Where did the summer go? It flew by so fast, I hardly had time to catch my breath! This summer was a special one, full of late nights, stars overhead, and lots of fun family activities. My kids are getting older, so my hyper-vigilance and anxiety were able to ease slightly, although there were plenty of close calls. Why are toddlers so adamant about injuring themselves? If I’m not telling my son Andy to stop jumping off the back of the couch, I’m yelling at him to stop treating the inflatable pool like a trampoline. Even running in a straight line is a challenge for him since he forgets where his feet are and occasionally goes butt-over-tea-kettle.
I was even able to squeak in time for myself! Though my days were filled with greasy sunscreen, soggy bathing suits, and sticky popsicle fingers, when the kids were in bed the evenings belonged to Jeremy and me. As the day cooled and the sky blushed with pink, we would relax on our deck, sipping cold drinks and chatting. The fact that we have our own backyard to relax in is a miracle in itself; buying our house was the culmination of years of work, perfect timing, and lots of luck.
The summer was not without its challenges; struggling to keep ourselves cool during an intense heat wave was probably the most difficult. There’s only so much you can do with an open window and a rotating fan, and I was anxious about Andy getting overheated. I toyed with the idea of setting up the garden hose and sprinkler in his bedroom but decided the water damage wouldn’t be worth it. I took to sleeping with an icepack on my forehead, which resulted in Jeremy complaining about me snoring (which, for the record, I don’t do). The one positive thing about the heat wave was that it persuaded Jeremy to get central cooling installed in the house, so by this time next year we’ll be cold cuts instead of hot dogs!
Molly and Andy both love the water, so we spent lots of time at our local lake. Molly would float around happily in her inner tube, loudly proclaiming that she was “swimming”, despite just bobbing around like a rubber bath toy. Andy spent most of his time clinging to my waist as I stood in the water getting sunburned. Although I didn’t get paid for lifeguard duty, the reward was two happy kids. And what trip to the lake is complete without a stop at the local ice-cream stand? How many times did Molly insist that she could eat two scoops of ice-cream, only to tell me she was full after three bites? Being the dutiful economizer, I would eat her ice-cream and mine.
The last three months were full of scraped knees and mosquito bites, and they were great. Summer is my favorite time of year, and I’m happy we were able to have such a fun-filled one. Life is sweet when the air is balmy and fragrant, when the grass is green and warm, and when the sun stays up until ten in the evening. Saying goodbye to summer is never easy, but happy memories will keep me warm this winter!
