See, last Saturday was the first swim meet of the season. I forgot to put sunscreen on the kids. Two came home with pretty lousy burns on their shoulders and faces. Overseas it's not an issue where we've lived, sunscreen goes on just about every single day unless there's a monsoon outside. That's just how it is. But here, changing seasons and all, that's it... I'll blame seasons. And change. I don't deal well with change. It's a wonder I survive at all.
The other thing I forgot is that after a swim meet we're done. Cooked, done, bring on naptime. Meets take anywhere from 6-7 hours, the kids swim their few minutes here and there, Ian and I are typically timers, snacks are bought, goggles are misplaced, towels are sodden, sometimes we even get to enjoy the whole thing in pouring rain. But afterwards, no matter what, we're done for the day. No one wants to move so we don't plan anything. OK, sometimes we do go out to a late lunch. So what did we do this past Saturday? We came home and changed. We went to lunch with my mom (who had come to the meet). Then we went to church, the boys were altar servers. And then the kids saw Movie on the Beach @ Dolphin Beach while Ian, Katherine and I went to Target and Starbucks.
Can I just say that I've learned my lesson? Saturday involves #1 Sunscreen, #2 No plans for after.
Father's Day and you'd think that after wearing out Saturday we'd do nothing on Sunday. It started off well enough, but I'd made plans with old friends who were with us in Togo, to meet up at Great Falls (hey, it's a good mid-spot for VA and MD folks) for a picnic lunch.
We caught up and it was great to meet their kids. When we were in Togo only the oldest was around, now they have three and all cute as buttons. They are big gamers, as in board games, so here's hoping we can get together for a Settlers of Catan afternoon.
We stopped by Tysons Corner to catch a movie and found it sold out. Not sure what we were thinking there. We drowned our sorrows in Coldstone and went home. Happy Father's Day, Ian.
So we've completed Week One of summer vacation. I like having my kids home. In theory it means we get to do loads of cool stuff that you can't fit around school hours. In reality it means our days are built around pool practice hours instead. I miss my quiet though and get zero of that during summer. I'm thinking I may have to do something on my own sometimes because I'm looking at 2 1/2 months of 24/7 mom duties. I did that for 8 years and I'm pretty well done with it, I really just need to plan some time away each week just for me until the end of August. The best thing would be if Ian took all the kids out of the house for a few hours. Hey, I could get in a nap, right? A nap without kids knocking on the door? *hint* *hint* *hint hint hint*
Monday, two kids had physicals in the morning, followed by a trip to Costco, then swim practice in the evening. Tuesday, one kid had her scoliosis checked and came back with No Change, which is awesome, follow-up in a year. On the way to the appointment we saw a beaver try to cross I95 and, well, didn't make it. Could it have been a deaf and blind beaver? Otherwise how do you account for it heading into 5 lanes of 70mph traffic? No beavers were hurt on the way home that I saw. Not that I saw anyway. Another kid had her first guitar lesson in the afternoon. Then swim practice in the evening, but it was stormed out 1/2 way through so the boys practiced and the girls didn't. Wednesday, Ian worked from home and we had no plans other than swim practice in the evening so that was nice. Thursday, one kid had a dental appointment in the morning. We went to Home Depot to get some MoleMax for the mole/vole/gopher that has moved into/under our front lawn and is digging tunnels all over. Seriously, first someone in the neighborhood decides our lawn needs decorating with bags of dog poop and now we have a mole/vole/gopher in the yard? What gives? One kid mowed the lawn while I edged and raked and attempted to kill weeds. Last week I found pumpkin plants growing in our lawn. I'm assuming they are from the pumpkins we had hanging from our tree for Halloween last year and not another attack by yard evil-doers. Flute lesson was canceled in the afternoon so some kids went to the beach for a bit (one got a massive splinter in her foot), and then while 3 kids had swimming the other had her first day as a volunteer in the hospital ER. While the kids were swimming I shopped at Costco for fruit toppings for Friday morning's pancakes-by-the-pool breakfast. I made an appointment for the splinter-foot-kid to see the doc Friday morning if the splinter couldn't be pulled out. She got it out with tweezers after much pain and anguish and hobbling about.
Friday morning was difficult though. One of those mornings where you look in the mirror and ask yourself if you were really cut out to parent. Yeah, one of those mornings. I didn't cry, so that was a Win in my book. Thankfully, a kid had a timely doctor appointment in the afternoon. I think we're done with doctors until next Friday. Please, tell me we're done. Though doc visits do provide structure to the days it's not my preferred way of spending summer.
This morning's meet was a home meet, and Ian and I didn't do any volunteer work. My mom came to cheer the kids on with us, and I took videos of some of their races. Nicholas's 11-12 boys freestyle relay won and we brought home several heat winner ribbons. A couple relays were DQed, usually due to the butterfly leg, Katherine pulled ahead every relay only to have the next person fall 1/2 pool behind. Nicholas was DQed from backstroke because he messed up his turn and touched the bottom. Time was cut in several races though the kids think they swim better at other pools. All in all, a great morning.
Becca:
Katherine:
Nicholas (sorry it's sideways)
Jonathon (it straightens, promise)
Other video is on flickr.
We picked up McDonald's on the way home and guess what... I got my nap squeezed in between finishing book 3 from the Game of Thrones series and church. Naps rock.
And tomorrow, Sunday, will truly be a day of rest.
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