Swimming one day

One day I took Dane and Eve swimming.  It was a slow day at the pool and we were some of the only ones there. 

I wanted some time alone and brought a book to read.  It was delightful.  

 About 15 minutes into swimming Eve started not feeling well.  Dane had found some "older boys" that he was playing with (which he loves doing)

 and so I decided to stay and just try and keep Eve comfortable.  I made her a bed and she slept for a bit, but ultimately about every 15 minutes she wanted something else.  

A few hours later Maddie showed up with her friends.  She does not love being at the pool when we are so she pretends she doesnt see us or know us.  I don't know why?  Who doesn't love having pictures secretly taken of them. (Maddie is in the pink)

 

Brock's Soccer Camp

Brock went to soccer camp with his Thunderridge soccer team at DU.  He had a great time.

 

Family Hike

We made it onto one family hike this summer.  We did Lair O Bear again.  When we don't have very long and we are lucky to get one in, we end up going to what we know.  It was great and we went further than we ever have before.  It was a beautiful summer evening.  On the way down a couple told us to be careful, there was a black bear on the trail - most of us were sad we never saw it, a few of us were VERY relieved.  

Dane fell in pretty early on.  He was cold and wet the rest of the time, but he pushed through.

I LOVE when they are all playing and adventurous like this.  It truly feels my soul with a deep joy and peace to watch all of them doing something "together" but separate, pushing their own boundaries, making mistakes, adjusting, trying, acknowledging they shouldn't or can't  do something.  Jason and I feel very different about these moments.  It brings him anxiety because too much is going on and there are too many unknowns, risks, chaos, and unnecessary consequences.  He is always in a state of feeling responsible for the immediate situation,  which is wonderful. As I have thought about it and acknowledge that I am missing part of the "worry" mother gene I have recognized that I feel responsible for their future adult self that needs to learn all of these inner emotional skills that are usually learned through the use of their physical body and so that is always worth the risks to me.  If we went on 100% of our hikes and outings and no one ever got wet, hurt, or dirty Jason would see that as a success and I would see that as a failure, or at least a missed opportunity.   We are still learning to work together: he and I.  : ) 

Check out Noah!

Noah even got to drive on the way down the canyon!

What is summer without charts???

This was our least "chart-y" summer.  Since we went on our road trip just about 12 hours after school got out and then right when we got back from the the older kids headed out for youth conference, then right when they got home Daniel and Angie's kids came, then all the other church camps.... so basically we didn't have a regular routine or "we are all home" kind of summer until July.

Essentially the first week of July or so I sat down with each kid and asked them what their personal summer schedule looked like, what their goals were and then after each talk I made a chart for each child.  It worked well except for Maddie.  Which is fine, she is the youngest.  Her plans were "I don't know, do what ever, hang out with my friends"  Great - she didnt need a social goal.  But I had to write in a few things for her.  I just wanted to try and teach them to how to hold themselves accountable for their own life trajectory and goals.  Through July we had this weekly, erasable chart, but there weren't any rewards or consequences, just to help them stay on track.  It didn't work great - but i think it at least kept everyone accountable to come things.

But for the last 4 weeks of summer I made one chart for each kid that could be tracked each day.  In theory we were going to have a competition and everyone who had, lets say, 80% of their check marks by the end of the summer were going to get some reward.  But over half of us left the last week of summer and then it was a frenzy for school to start and we all forgot.  But I liked the premise, I might use it for next year.

 

Summer Outings With Dane and Eve

 Our summer was pretty standard this year, with the added bonus of no naps!  It was so great to not have to be home at any time - or even more specifically to not have to feel rushed to get to an outing by 10:30 or 11, so we COULD be home for naps.  Ours mornings were less rushed and we often didn't leave for outings until 12.  This gave me more time to check in on and help the teenagers with their summer plans.

We went swimming a lot.

This was us celebrating the first pool trip of the year!

Played around the house

I babysat Sammie and Linken a couple of times and that was always fun!  And we really enjoyed our new patio~

Whenever we went to the library (which was at least once a week) we usually had Megan tag along with us.

Hudsen Gardens

We got free bowling passes and I hoped to go a million times, but we only used it like 3 times, so that was sad.  But the times we went was fun!

Splash pads

We got caught in the sprinklers a few times.  One day I even ran through them with them.

The Children's museum

I had some really big plans and high hopes for this summer.  We had a great summer and did a lot of fun things and a lot of relaxing things, but there is SO MUCH we DIDN'T DO that we used to do or that I wanted to do.  At the end of the day it is still really hard to balance the big kids and Dane and Eve and also all the house stuff I have to get done.  Keeping the house clean was a huge stressor this summer (more than it has been in the past) and it really took up a lot of time.  I kept reminding myself that Dane and Eve are still so young and the best is yet to come and our days of hiking, bike rides, and splash pads are really ahead of us.