Abbreviated Fun Week

With Scott busy enduring the beginning of the school year preparations at work, I decided to take the boys to my Mom's to enjoy our last few days of summer vacation. I felt badly leaving Scott home alone until he politely reminded me that he would enjoy the solitude when he came home from the mind-numbing meetings.  Robby, and Timmy by default, were thrilled with the prospect of spending a few more days playing with his cousins. Robby misses them during the school year and, despite our best efforts, he probably won't see them much until Thanksgiving break. Navigating divorce and custody issues is never easy. I have learned to take the time I get to see my niece and nephews as a gift because it doesn't happen nearly often enough!

Last night we kicked off our abbreviated week of fun with a rousing game of Bean Boozled. (For some reason playing a masochistic form of candy Russian Roulette is fun for tweens.) Personally I don't see the lure of popping mystery candy to determine if it is chocolate or dog food flavored, but the kids loved the game. The evening was filled with squeals of laughter, gagging and endless chatter. I love watching them all playing together, and I'm going to miss these times when school resumes.

Today we are headed to Hershey Park ( an amusement park) for the afternoon. I'll assume Timmy duty on the tot rides while the big kids go out on their own (with stipulations of course). The cousin pack will certainly have a blast tackling the roller coasters and flume rides. They love being independent and exploring on their own, but I will always worry when I see them walking away from me. Thank goodness for cell phones because I expect to be bombarded with selfies and texts throughout the day.

I'm sure that Timmy will be delighted with the trucks and train rides, although I have no doubt he would prefer to join the big kids on the fast rides.  He is definitely my little thrill seeker. Considering my dislike for spinning, dipping and going fast, I am going to have enough trouble keeping up with him in the kiddie park.

Wish me luck wrangling everybody!

Fair Night

Last night we enjoyed our annual County Fair adventure.The weather was nice and we decided to take advantage of the opportunity to spend some time outside. This August has offered dismal weather and while it wasn't particularly warm, last night was probably the best of the week.

Robby was thrilled to be allowed to invite a friend to enjoy the fun. While Robby saw the offer as nothing more than Momom and Dad being nice, Scott and I did have an ulterior motivation. With Robby busy with a friend, Scott would be freed up to enjoy some rides with Timmy.

Our best intentions were for naught. Robby and his friend chose to spend the entire night riding with Scott and Timmy. When Timmy was too little to enjoy a ride we split up, with Scott staying on the bigger amusement while I tried to squeeze my bum onto a kiddie ride. (If nothing else, nearly getting wedged into a caterpillar cart certainly solidified my commitment to my weight loss journey!)

Even though our plan backfired, everybody had a great time at the Fair.  Having such an age spread is difficult at times, but we managed to make it work.  Onto the next adventure...

Masterpiece

This was a sad weekend for everybody in our country, but the violence felt closer to home because it occurred in Virginia. I know that racism and bigotry have always been present, but it seems that those previously hushed beliefs are now emboldened. In an all too familiar scene, I watched the events unfold on television on Saturday and my heart broke. Again I was at a loss when it came to explaining the situation to Robby. 

As the afternoon wore on I found myself feeling increasingly distressed about Charlottesville. It was quite fortuitous that Robby and I had special activity planned because it forced me to unplug and escape. I left Timmy with Scott while Robby and I went to a painting studio. He has been wanting to paint on canvas for awhile so when I saw the "Turtle Migration" painting on their instruction calendar, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to knock something else off our summer bucket list. 

Robby loved every moment of the painting experience. He was excited to be at the studio and was attentive to the instructor and charming with the other artists. He was focused and locked into his project from the first stroke to the last. I had a good time painting, but I found more enjoyment from watching Robby at work. His enthusiasm is contagious!

We came home from the studio and he was smiling from ear to ear as he was showing his Daddy his masterpiece. After carefully surveying our walls, he chose to hang both turtle paintings above the fireplace in our bedroom. Saturday night I found him on the computer perusing the painting calendar for the next few weeks. Something tells me that our walls are going to be filled with Koopa masterpieces in the next few months.

Early Morning Progress

I woke up early yesterday morning, courtesy of Timmy, and settled in for a long morning. He had been on a nice schedule of waking up at 6, but the past few days he has returned to being my little early bird. While I find waking up at 4:30 painful, he seems to relish the quiet time in the morning. We curl up on the couch and he happily watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Paw Patrol until I have consumed enough coffee to function. 

Yesterday he seemed especially content to cuddle up on the couch, allowing me a welcome opportunity to work on my computer. While he giggled at Mickey Mouse, I was shuffling papers and working on my project. By the time everybody else started to roll out of bed, I had logged nearly five hours and my overwhelming project was nearly complete.

