Stay at Home Kids

One of the pleasures my kids have longed for and voiced frequently is the opportunity to just stay home some days.  I don't blame them. I remember spending most summer days wiling away my childhood exploring in the woods and picking berries, kicking a soccer ball in the field, and watching cartoons on the couch. The year we got the Sega Genesis, I think it consumed most of my summer. Sometimes it seems that today there is so much available solely to waste time, but the truth is, there was then, too. And when you're a child, your lifetime seems to stretch endlessly before you so wasting a little time... or an entire summer doesn't seem so bad (until you're grown and looking back on it.)

Though I do have something planned for every day this week, so as to create "summer" before school starts, I'm also intent on letting them be home. The reality is, "summer" is rightfully a lot of staying at home.  Nolan likes to jump on the trampoline and practice soccer. Gerret likes to camp out by the side of the sandbox and spend hours creating different scenes. They both like Legos, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, and Stampy Longhead. Auburn likes everything and anything, as long as she can make a gigantic mess with it.  She also enjoys all the time she can get on a screen. I've been spending the time at home getting things ready for Sam. He's coming soon. 

Last Week of Summer

For my kids, this summer was kind of a bummer. My dad is very ill and I've been helping out at my parents' house numerous times a week. During the school year I was there nearly every weekday and some on the weekends, but I tried to cut down when school ended. Still, a large chunk of their summer was spent at their grandparents being ignored by their mother and lulled by the tv. That's not to say that I didn't try to make up for it with frequent trips to the lake and ice cream treats from Trimmer's, but despite my best efforts, this summer has honestly been disappointing for my kids.  

This week, however, my parents are taking a trip, so I am not needed to make food or give care to my dad. I am going to try to make summer this week (even though summer seems to be ebbing). 

Friday, our family went to Seabreeze, a small amusement park on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was our gift to Nolan for his birthday and the only person who liked the gift more than him was, surprisingly, Auburn. She is turning out to be quite the dare-devil. Undaunted by any height or speed, she wanted to go on every ride, even the ones she won't be allowed on for another three or four years. She went on rides that nobody else was interested in and proclaimed her enthusiasm after rides that everyone else seemed not to enjoy.  She was fearless, riding alone in spinning carts and feet-dangling seats falling from five stories up. Gerret loved the wave pool, bumper cars, and a fast paced sleigh sort of ride; he was reticent about the rest of the park. We stayed until the lights on the rides started to be extinguished and the concessions ran out of cotton candy at 10, knowing we'd be leaving for our next adventure early the next morning and home was still two hours away. 

At 7 the next morning, we pulled out of our driveway and pointed out noses south. We were heading to Philly. Specifically, we were going to the newly constructed Mormon Temple right off of Market Street in downtown Philadelphia. It is open to the public for a month before they dedicate it for the use of qualifying Mormons. Our kids have never seen the inside of a temple, so we thought the 4 hour trip was worthwhile. And it was. My favorite part of the temple was the inconspicuous painting of little black bears into the mural on the walls of the endowment room. I was also struck by the number of ornate chandeliers. So many. We finished our trip with some Philadelphia Water Ice from a street vendor and a four hour trip back.