Saturday, September 8, 2012

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Okay, I know it's a little late because summer ended three weeks ago, but better late than never.
Here is how I spent my summer (which hasn't been a vacation in 6 years):

1. Spent 3 months going to the chiropractor three times a week. (Most of these visits were WITH the kids. Poor things. They were so good and patient though through all those appointments. And yes, it helped significantly).
2. Took a road trip to Texas. If you missed that post, it's here.
3. Not working out (started off because of back pain, then I was out of the habit, and I haven't been able to get motivated since!!!)
4. Planted a vegetable garden. You can read all about it here. It has been a sad failure except for the 1 zucchini we've gotten out of it.
5. Having playdates. We got together with several friends so our kids could play together. I love playdates as much as my kids.
6. Reading Magic Treehouse books. (I love these! They are chapter books that tell a story but teach kids history and nature facts at the same time. And both Ethan and Benji enjoy them. It's a win-win. There are somewhere around 50 books, and we got through a good 25 during the summer).
7. Took a road trip to Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Good times.
8. Went swimming. (Sadly, the very first of the kids' swim lessons, Benji got out too far, swallowed water, and then was traumatized till near the end of the summer. So no swimming was learned for Benji. We spent most of the summer trying to get him not afraid of the water anymore. Ethan got even better than he was before. He's a little fish now. We hit up the public pool twice and friends' pools several times).
9. VBS-hopped. (Hey, don't judge!) The first one was at our church, where the theme was "The Mass Comes Alive." The second one was the very next week at the church where I teach children's day out. The theme was "Daniel's Courage in Captivity." The kids attended, and I worked in the baby room. Needless to say, by the end of the week, we were all Vacation Bible School-ed out!
10. Got older. I tried to turn 29 again this year, but it didn't work. I'm now .... 32.

And so, three weeks ago, half-excited and half-sad, I sent my boys off to school.

Ethan was excited about going to school; he was just annoyed that I wanted to take a picture of him:

Benji was definitely excited: 

And then I got to spend some quality time with this little pumpkin: