Summer is probably my all time favorite time of year. Good thing too, since living in Texas we have summer for more than 3 months. That's how I ended up in Texas in the first place. When it came time to choose a college I looked at a map of the United States, drew a line under the southern boarder of Arkansas that stretched from coast to coast and told my parents "Anywhere under that line will work." I am not a cold weather girl. I'm happiest when the thermometer reads at least 94 degrees and the sun bakes everything outside. The qualifier is "bakes". The humidity junk I don't want any part of. But summers in North Texas are relatively low in humidity and resemble an oven. A very bright oven. It makes me happy.
In a month my kids will get ready to head back to school. I will miss them. I'll miss the creativity my two kids instinctively bring to each day. I'll miss their laughing and splashing in the pool. I'll miss their excitement as every lunch day we have peanut butter and jelly or a quesadilla. I'll miss the excitement of running errands together. I'll miss allowing Gigi the freedom to dress herself. Because that kid has a style - a raw, hilarious, unique style - that I will allow in the summer, but try to reign in during the school year... when we "see" people. I will miss Will's legos and army men strewn about his floor to play with in quiet while Gigi takes an afternoon nap. I'll miss the impromptu bike rides.
I will not miss the bickering out of boredom.
This summer Gigi learned to swim. I gave her a 30 minute swimming lesson and then she was off, jumping headfirst into the deep end, swimming down to touch the bottom of the pool, doing flips, floating on her back, laughing at the sky.
This summer Will discovered reading in a whole new way. He sits and reads, becoming lost in worlds I can't imagine because he refuses to share his books with me. It's the summer he discovered Shakespeare, introduced to it by the RSC's new version of Hamlet. It's the summer he discovered archery and riding a bike off road.
Soon enough we will be searching for school supplies, meeting teachers, discussing the plan for the school year. So far there we've signed up for soccer and dance. Those two activities alone will keep us moving on the weekends. While I'm excited to get back to "work" of the regular school year, I already miss the relaxation of having nothing set to do and nothing requiring us to have a set schedule.