account. Fantage is an online game. The other two kids were into it at her age. Alyssa played quite a bit outside with the neighbor kids who are out a lot- James, Jack, Taylor, Jacob and Avery when she was in town. She also played with Abby.

We went to Kings Island a lot this summer. We always enjoy going there and loved the dining plan.

Abby and I planted a small vegetable garden in late spring. We didn't get too many veggies from it, but we enjoyed the ones that we did and enjoyed watching the plants come up with very little effort on our part. The rainy summer provided most of the watering (although one drought spell proved to be disastrous since I wasn't used to watering and some plants died).

I love how the kids love being at home so much. I kind of take it personally :-). I hope they enjoyed being around me as much as I enjoyed being with them this summer. I miss them when they are gone. They are always in my heart but that is just not the same as having them around: even their bad moods; bad attitudes; sometimes fighting; dirty, sometimes smelly bodies; constantly asking for junk food selves are precious to me (although slightly more precious to me when their mood is good, their attitude is better, they aren't fighting, they are clean and their belly is full of junk food!). I loved this summer and was sad to see it end.

The girls in grandpa's pond