Summer In Sum

Flowers are exploding out of the pots on my porch.  I'm watching a hummingbird poking around them for a little nectar, a blur of movement on each side of it's body as it hovers, wings going hundreds of beats per minute.  Leaves dance under the breeze.  The pine needles are glistening still from the morning dew, and there's a briskness in the air, almost like the first whispers of fall.

Summer will ever last until after Labor Day in my book, but in practicality, this is our last week of summer.  Next week our homeschool break ends.  This summer has not gone according to my grand plans - we've instead settled into more quiet summer fun.  Park days and movie nights. Kiddie pool on the porch and craft projects.  Mountain hikes and sugary drinks. I'm reminding myself that just because the school year is starting doesn't mean we can't continue these little joys of summer until it's officially autumn.  We can still take off a day to go to a lake or museum, which will be quieter now that most kids are in schools all day.  We can sit in the sun while we work on math.  We can still read history with watermelon juice dripping down chins.

I waver between feeling excited for the school year and very nervous.  This is the first year that I'll be doing work with all five kids, and the thought overwhelms me.  I try to remember that I felt that way each time I added a new student to the mix.  This is the last time I'll have to recalibrate.

We've been making good use of our last week.  Yesterday we went mini-golfing with our dear friends who now live a couple states over.  I'm so happy whenever we get to see them, and we talk and laugh like we still see each other every week.  Friends like that are special, something to treasure.  The hardest part is always saying goodbye, until the next time they come here or we go there.  

Later this week the kids have "cousin camp" at grandma's house, which means that Derek and I get a date night which we don't quite now what to do with.  I'm hoping to do something fun on Saturday as a last hoorah for summer break.

The plan for today is a hike up in a state park, perhaps to an old broken-down lumber mill we discovered a couple weeks ago.  Or perhaps we'll try a new trail.  The kids are packing nature notebooks, binoculars, and snacks into their packs.  I try to get them to draw something each time we go out into the mountains, but we are meeting a friend today, so my expectations are low for amazing nature drawings.  Laughter, and silliness, and foot races, and sun-kissed cheeks are on the agenda.

We've been watching movies on the porch this summer.  The kids lay out their sleeping bags, and we all wear long sleeves and pants to protect ourselves against mosquitos as the sun fades. The TV glows in the dusk, hummingbirds whir past our porch, and the kids laugh as we introduce them to childhood classics, like The Princess Bride and Hook.  When my littlest looks cold I call her over to settle on my lap and zip her up inside my over-sized sweatshirt.  She giggles against my chest at the defeat of the pirate captain.

The swimming pools have officially closed, despite my wish that they would stay open until Labor Day.  Before they did, I took the kids to every family swim night I could, and I'm impressed with how much their swimming has improved.  It's rather a magical stage, swimming right now.  I stand in the pool and watch them play, but they mostly entertain themselves with very little help from me.  I can just enjoy the sunshine and the sound of their antics.  We always bring licorice or skittles for a snack on the way home.

I've had a running to-do list for several weeks now.  Every time I crossed one thing off, two more were added, but I've finally chipped away at it this week.  Plan enrichment subjects? Check.  Choose read-alouds for the year?  Mostly check.  Set up sewing station, clean out the kids' toys, schedule doctor appointments, do the grocery shopping?  All check.  The things that are left are mostly the items I wanted to do for fun or things I've been putting off. Work on researching my family tree. Make clay earrings. Clean out the car.  Organize the kids' fall clothes.

We are going on a vacation in September, and those last two things need to be accomplished before then.  I'm just excited to get to go on vacation at all, since every unexpected expense this summer cut into our vacation budget. It'll be a shorter trip, but we have alot of interesting stops planned, and you can bet I'll count every educational experience as a school field trip, because we can.  I don't typically like taking trips in the fall instead of the summer, but out of necessity it has started to grow on me. It also makes it easier to get started on school when I know that we have more fun things coming right around the corner.

My coffee is lukewarm.  It's time for a warm-up so I will close this out.  I wish you all the last bits of summer fun you can muster before pumpkin spice starts to fill the air!