Summer …

What has happened to the summers of my youth. I remember waking in the morning, not too early, and not having a plan. No one in my neighborhood seemed to have a plan. Sometimes you’d just go outside and see who was playing and you’d join in. We buried feet, made mud pies, ran through sprinklers, pestered ant piles, caught butterflies (until we found out they would die if you touched them), took long walks to the “little store” and bought penny candy for real, a penny.

After starting the summer off traveling much too much! We did have an incredible time, however. We finally have the summer I’ve been dreaming of. A few family reunions down and none left to go to. No, sports, no music … just books! So, now the summer is ours! Yay! We’ve had a week of waking up to decide what to do, maybe … nothing?

Weed the garden, mow the grass, do some patio/garage/porch sweeping. Hang out at the pool for a few hours.

Here’s another thing, only two people have actually called me that didn’t have to for a reason. L and D. Yep, that’s it. I think everyone has such complicated lives and busy summers so full that they have no time to just call and chat for a bit. If they lived closer to me, I’d bet we get together at one house or another for 2 hours to sit in the shade and drink sour limeade or iced green tea. I miss you guys!

As it is, everyone around me are overscheduled, entertain their children like no tomorrow and I’m just wondering why more can’t come over to play with lego’s or “little guys”, or run through the sprinklers, that’s fun too.

We’ve had some bright moments. Nathan and his best friend did just the above, but only once so far. Andrew has had two little buddies come over and not turn on a monitor of some kind, Andrew has also had the wonderful experience of going to the hospital to play with an ill cousin, they play with little army men and I like that so much more than a screen game. They talk, they interact and have real fun. The pool in the afternoon for a few hours is a blessing too. My children have taken the opportunity to walk up to our “little store” and get a few things, stopping by the park to enjoy their spoils. They’ve had a few fun bike rides (seems pretty hot for that now), but it’s nice.

I love long, hot, un-eventful summers, at home.

Sigh… I’m packing for a trip. Really, I’d rather stay home, my children would rather stay home, my husband would rather stay home. Sometimes you must go, on season, (we like to travel off season). We have a wonderful wedding to attend so that will be nice. In the meantime, the garden will grow weeds, the grass will need to be mowed. I hope I don’t forget to stop the milk man! He doesn’t like to find a weeks worth of exploded milk in my container J