Summer - Day One

Today was our official first day of summer!  And it was the best start to a summer that I remember having in years!!  Probably because three years ago, Julia was only a few months old, hardly ever napped for longer than 30-45 minutes at a time, and kept me on my toes.  Two years ago Madi came to live with us and that was a definite shift going from 2 to 3 kids and especially figuring out a ten year old, four year old and one year old and the combination of things that each one deals with.  Last year Julia was two, Madi was eleven and Riley was five.  It had been a very difficult year in many ways and one of the hardest teaching years I can remember.  Summer felt like more work and there was no rest for the weary.  And now we are here.  Madi is with her mom so it is Julia and Riley, ages 3 and 6.  No big changes, babies, three children, or high stress.  If today is any indication of how summer will be, I can't wait!!!!

Julia woke up at 6:30am ready to go!  We played with barbies upstairs and played with strollers and spent a lot of time in the playroom until Riley woke up around 8am.  I told the girls that they could each choose one thing they wanted to do on their first day of break and we'd try to do it.  Julia immediately said she wanted to go to the park.  Easy and definitely do-able.  Riley wanted to swim at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Another easy thing to do!  So we got dressed right away and took our breakfast and snacks to the park with us.

Riley rode her bike and Julia wanted me to push her in the stroller.  It was perfect weather in the mid-70's.  The playground equipment was wet except for the swings.  The girls spent quite some time on the swings and we ate our breakfast/snacks at the park under the pavilion.  The girls loved watching the birds and talking about what they saw.  A woman who spoke no English at all came and sat by us.  She tried to communicate in her language but it was very difficult so we did hand motions.  She kept smiling at the girls and kicking her legs.  The girls weren't sure what to make of it so they just ate and smiled at her.

When the girls were ready to leave the park, neither one of them wanted to go straight home so we took a long way home.  This gave us time to walk and gave time for Riley to ride her bike.  They loved it!

As soon as we got home, we were warm so we all put on our bathing suits and got into the car.  Put more sunscreen on them and we went swimming for 45 minutes.  The pool water was quite cold!  Julia stepped onto the tanning ledge and said "Oh cold!  I not go swimming in dere today!"  Riley got in and screamed really loudly because she was so cold.  But we all got used to it and swam for a long while.

At the moment, my parents have an issue with rats in their backyard.  Yuck!!!  Has been a problem in the neighborhood so they are working at killing them.  It does make me paranoid though.

A few years ago, Riley and I were swimming (before Julia was in my belly).  As we went to swim to the farthest end, there was this black animal swimming toward us.  I tried not to freak out and instead pushed Riley very, very quickly to the other end of the pool.  And told her that we needed to get out.  Now!!!  I knew she would get scared if I showed I was scared so I just made my voice determined, but calm.

When we got out, we watched the rat swimming in the water.  I was totally grossed out, but Riley loved it.  She kept telling us "He a good wittle swimmer!"

Thankfully no rats made their appearance today, but I can't help get chills and become grossed out at the thought.  I made a point to stay away from the far end today for fear of seeing or being near one.

After we went swimming, we had some gummies and Riley showed Jules some things that Grandpa got for his birthday.  We left to go home for lunch and the girls ate awesome.

All of us were tired so Riley read a chapter in her book and wrote a short journal entry.  Then I read two books to the girls and we all laid down in Julia's beds.  Riley and I shared the top bed while Julia slept on the bottom bed.  It was cozy and sweet.  Riley sang us songs until we fell asleep and then she climbed in next to me to sleep.  She never takes naps so she must have been very tired!  We slept an hour and a half.

When the girls woke up, they both wanted to go to a store.  They didn't care what store, but they wanted to go somewhere.  Since Riley still had a gift card to Target from her birthday, we decided to go there.  She was hoping to find a baby.  I had a few gift cards to Target from students so we found a few things.  A new rug for the entrance to the garage, a doll for Riley and a Dora doll/Boots treehouse and Boots set.  The girls were ecstatic and kept saying thank you.  We then headed to Walmart for the longest. shopping.  trip. ever.

Julia needed to go potty, everyone else went shopping on Friday assuming that it wouldn't be crowded and instead there were kids everywhere and the lines were very long.  Took forever.  Thankfully the girls were in great spirits and never complained or got angry or had a hard time.  We just took our time and talked and laughed as we went.  Love them!

When we got home, Jeremy soon followed.  Julia had spent much of the day asking repeatedly "Where is Daddy?  Is Daddy coming home?  What time will he be here?  Where Daddy?"  She was confused as to why I was the only one home.

To celebrate a great year in Kindergarten (and a great year in general), all of us went to the restaurant Texas Roadhouse.  We had delicious food and great company.  My parents came with us and it was a really nice night.  Hardest part was finding parking!!

The girls came home, spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa and got ready for bed.  Looking forward to tomorrow - piano student, Riley's gymnastics lesson and more family time!

Comments

Popular Posts