Low Key Summer Days

This summer Lane’s work schedule has been overly demanding.  Well actually his schedule has been demanding the WHOLE year.  He works at a nuclear power plant in a little town just north of us.  And the plant was on an outage for a month right in the middle of summer which meant Lane worked every day of the week with one day off.  This outage was unplanned for the company AND for our family.  We had actually been hoarding Lane’s vacation because we knew the time for the floor DIY was heading our way. Unfortunately, the outage came at THE SAME TIME that we were ready to start our floor DIY so it has thrown a BIG hold up on house progress.  Which equals no time for those beaches we dream of playing on with our littles.

The first week of summer vacation, Lane and I were both racked with guilt as all our friends were packing for the Alabama and Florida beaches.  We wanted to make sure our kids had a great summer too.  But as our summer days have unfolded, I can look back and see that while our summer has been low key, the kiddos have been making fun memories.

The second full week of summer, Aubrey Lane went to dance camp which she absolutely loves.  They dance, swim, eat, craft, dance, eat, and watch movies...  HELLO?!  Where is the dance camp for adults??  Seriously, though, she came home everyday exhausted but excited to show me her new hip hop moves and tell me about swimming in her dance teacher’s Mickey Mouse shaped pool.  And AL is far from a morning person.  We have never complained of kiddos getting up at 7am every morning; our's sleep late everyday and getting them up before 8am is a chore in itself, but that was not the case that week.  All I had to do was remind AL about dance camp and she was out of bed in seconds.  It was a good, good week.

Since then we have just being laid back. We mosey over to the new splash pad at the park a couple times a week in the mornings before the smoldering Louisiana heat gets to be unbearable.  And this year, the splash pad along with EVERYTHING else we do as a family has been so different this year now that Jude is walking.  I didn’t have to carry him- he can walk! 

Didn’t I mention that the pictures are cuter two now that Jude can stand next to Aubrey Lane.  She won’t get much closer because Jude likes to pull her hair, and she knows it.  Oh yeah, and I get asked if they are twins ALL THE TIME now!  You should see the look on faces when i say they are four years apart.

Some days when my father in law was off, he and I were able to work on the floors some.  During most of the other afternoons, it’s really too hot to do anything outside so we have been going by the library.  Besides watching baseball, being read to is Jude’s favorite activity.  And with Aubrey Lane learning to read, I decided to go ahead and let them get their first library cards.  They were sooooo excited!

With longer days, we have been mostly working in the new house in the evenings.  When Lane gets home, we bring the kids to his mom, and then we work on the floors until dark.  We clean up, head to Lane’s parent’s house where his mom usually feeds us and has bathed kids waiting on us.  So thankful for all my in-laws’ help. 

A couple evenings, we let the floors wait and have taken the kids to do fun stuff out in the world or around the house.  We’ve played a couple of rounds of miniature golf or “Hutt Putt” as Aubrey Lane calls it.  And thankful our sweet friends who live near by extend an open invite to use their pool.  AL is a fish and swims everywhere, and even Jude has gained confidence in the water and kicks around in his puddle jumper.  So the pool is also a little therapy for him.  It’s great for giving so much sensory input he seeks, and really works on his balance and core strength.  All pretty important for him.

Last week we all participated in our church's vacation bible school.  Once again, with Jude walking this year, it seemed like a new experience.  Everthing we do seems like a new experience.  Until this year, Jude completely depended on the use of a medical stroller or us carrying him anywhere and everywhere he went.  Now that he is walking everywhere, he is not nearly as dependent, and our arms are free.  It feels so liberating to watch him explore instead of carry him everywhere.  In fact, Jude feels soooo independent that he will often swat away hands that are offered for him to hold... little stinker.

But that’s it... Really that’s all it can be.  It’s far too hot for the zoo or playground here.  We hope to get over to the beach before the new school year starts which is in TWO WEEKS!! Can anyone else believe that?  

Hope your summer has been great.