Where did the time go??

This is the coolest summer ever. We've had some hot days, but overall, it's been really wet, overcast, and much cooler than usual.

Hmmm....what was that about so-called global warming?

Monday we had a lot of fun playing with our friends at Creekside Park. It ended up raining, but the kids could have cared less. They kept playing pretty much until hunger drove them under the picnic shelter to have a quick bite. They fell down, hit their heads, slipped and skidded in puddles of water, became totally drenched and covered in grass, but they had a great time!

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of splashing in mud puddles, mud wrestling with my sister, and "falling" in the creek. We never had cable TV or video games when I was a kid. When I was a teen, we finally got a Nintendo, but we only ever had a few games. We mostly played outside and read books. We wrote stories and played dress-up. I think I had a pretty fun childhood. It wasn't too busy. We went to the library a lot in the summer, and went swimming sometimes, but mostly we just chilled out and played with friends. I believe that's what kids like and remember the most, not all the micro-planned activities.

This summer, I've been trying to just go with the flow and not stress. It's really hard to keep everything together since I'm working most weeknights. So we pretty much just get up in the morning and if we make it to the pool or the library, great. If we don't - no sweat. There's always tomorrow. The thing I want to make sure we do is spend plenty of time together and with our friends. Same with housework (which has really been bugging me). I'm like, if the floors get vacuumed, awesome. If not, well, they'll still be dirty tomorrow. And now Sky and Bart are old enough that I can offer them extra allowance if they vacuum or sweep. Kinda nice....

Speaking of chores and stuff, Skylar went to History Camp last week and had a really good time. On Tuesday, the children learned about the Tuscarora Indians who lived here in New Bern before we took their town - it was called Chattoka or Chattawka. Next year is New Bern's 300th anniversary, by the way.

Hey, this is totally random, but I just got a great idea for a story -

So, Wednesday was Early New Bern Settler day. The kids got to learn about spinning and even got to try their hand at carding wool. They brought some bits of wool home. Then on Thursday, the children met at the battlefield, across the river near Taberna. In 1862, the Battle of New Bern took place there. They seemed to have learned a lot and had a really fun time. On Thursday, Skylar was interviewed by the Sun Journal. Her comments ended up in the paper on Sunday. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.newbernsj.com/articles/ole-46574-days-adults.html

Tuesday I took the children to see "Space Chimps" at the movies. It's $3 for the movie, popcorn, and a drink, so it's a great deal. At the summer movies, it's cheap and everyone is kind of loud, so I don't feel so bad spending half the movie standing in the lobby with Lucy while the three older kids finish watching it. This time, Lucy made it through almost the entire thing. She got her first taste of popcorn (I bit the hard kernel off and just gave her the soft part) and she loved it. Her little hands were so salty and greasy by the end of the movie.

Wednesday, I took Bart and Drake to meet Mindy. They stayed with her until this morning - Friday. It was so weird without them. It was very quiet and very low-key. No one yelled or made exploding sounds or shot anyone else with the nerf gun. I really missed them.

Also on Wednesday, I ran over one of our neighbor kid's helmet and scooter. I felt kind of bad, but she left it behind my van and I was on my way to work. I checked to make sure all the kids were in sight, but I did not check to make sure there were no scooters behind the van. I told George to offer to replace it for her, but I really hoped the parents would give her the "don't leave anything behind a car" lecture. My kids have had this lecture so many times, but it never seems to sink in until you flatten a bike or two. Skylar and Bart know now that if their stuff gets run over due to their carelessness, they have to replace it themselves.

Thursday I had my Pharmacy Tech final exam. I didn't study as much as I could have, but it's been a busy week. Last Thursday, after I got out of class, I took Skylar to see Harry Potter - the late showing. We didn't get home until twelve-thirty. I was so tired, but it was worth it. We had a fun time together. Skylar was SO dramatic the whole time, squeezing my hand as hard as she could during the scary/tense parts.

Last Saturday, George and I got to go on a date after I got off work. Renee watched the children and we took off to Jacksonville. We ate a delicious meal at the Olive Garden and then we just messed around Barnes & Noble - one of our favorite things to do. Earlier that afternoon, George had taken the children to our friends' son's birthday party. George had wrapped the birthday present in Wal-Mart bags and wrote "$85.00" on the box in black marker. Then he said, "Oops, I left the price tag on." I wasn't there obviously, I was at work, but I heard about this occurrence from several other people. See what he comes up with, left to his own devices? I mean, how hard is it to throw the gift into a gift bag with some tissue paper?