Blissful Summer

I probably haven't been as excited about a summer since the one after I took the kids out of public school in 2013. I know there are some parents who begin a countdown to the first day of school the moment the previous school year gets out, but that has never been me. I love when my kids are all home. I miss my kids when they are away from home. I miss the connections that are forged from being together day in and day out. I miss sharing every day experiences together.  I miss watching them make connections with one another as is wont to happen when you are with your siblings day after day. I miss...them.

The older my kids get the busier the seasons get and the faster they fly by. I expect this summer to be no different. Sarah is taking an online summer school class because she is working towards getting an honors diploma from the public school and would like to be able to have a study hall both semesters which requires summer school. She is also still volunteering at the horse therapy program on Fridays. Joshua will begin soccer in the next two weeks for high school. He also has some club practices and work. Andy will be working this summer and gearing up to begin classes this fall at the community college. My Elizabeth is the lone ranger with not much to do which is okay as she is only 12. Except for helping Sarah out on Friday mornings I don't have signed up for scheduled for anything.  I am not a huge follower of over-scheduling my kiddos. I want them to be kids for as long as they can. Part of that for me is carefree summers not filled with camps and activities, but filled with lazy days of pool time and park time.

With the four kids activities combined I feel that this summer will fly by, but I also am going to really savor each day that I can because just having the four of them here together on a regular basis is a big change from the school year. It is nice to have Josh home because during the school year he has school. After school Monday - Thursday he has soccer practice; Friday - Saturday he works and has soccer games which just leaves Sunday for us to really see him. I know that he enjoys this busy schedule, but I sure do miss him. I know the girls do too.

We have some trips planned this summer. In June, we will be heading up to Lake Erie in Ohio to camp for the weekend. In July, as of right now, we are heading to New York to spend 4th of July with my extended family. Before you know it, August 5th will be here and then Josh and Sarah will be heading off to high school for their senior and freshman year respectively. Andy will start classes in the middle of August. Elizabeth and I are either going to start her schooling when the kids do in August, or I might wait until after Labor Day to begin her school year. I haven't decided yet.

In the meantime, our development has a couple of community pools that I plan on taking the kids to almost daily. Elizabeth is like a fish and is ready to go to the pool the moment she wakes up and could swim until the pool closes at 8:30 pm each night. I also am going to try to schedule a field trip to a new location once a week this summer. There are quite a few things to do within a couple of hours drive around here. I think it would be great to explore as many of those things together as we can. Whatever doesn't get explored now Elizabeth and I will most likely explore together next school year.

Whatever happens this summer I know that one thing is for certain - I am so glad to have my people together. My kiddos are just amazing, awesome, fun people that I really enjoy being around. I am so glad I get to spend my summer with them.