Summer Reflections

I'm struggling this morning with the different ways of looking at summer.  In one way, we're only in the middle, another hot month to go plus another warm growing month.  At least.  Summer stretches on, luxuriously.

On the other side, days with the grands have come to an end.  They will be on vacation next week and school starts the next Tuesday.  It seems as if we haven't done half the summer things we love to do.  Lazy time at the library.  A downtown trip on the shuttle with the long elevator ride to the top of Carew Tower.  Only one zoo trip.  No Behringer Crawford Museum.  No hampster balls since it's been too hot to be inside a greenhouse bubble.  No Duck rides - not sure the Duck is even still running.

Part of it is their growing older, of course.  We have done more swimming, more art projects.  More quiet time because they had baseball/softball practice and games or football practice in the evenings.   A couple of really nice bookstore trips, although it's still hard to coax Aaron to read.  Lots of good lunches, like Twisted Sister yesterday, with no more ordering off the kid menu.  Those kids are hungry, although they are also slimmer.

Times are different.  They dress themselves to go swimming.  They can usually agree on what to do.  They have athletic interests and usually wear sneakers instead of flip flops.  There are more smiles.  I love all the phases, every one.  This has been a very good but short summer.