Summer Rhythm

Our first 2 weeks of summer are already behind us and I wonder if our house will fall into a comfortable summer rhythm. School is over but Jim still works and Becky and I still work, so our daily rush to get ourselves and the kids to where they need to be continues. I have found that we have a better summer when the girls are engaged periodically in organized activities, so I look each year for things for them to do.

Last week was the first week of vacation so I thought it would be nice to be unscheduled. And it was. We visited Heather and the 2 cousins for a day of play. Even though my big kids are much older then William and Lily they were engaged and playful. Emma gave Ben and Lily the occasional ride on her back around the house. Rae, Sarah, Megan and William played in the toy kitchen and entertained each other. It was an easy, low-stress visit in which I got to enjoy conversation and connection with my sister in law. I hope we find another day between our vacations to do it again.

The rest of the week the girls enjoyed our hazy, hot and humid weather by playing in our pool for hours. Emma and Megan both came down with fevers at the end of the week. It was planned to have all of the girls at Becky's on Friday but since Jim was working from home, Emma and Megan stayed home. They were both out of commission all day. Jim said that each time he went to check on them, Emma was asleep on the sofa and Megan who had pulled out her pillow was asleep on the floor. They were still in the same spots when I got home.

Friday was also our 15th wedding anniversary. We will be celebrating by going to Vegas in July so we had only planned to go out as a family for dinner. We scrapped that idea because of the fevers and had a great night playing Apples to Apples with the kids, the fruit of our marriage.

In contrast this past week has had a full schedule. Rachael started Camp Invention, which is an all day week long camp. She loves it. She gets to re-purpose hallways full of recyclables into aqueducts, sports equipment, a town, instruments, and a creature that she also got to mechanize to move under battery power. She is in heaven. This camp was a birthday gift from Jim's parents and is a huge hit. When Rachael had a fever on Tuesday when I picked her up I was so afraid she would miss most of the week. She was very conscious that she wouldn't be going sick. But sure enough, my Rachael was feeling better after dinner. I think she beat the virus, that knocked her sisters out for 2 1/2 days, in a few hours just on shear determination or maybe it was prayer. The fever didn't come back and we let her go to camp when she woke up the next morning feeling excellent.

The weeks schedule also included morning swim class for Matthew and Sarah. They belong to the community pool and are taking lessons for 2 weeks. We load everyone (expect Emma) into the van and head to the pool for the 30 minute class. Megan, Bridge and Ben hang out or play on the playground at the pool. Megan though is itching to get into the pool and struggles each time when we head home and she is still dry. She asked constantly when we could be members and swim there. I explained the 2 year wait list that we are considering getting on, but finally I had to tell her to stop talking about becoming pool members. After lunch I then loaded everyone into the car again and drove Matthew, Sarah and Megan to vacation bible school (VBS). They love this and it is perfect timing in the afternoon. It is just the right length for the little ones to get a nap and then head to go get Rachael from camp before picking the other 3 back up from VBS.  Megan came home with a CD of music from VBS and was so excited to sing along to it in the van as we made our rounds today.

Emma meanwhile is hanging out in her room. I poke my head in on her frequently, but I also try to give her a little freedom. She usually has a pen in hand. She has been working on an island nation. She sketches it, but also works out demographics, industry, and the trickiest she found was creating a good seat of government. Another day she was working out issues with gravity and the mass of planets. She was super excited about some concept about gravity and I encouraged her. And also this week she was turning over the idea of magnet powered vehicles. The science in her head is immature right now but I know she will be fluent in geek speak on these subjects some day. She also loves to sketch clothes and told me this year many times that she wants to be a fashion designer. After one of her recent science musings I told her that she might offer more to the world if she went into science instead of design. She was so excited about the ideas in her head that I think she really agreed. All I know is that she is NOT average.

Today, Thursday, is my stay at home day and I knew it would be a taxi kind of day. It did not start as expected, instead of an alarm it was Bridget saying that she should wash off in the tub. When I touched her I knew she had the virus. She was supper hot and woke up because she wet the bed. She was right washing off in the tub was exactly what she needed. I gently rinsed her off in a bath, gave her medicine and then snuggled with her in our bed. Thank goodness for waterproof sheets, the bed linens would wait. Whenever her temp went up she just wanted me to stay with her. I did. Fevers are always a waiting game. Waiting until the medicine kicks in or the immune system finally gets the edge. It worked out that she was feeling well enough whenever we needed to head out for a taxi run. We will see what tomorrow morning holds.

Friday is the last day of Vacation Bible School for Megan, and the last day of Camp Invention for Rachael. And coming up next week will be a whole different schedule and mix of kids. The dynamic will shift again as Emma and Megan have girl scout camp. Emma will not be a camper but instead will have Program Aid training. Rachael's age group was full so she is not going, but Megan will be going for the first time. I am sure there will be a rhythm in the week and it will be loud enough to hear when the week is under way. And after that is Colorado!