Blogging, like so many other good school-year habits, has taken a back seat to my new top prioritites: napping, reading, talking, lounging, playing, watching, and doing pretty much anything else I'm in the mood to do. I know, I know, so gluttonous. But also so, so glorious.
While I've enjoyed my little break from reality, I'm worried if I let the blog go for too long, I'll forget what we've done this summer. So, I'm pressing pause on my month of wonderful nothing to do a bit of catch up for family history's sake. Sadly, there's not a lot of photographic evidence to support these happenings, but I suppose cameras get forgotten by lazy people like me.
June
After a whirlwind month of parties, fieldtrips, projects, and crazy busy weekends, school let out in mid-June. Benito will really miss his first-grade teachers, Ms. Sample (homeroom) and Mrs. White (reading), two completely different teachers who both really connected to B and made first-grade so enjoyable for him.
As soon as school let out, we hit the hills for three days of camping with some good friends. Talk about the perfect way to start our summer. Great company, delicious food, beautiful scenery, and fun times.
The next week brought daily swim lessons and a whole slew of activities. We, and many of our friends, were so happy to be out of school that all we wanted to do was play together. Parks, swimming pools, Great America, play dates, lunch dates, late nights. You name it, we did it those first few weeks of summer. We packed it in, all in the name of being free and having fun.
In the middle of our fun fest, Stephen's sister, Lisa, and her family came to town for a visit. The kids couldn't have been happier hanging with their cousins and even got to experience their first sleepover with them one night. We did our traditional bocce ball and picnic at Cuesta Park, hit Santa Cruz to visit Uncle Troy at his comic book shop, picnic and play on the beach and in the waves at Natural Bridges (my first time-- loved it), and eat the yummiest ice cream ever at red-roofed Marianne's on Ocean Street. Grandpa treated all of us to "Cars 2" at the movie theater, and every night ended with yummy food and lots of board games. Lisa and Grandma kindly watched all the kids one afternoon so that Stephen and I could slip out to Dish Dash for a little anniversary lunch (we more officially celebrated numero ocho this weekend at the Claremont in Berkeley), and the next day brought a big group weeding party in Grandma's front yard.
July
The next week brought the 4th, and we had a BBQ and day at the park with a big group of friends. The Ogdens offered their gloriously air-conditioned house for the BBQ part of festivities, which included one delectable spread of food, until we headed over to Ortega Park for some fun in the sun. The kids ran in the water, the men and older boys played baseball and bocce, and we ladies took it easy in the shade in our camp chairs, doing what we do best--chatting it up. We didn't have the energy for fireworks that night, so we rounded off the holiday (and beat the heat) with some slurpees and Settlers and equally-tired Roylances.
The kids got so used to the break-neck pace of early summer that when things started to calm down a bit in mid-July, they went through some withdrawals. They expected one fun thing after another, like it had been that first month, but I was ready to slow down and relax. Other than daily swim lessons, errands, and a handful of weekly play dates, we took it easy. And let me tell you, life on Easy Street is pretty darn awesome. The kids play outside for hours a day, on and off their bikes; Bennett's reading his library books every day, now that we're more often home for naps and "quiet time;" Eli and Bennett are quickly moving their way up the levels of Lego Stars Wars; Millie has plenty of time to prance around in her princess shoes with a "pursie" on her shoulder; and Stephen's finally getting some home-cooked meals again, since I'm back together with the kitchen. We broke up for a few months there.
Anyway, that's our summer in a boring, picture-free, rather wordy nutshell. Now back to being lazy. . .
