Summer Vacation

For a perpetual control freak, summer does not conjure up feelings of joy for me. I am typically relieved that the spring semester is over, but summer means transition and plans heavily tied to a weather forecast.

I have this wonderful vision of carefree kids enjoying the perks of summer. To Jared, that means swimming and ice cream every day. To Jacob, it means nonstop time on the DS.

Is there a guidebook out there for moms to create carefree summer experiences for kids? Is it OK if I let Jacob play the DS for 10 hours a day (my instincts scream a huge NO! here, so he's probably out of luck).

Do I simply agree to cool the yard and quit bugging them to shut the front door? How many times should we go to the pool? When should we do errands? How do you arrange quality play dates when most of their friends are in day camps because their parents work? How much unstructured time is good? There is a difference between unstructured and unscheduled. And then, they bug me to death to play the Wii, DS or be on the computer.


I remember some adventures from my summers. There are things we did at grandma's house that I would probably faint even imaging one of my boys doing. How do you find the balance between protecting them and letting them grow up and have some non-mother-approved fun?

And, who is the nut who says summer is fun and relaxing? Hmph!

Mom says

When I was a kid, I remember telling my own mother numerous times that she would be so much happier if she would just lower her standards for what a clean house entailed. My oldest son has developed a bad habit of tossing his trash behind the TV at our house. We have gone over this a few times, as you can imagine.

Today was another incident. Our conversation brought back memories.

Me: "Why on earth are you still throwing trash behind the TV?"
Jacob: "Why do you keep looking back there?"
Me: Stunned silence.
Jacob: "If you did not look back there every day, you would not be so mad at me!"

Family Trip

Well, we saw our first nephew graduate from high school on Friday night in Arkansas. It was a bit chilly because I packed when it was 80, not paying much attention to the cold temps this weekend.

We traveled just over 1,000 miles this weekend. We left Thursday around 4 p.m. (ask Gene why it wasn't closer to 3:30 p.m.) We returned today around 4 p.m. We stayed at a Comfort Inn in Fayetteville, Ark.; a Super 8 in Jacksonville, Ark.; a Drury Inn in Springfield, Mo. We decided to make a mini-vacation out of the trip, so we drove back toward Branson on Saturday (ugh! I much prefer the other route, less hilly and all four lane).

We were "robbed" at Branson's Wax museum, which the boys were mostly scared of, but we did better at the indoor mini-golf course down the road. Remember, it was COLD and I packed us for 80-degree weather. We bought cheap hoodies/sweatshirts/coats at Walmart this a.m. before we headed to Fantastic Caverns, which both boys really enjoyed. A much better investment than the Wax Museum, but you live and learn.

A huge thanks to the Dunstans for loaning us two portable DVD players (the boys certainly had their moments on the trip, but these helped immensely.) Yeah for hotel swimming pools, the cheapest and favorite kid attraction.

And yeah for free breakfasts, especially when you have Jared in tow. Our little one LOVES breakfast, and he will eat and eat and eat. This morning he wanted to go back and get more (again), and I asked him where he was going to put it all. Without missing a beat, he said "plate" and kept eating.

The boys are already asleep, and I hope they will be eager for the final full week of school. Only 7.5 more school days until the joy/terror of summer vacation begins.

Fishing at Gage Park

I'm about to throw my dad under the bus (sorry, dad!) And, Gene's dad, too (sorry big Gene).

I had to bring in reinforcement from one of my college boys to assist me in teaching some Boy Scouts how to fish. Apparently, that's a job fathers are generally taxed with.

Well, at the lake a few summers ago, Gene was none too happy when our pastor pressed a handful of worms into his hand. (Wish I had video to share).

Well, dad, you can be proud. By the end of the night, I managed to thread three worms on hooks. (yes, it was completely disgusting).

Jacob caught four fish. His first four. And as for Gene, well, he was called to other duties as he took Jared to his football camp at Washburn.

A big thanks to Josh Rouse, the fishing expert. Several of the boys caught fish, so it was a success.

Jared's turn

We took a family bike ride to celebrate the weather and mother's day this afternoon. Jared was having a few difficulties and he kept complaining that his behind hurt. When we arrived home about an hour later, my skills as a mom were requested.

"Come on mom," Jared said. "Let's go fix my butt."

Jacob says …

We walked around the campus tonight and decided to shoot baskets while we waited for Gene to come home from work. We met a nice lady on our walk and her puppy, JoJo. She let Jacob walk the dog for a spell, which prompted Jacob to plan ahead for his future dog. He says this.

"I can't play basketball and have a dog!"

"Why not," I ask somewhat confused as I watch him shoot hoops.

"Well, I could if I had a wife. I mean, if I can get one. Then she could stay home with our dog and watch me play basketball on TV."