Our Summer So Far. . .Pictures to Follow (Hopefully)

Well, before summer started we had a few visitors; my sister and her family and just before she left, Chicken Pox! Needless to say the last two weeks of school were packed with finishing off work and school duties, visiting with family and then in the last week, Joel got the chicken pox. My poor little kindergardener didn't get to finish his last week of school and missed out on several fun events such as: kindergarden graduation, a Father's day coffee for the dads and a family potluck. Besides missing fun things at school and being a little itchy, the actual illness wasn't too bad, not nearly as terrible as I feared. Once he realized that he would get to start summer early and that he could watch movies and listen to books on tape while he recouperated, he actually seemed to enjoy himself. (In case anyone is wondering, he actually had the shot, but apparently they've learned that for it to really be effective you need a series of two. He only had one, and got a full blown case of the chicken pox, which rather surprised our doctor, by the way).

We saw my sister off and then celebrated a couple of birthdays, Elena and my brother. We also celebrated our 13th anniversary. Then we decided, somewhat on a whim, that it would be a good idea to test out our new tent to make sure all the parts were there. Instead of trying it in our back yard, we decided that we should try it in the mountains. So, we packed up the gear and went for two days to the Giant Sequoias. It really was a great trip.

We've been home for a couple of days now, and it looks like our one of our visitors have returned - Ethan and Elena BOTH seem to have a mild case of the chicken pox. On the bright side, now none of them will have to get the second shot and they'll be immune. Plus, we getting it over with all at once. On the down side, the older two are probably going to miss the first week of swim lessons.

I have to admit that I LOVE the summer. I love the unscheduled days and all the family time. I also love the change of pace and the longer days. I love the unlimited possibilities and yet the low keyness of summer. There's no pressure if we accomplish little beyond the basics, but there is also the possibility of actually crossing off some of those long overdue "to-dos" from our list. Already an eventful summer and so many possibilities to look forward to :)