I felt a huge sense of relief knowing that I am almost done so I logged off and spent the afternoon playing with Timmy. We went to his favorite playground where he spent hours running around, jumping and playing. I love watching him having so much fun and being happy! With the pressure of my deadline lessening, I was able to enjoy the moment without worrying about what I should be doing.  I guess I should thank my little alarm clock for his nudge to get me working so early.

This weekend I am going to finalize my project before submitting it on Monday, but the stress I was feeling has lifted. I now feel that it is manageable and that I will meet my deadline without an issue. Once everything is done (hopefully by tonight) I am going to log off the computer for the remainder of the weekend.  This is our last official weekend of the Summer of Awesome 2017, and I plan to make the most of it. Adventures galore await!

Winding Down

I have been fully engrossed in a project for work, leaving little time for fun over the past few days. Thank goodness Scott is home to take the reigns with Hamlet. While I've had my nose stuck in my computer Scott has been chasing Timmy around the house, visiting parks and trying to keep the chaos and destruction to a minimum.  I've made a lot of headway with the project, to the point where I feel like I can relax a little, so hopefully our Summer of Awesome can resume over the weekend. 

It is hard to fathom that this is Scott's last full week of summer vacation. It saddens me to know that our summer vacation is coming to a close. Next week he has to work three days, and then returns to the normal Monday through Friday schedule. The days have passed so quickly!

Last school year was a horrible experience for Scott. I witnessed him becoming frustrated, despondent and exhausted as he tried to follow the directives of a handful of new and overzealous administrators. The fact that 70% of his department resigned at the close of the last school year is an indication that he was not the only teacher experiencing issues! Fear tactics eventually wear employees down until they finally decide to seek greener pastures.

We received news a few weeks ago that the administrators have been transferred. I'm optimistic that the school culture will return to one conducive for learning and teaching. After seeing how last year broke him down I am hoping that this school year will be better. 

Not Ready Yet

During the past few weeks Robby's taekwondo classes have taken the back seat to our summer adventures. When we have been home he has attended class, but his participation has been sporadic at best. Sticking to a class schedule during the Summer of Awesome just felt counter intuitive to our relaxed c'est la vie mentality. When I received the email announcing a belt test this week, I worried that we might run into an issue. With all of the missed classes, I doubted that Robby would be adequately prepared for his exam.

Yesterday, on the way to class, I told Robby about the belt testing email. Without prompting, he agreed that he wasn't ready to test and asked if he could skip testing. I was thrilled that I didn't need to prod him into realizing that he wasn't ready. I worried that he might want to test just because everybody else was going to participate.

I wasn't sure of the protocol around skipping a belt best so I encouraged him to speak with his instructors before making a final decision. After class Robby approached his instructor (I could tell that he was nervous) and politely explained that he wasn't ready to test. At first the instructor tried to encourage him to take the test anyway, but Robby explained that he doesn't know his form and that his testing performance would not reflect his best efforts. (I had to smile because my budding debater used the school philosophy to support his position.)

After laying out his case, the instructor agreed that Robby should wait to test. I'm proud of him for coming to the realization on his own and for taking the initiative to explain his rationale to the instructor. He could have taken the test and flubbed his way through it, but the belt would have been awarded based upon time instead of skill and merit. Robby wasn't looking for the easy way and advocated for himself beautifully.

Catch Up

I have a few projects looming, so much of yesterday was spent on the computer. Thankfully Timmy seemed content for a day of quiet, although Scott did take him to a bounce house in the afternoon. We have come to accept that Timmy becomes destructive if he does not expend enough energy throughout the day. The bounce house trip was our attempt at helping him run down his batteries in the hopes of having a peaceful evening.  (Penned up energy often equates to mischief and destruction in the early evening.) 

I'm pleased to report that our plan worked and that our little Hamlet was delightful and happy until bedtime. Mr. Bill, who we haven't seen much this summer, came over to visit in the evening. Timmy enjoyed entertaining him while Robby regaled him with stories about the turtles hatching and his Florida adventure. It wasn't until we saw him did I realize how much we have missed him!  We have been busy traveling, and he tends to hibernate during the heat of the day so our paths just haven't crossed much.

I'm going to make a point to visit him more frequently because I got the sense that he has been lonely. I hate the thought of him mulling around his house all day without other human interaction. I need to remember to be a better friend and neighbor especially when I become busy.

After working through the morning and early afternoon, my mind was fried. I logged back onto my computer after Timmy went to bed but I struggled to focus. I'm hoping to be more productive today because I didn't finish as much as I would have liked yesterday.