Summer is Upon Us

Summer is my nemesis. The first day or two is always fun. After that the novelty of not having to be up and anywhere wears off, and the kids are telling me they're bored, and the whining and bickering escalate into crying and fighting, and I'm ready for school to start again. Of course, just when things are at their worst, a strange calm falls over the house and I find that the two sworn enemies have taken to the yard together, where they are exploring the nine strange new planets they've discovered.

I thought all my problems were solved when I signed the boys up for the summer reading program at the library. They read like crazy (oh, the quiet!) until they each got their first prize. Then they lost their steam.

It's not like we don't go to the park, or the magic show at the library, or swimming lessons. It's just that there are so many hours in a day.

We had friends over for dinner and our kids tried to sell them water.

My mom came for a visit, which we just loved, and we all went to see Mary Poppins, which we did not just love.

Willem had a hard time staying awake for the whole thing, but he liked it apart from that. I thought the script was soulless and I wished they hadn't gutted the lyrics of the old songs. Granted, the movie version was a bit of a mess too, message-wise, but at least it had the charm of Julie Andrews's voice and her ability to give Mary Poppins a tender heart underneath all that smug self-satisfaction.

Nels loved it, of course, which just about made it all worthwhile. He was so jazzed (the ONLY word for it) afterwards that he was dancing around the lobby. He could not keep his feet still. It took a great deal of effort to keep him from bouncing off people on the way to the car.

The weather's been gloomy lately, but we did have some sun right around the holiday weekend. There weren't enough hot days in a row to warm up the water in our inflatable wading pool, though. Here are the boys post-dip.

Here they are getting warmed up for the 4th. Not sure why Willem felt compelled to stand in the thick of the smoke.

Every time.

We went out to Grandma and Grandpa's for the 4th of July. We are waiting for the Vernonia parade to start.

The folks in the parade toss candy to the crowd. They often don't toss it very far. It certainly adds to the excitement to have kids running out into the street to get it. Grandma spotted her hairdresser riding in this truck, so she ran over to tell her to throw some candy at Willem.

What's better than shooting a bb gun at Grandma and Grandpa's?

Nothing.

After the holiday, Shaun went back for one last day of work at his old job. Here are his feet and his bag of stuff from his desk.

Celebratory hamburger. I've noticed I like to celebrate with food. Hence the diet I started this week.

Actually, the hamburgers were fine but not nearly as good as they look in this picture.

Up next: Martin Family Staycation and Shaun Starts His New Job!