Hot times in the Summer

Since we've been home, we've spent our summer days being totally lazy. We spend hours each morning in our pajamas until we feel like turning on the sprinkler or finding a pool to lounge around in. Other days we run errands around town getting lunch, picking up odds and ends, going to the farmer's market or the new grocery stores, and visiting friends and family. We've all managed to get in a visit to the dentist, the regular doctor, and everyone will be getting haircuts next week (except for Nealy - I will never cut those curly locks). Overall it has been a wonderful summer spent at home.

Originally, we were planning to be gone from Auburn until the very last moment of the summer. While this was a fabulous plan, it didn't work out as we thought. However, when we were going to be gone, we were looking forward to not working on the house or having responsibilities in Auburn for the summer months, because in years past we have taken on one home improvement project after another, I have taught summer school or been on maternity leave, and Jacks has gone to school in order to maintain his schedule. So, when we returned home early, we threw caution to the wind and decided to shed those traditional plans for our summer months. While the summer time is a perfect opportunity to be productive, we are not doing that this summer.

Everyone needs a break sometimes.

See the pictures below of some examples of our riveting summer days.

Enjoying some pool time.....

Being lazy at home.....

Jacks and Nealy had a good visit at Pinetucket a few weeks ago, and we need to go back soon.

Notice how Jacks took a liking to the old Wurlitzer. I wonder what his favorite songs will be on that juke box when he gets older (me? Rebel Rouser).

So, we've got one week of summer left. What will we get into over the next week? Absolutely nothing.

Date night

Since Joe and I have been blessed with the gift of babies, we have had to make an effort to take a date night with each other here and there. We aren't as good as those folks who make a vow to take a date night once a month, and we certainly aren't as good as those couples who take overnights away from their kids periodically, but we still manage from time to time. Although it is nice and lovely to spend an evening having a meal with your husband that neither of you have to prepare or clean up, you still have to pay for it and figure out what to do with the rest of your evening until the kids are put to bed by someone else. So, I'm developing a working list of date night tips for tired parents out there:

1. Get a good baby sitter - nothing is worse that coming home to kids who are not put to bed. If you come home from a date and have to get your kids to sleep, what's the point in even paying the sitter? Make sure that you get a sitter who will get those kids in bed at a reasonable hour. And by reasonable, I mean before you get home no matter what time that is.

2. Don't pick a fancy restaurant every time - Joe and I make the mistake of always wanting to go out for a super fancy meal. And if we do that, we are stuck with a giant dinner bill we have to pay for, and we still haven't even paid the sitter. We have found that sushi restaurants are generally very date friendly and easier on the wallet than those standard date places. However, I think we really need to reevaluate our date experiences and look at more "regular" restaurants as acceptable date night places. Every date night is not prom night. (even though when I was in high school, we always went to The Melting Pot before proms and dances - what I wouldn't give for a Melting Pot around here! Me likey the fondue.)

3. Pick dinner OR a movie - We have made the mistake of attempting to do both. This is stupid for several reasons. First of all, we're aging and tired. After we go out for a big meal, we're tired and lazy. To attempt to sit in a movie theater for 2+ hours after a large meal is taxing on both of us. Usually we want to go home and lay around after having a large meal.
Also, movies are a tricky business for date night. The theater is a HUGE hangout for teenagers on weekends, and since Joe and I are both teachers, bumping into our work constituents is not the most romantic venue.
And if I go to the movies without my own kids, I honestly don't want to deal with other people's kids. Kids in movies are deplorable. They talk, they shout, they talk on the phone, they text constantly, they get into trouble, etc... I'm not judging them for it; I'm sure I did it, too. But I don't want to pay $10 to see a movie and deal with that mess.

So, here are my tips for movie night
- if you go to the movies, eat at home then go to a late movie. Kids are less likely to be out that late.
- With the exception of Harry Potter movies (which must be seen immediately), go see a rated R movie. Again, kids can't get into rated R movies all that often.
- Take snacks in a big purse. I know this is a cheapo trick that we all know, but $5 for a small drink? That's crazy. Joe and I have actually taken large slices of pizza and cans of coke into movies before. No one really cares or notices.

If you opt to go to dinner, then go late and rent something on the way home.

4. Go wander around a stupid store - if you're going to get a baby sitter, you might as well take your time doing something you never have time to do with kids. For instance, my trips to CVS usually involve wrestling the kids down the aisle to the pharmacy and away from the toys, candy, and ice cream, get the job done, and get outta there. I never get the chance to slowly look at all the facial care products, the seasonal items, or notice what strange and bizarre fragrances they choose to keep behind glass. Other good places to wander around - Target, Publix, and Wal Mart. Everywhere else closes at 9 in Auburn, so we're screwed for good, leisurely shopping late night.

5. Do not assume you'll make it for drinks, dinner, dessert, and beyond - Once we make it through a restaurant dinner paired with a few drinks, we're done. We once went on a date complete with appetizers, wine, salads, and full entrees. And we were living under some kind of delusion that we would go somewhere after that for dessert and more drinks. I don't know who we were kidding, because we had to take some trips around the block to walk off all that dinner before we could even get in the car, and even then we had to head straight home and lay around moaning in gastrointestinal pain for a good hour while our baby sitter wondered why we were home so early. When you have kids, you don't realize how rarely you actually get to enjoy an entire meal that isn't a hamburger or a sandwich (both easily carried around as you're tending to other people).

6. No pressure, enjoy each other, and don't be afraid to come home early and go to sleep. Sleep is a luxury in these days of young child rearing. Take it when you can.

Maybe I can follow these rules for my next date night with Joe.

I'm still working on a post from the 4th of July, which we spent on Lake Harding with our dear friends the Cannons. This year's post will probably look a lot like last year's post, but it was so much fun I can't avoid sharing.

Splash Park

Ok, Opelika. I've got to hand it to you. The new Sports Plex is freaking amazing. I am seriously torn on getting a membership there even though it is a good 30 minute drive from my house.

I know, for those of you who live in real cities know that a 30 minute drive somewhere isn't all that far, but around here we pretty much enjoy being 5-10 minutes away from everywhere. Joe and I are even worse about taking our short commutes for granted because we live so close to downtown Auburn. Everywhere is about 5 minutes away. When we have to drive to the outskirts of town, or God forbid, ALL the way to Opelika, we start whining and considering packing a sack lunch for the long journey.

But all of a sudden, this mecca in the middle of nowhere is calling to me. Join the gym with the low rates and the super awesome facilities. Come on, you know you want to. I totally want to. I mean, check out this splash park....


Are you kidding me? This place is perfect! And just inside there's a HUGE pool with one of those beach entry shallow ends. I mean, the kids can lay in the shallow end and still be safe. I love it.

So, we enjoyed a wonderful summer morning with the Williams kids at the splash park last week, and we are all totally hooked.

I want to go to there.

Enjoy some pics of the fun in the sun.

HOME!

Well, faithful readers, I write today with a heavy heart. I had the greatest of intentions for my summer of fun at camp, but so little of our actual expectations come to fruition. In fact, those things that we have the highest hopes for generally cause us the greatest heartache in the end. Such is true of my summer camp experience.

I hoped to be able to work, be a mama, blog, visit friends on the coast, sight see, and enjoy time with my husband and kids. Well, the reality of this summer was that I worked my behind off, managed a few coastal outings with my family, and spent a great deal of time hoping that Joe and the kids would become better adjusted any day now. It was very tough for them. I was working 16 hour days, around very little, and Joe was keeping the kids all day everyday in a new, unfamiliar place, and no one ever really found their footing down there. It was this week that we realized that maybe we had not made the best choice moving everyone down there for such a long period of time. Jacks was starting to act out because of my long absences, and he never really felt comfortable around the staff; there wasn't anyone his own age to play with and he was generally intimidated by the older kids. Nealy is notorious for not really liking anyone at all; she is extremely particular. And such was the case down there. She clung to me and Joe at all times, and she really didn't like anyone else to give her any attention. When an amazingly cute baby comes into a situation with lots of people, that baby tends to get swarmed and ogled. Nealy is not one who appreciates such attention.

As for me, I was having the time of my life being back at camp, but the difficulties that my family were having could not be overlooked. It was causing us all a lot of stress and unrest. So, rather than stick it out for the summer and continue to hope for the best, I pulled the plug. We did it for a month, and a month away from home is a wonderful adventure! So, while there is still a summer to be enjoyed, we packed it up and headed home.

And since we have been home for all of one hour, my children have already been the happiest I've seen them in weeks. Jacks really is a homebody mama's boy, and this is where he needs to be - at home with his mama.

As for the rest of the summer, we have big plans: go to the pool, maybe manage some tumbling classes, work on the garage (no big renovation projects this year, just organization and purging!), visit with friends, go see Toy Story 3 about 15 times, and just rest and relax before we have to get back to the grind of the school year. This has been a bittersweet choice, but I know that it's the right one for my family.

I cannot post about this current situation without mentioning my summer staff. In the past 4 weeks, I have come to love and adore a group of about 30 high school and college kids more than I ever imagined. Leaving that group of kids was the most difficult part of this decision. What an amazing and perfect group of kids.

So, we're back home, everyone! Give us a call. We're available!

CAMP!

We've arrived at camp, and we've been crazy busy with staff training for nearly a week now. I don't have much time to blog right now, and my Wi-fi spots are limited, but I'll leave you with some pictures of our amazing cabin and the kids.

I will say that our summer staffers are incredible. Also, Joe has been the greatest stay-at-camp daddy while I've been tied up all day and night with my staff. It's been a major adjustment, and we're still not totally in our groove, but we're getting there. I'm sure we will not want to leave this perfect place when our summer tenure is up. Stay tuned for more.....

Nealy's ears

Little one has had several ear infections, and she's having some trouble shaking them. So she had ear tubes put in on Friday morning to attempt to solve the problem. It was a quick and easy procedure, but I was still worried about my wee bebe having to be put under anesthesia even for a few short minutes. She was pretty upset when it was all over, but she really pulled through like a champ. She was crying when we came back to get her, but she settled down immediately when I gave her one of the doughnut holes that I had stashed in my diaper bag.

The picture above is not from the morning of, but it demonstrates her deep abiding love of doughnut holes.

Not long after we got home, she took a nap and woke up happy and ready to play. We hope this will help her with her ear infections so she won't have anymore difficult nights, at least due to ear problems.

Good weekend

I might be having some rough weeks, but the weekends are always welcome and delightful. We headed to Fairhope for the weekend to visit our summer time home, but just before we hit the road, sister and John blew through for an overnight visit. Which is always nice.
Then, we hit the road for South Alabama on Friday afternoon. It was a long and winding road to the farthest corner of Baldwin county, but we were greeted at our dearest friends Curt and Sellers' house with hugs and wine! After collapsing too late Friday night, we all enjoyed a leisurely breakfast which was cut short because we were running so late. We threw ourselves together and headed to Beckwith to meet some of our sweet summer staffers for a work day.

I got to visit every building on the property, including my favorite, Wilson Hall.
It might not look like much in this picture, but it smells exactly the same after all these years and it brings back years of great memories. For many of us old school Beckwithians, Wilson Hall was where it all started - where we first signed in on our very first day of camp, where we were first bestowed with our tree trunk name tags and Beckwith tee shirts, where we caught the first glimpses of our counselors, where we got the first taste of what was to come. It's no wonder that Wilson is my favorite.

Nealy spent a little time acting sassy and walking around.
Jacks got to watch a fisherman at work.
He's not so sure about those fish in that bucket....And both kids got to spend a lot of time with Grayton, their newest summer time playmate.
Then we spent mother's day at the Fairhope Yacht Club with loads of friends, new and old.
It was a taste of summer days to come which can't come soon enough. Let the next few weeks fly by so we can get back down south.