Another weekend is in the books. We are in the ‘in between’ time now. Paul’s summer public school program ended last Wednesday and he starts Kindergarten on Thursday, Sept 7th (K starts 2 days after everyone else to give them a shorter week). We are all ready for this period to be over and to get back into a routine!! We are piecing together care for the 2 week gap between the summer program ending and school starting. Like me, Paul thrives on a routine, so it’s been a bit of a tough stretch already. Luckily my parents are watching him this week which is a HUGE help.
Paul was home with me on Thursday and Friday. Friday was a quieter day at work and Phil was home, too, so it was more manageable. I knew it would likely be a quiet day so I got us tickets to the dolphin show at the zoo. Our zoo is taking care of dolphins from a zoo in IL during a renovation of their home habitat so they won’t be here much longer. The show wasn’t as quite as good as when we went with Kyria in February but it was still fun! Dolphins are sooo cute! I was planning to head out and get back to work after the show but it was quiet at work and Paul really wanted to see some animals so we did a loop of the zoo + a carousel ride. It was not a pleasant experience leaving the zoo as Paul got pretty overheated yet didn’t want to go home…
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| Saying hi to our penguin friends! |
The hot, humid temps broke on Friday night so I enjoyed a comfortable run on Saturday morning! Then the boys and I hit up a park before gymnastics. Paul and I were driving to my parents that afternoon so I wanted to burn off some of his energy. We hit the road after lunch and were at my parents by 3. Road trips with a 5yo are pretty easy! We stopped once and he was so entertained by his PBS kids games and the PBS shows I had downloaded that I was able to listen to an audiobook, ‘Finding Me’ by Viola Davis. I have been waiting for this road trip to borrow the audiobook as I had been told to listen to it. It is SOOOO good. But it is a very brutal story of abuse with strong language so do not listen to this around little ears (Paul couldn’t hear a thing since he was using headphones with his iPad, otherwise I would not have listened to it around him).
We had such a nice afternoon/evening with my parents! We sat on the patio, went for a pontoon ride, Paul got lots of swing rides and had a nice grilled dinner. Paul enjoyed having the swing to himself; both boys love this swing! It’s been a favorite of all my nephews and nieces and has gotten a lot of use over the years!!
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| My parents have SO much beach due to back-to-back droughts. They usually have 1/3 this much beach. |
I ran again on Sunday morning and then we went to church and out for lunch. Then it was lake and beach time. My parents pulled out an inner tube with a battery powered propeller that my oldest nephews used to use! And then there were sand cakes to enjoy.
Then it was back to reality and my boys back home. I finished ‘Finding Me’ in the drive home and give it an enthusiastic 5 stars!
Taco starts at his new daycare today. I anticipate a rough week but maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. But he will have the full and undivided attention of both parents - although I imagine he will miss Paul and ask where he is one thousand times!! Then Taco and I head back to the lake on Thursday night or Friday morning. Phil has a long day of work on Friday since it’s the first business day so he won’t be joining us. My AZ sister comes to my parents this week and we’ll attend my new nieces baptism on Saturday and soak up lots of cousin/family time! I will see 3 of my siblings and lots of nieces and nephews. But first, I need to tacks 4 pretty busy days at work before the fun can begin!
Are you doing anything for Labor Day weekend? We usually don’t come up to the lake since the holiday often falls during Phil’s busy time at work and traffic to/from Minneapolis is TERRIBLE. But we will suffer through traffic to see lots of family and meet my new niece! Fingers crossed Taco does well on the drives! He’s the wild card.
14 comments:
Lake days are wonderful and I'm so glad you're squeezing in a few more this summer.
Those in between times are tough. We're there right now, but I'm just trying to take one day at a time, work in the mornings before the household really gets going for the day, and soak up the end of the season which I can almost enjoy more since I know we're SOON back to routine (once the kids get out of school in June, we really lose our routines until Sept). That said, we've had a fairly structured summer in terms of having A LOT of different camps and activities that gave us a loose guideline to fill our days.
The Viola Davis memoir was CRAZY. So sad and she endured so much unthinkable trauma and overcame so many odds. I also thought it was very well written, but I can see it being a very triggering read for anyone who has experienced abject poverty, racism, and parental abuse. It was heartbreaking. I just watched Air the other night and she plays Michael Jordan's mother. She's a very talented actress and one of the few - she's the 18th person EVER - to win EOGT (she won the grammy for reading the audiobook version of her memoir).
Good luck with work/Taco/everything this week! I am sure it will go fast and you will be back at your parents before you know it! It looks like you had a great time last weekend and your parents have such fun toys! I would love to go and spend a weekend there. I have never been a water toy buyer but when we went for our family reunion last month some of my relatives have cool boats etc. and it was SO FUN to use them! What is it that they say about having friends with boats?
My weekend was good; I went to my parents house and we had a great time hiking, working around the yard (does it prove you are an adult when you offer to help around the yard instead of going to the beach?) AND going swimming at the Old Swimming Hole, a favorite of mine (so glad I got to go once this year). For Labor day I will be in Washington, starting a bike ride across the state, which is what I am doing for my two weeker this year! Stay tuned!
That lake slide situation looks so fun!
Ok, WHY does the care gap exist? Like, this seems to be a manufactured problem, and I DO NOT GET IT. It's not like school districts are secretive about when classes begin, so WHY do summer programs end early? Make it make sense!
How great that Paul can be at your parents' place. It looks like so much fun. But UGH on the care gap, what do other people do? I guess take time off work, but this seems ridiculous.
Kindergarten is such a fun year! Yay for that. And best of luck with Taco's new daycare. I hope it goes much smoother than you anticipate!
Labor Day is my husband's family reunion every year. We have not missed one since we started dating (except for 2020, when it wasn't held). It was a superspreader event in 2021 and 2022, so we're hoping to break the cycle this year, but we'll see. I am already so excited about it and can hardly wait until Friday to get started.
I hope Paul has an awesome week at your parents!! I’m sure he will. It’s always fun for the kids to have some one on one time. Olivia was gone the last 4 days with my mom and it was so sweet to see her and Aiden together this morning, they were playing so well! I LOVED that Viola Davis book on audio as well so I’m glad you enjoyed it! Hope the transition to the new daycare goes well for Taco!
-Amber
Back to back lake weekends!! Woohoo!! I'm glad you took a little time for an adventure on Friday- that sounds so fun! Bummer he had a little meltdown at the end though, lol.
I also don't understand why there are the weird gaps in the summer activities and school starting. In fact, I am feeling more and more like summer really just shouldn't be so long! SO many kids from more underprivileged homes literally do nothing all summer, and it's a LONG time from early June to early September. Even Asher said today that he feels ready to go back to school, like summer is kind of dragging on at this point and he's just kinda bored. (Normally we travel every August for a couple weeks, traditionally, so it has helped to close the gap, but this year with the family trip in June, we didn't do an August trip. So August has felt extra long.) Fortunately he ended up going to his cousin's for over a week and my parents' house, but it would have been extra long if he hadn't had those plans. At least by next summer he will be 14 and I am sure he will want to work. So I think we are kind of going to be out of the woods at least in terms of having to schedule/fill the time as much. As much as I loved summer as a kid with a teacher mom who was off all summer, I know see a lot of disadvantages now to these super long summers here in the U.S/ midwest!
Good luck with the daycare transition!! Fingers crossed for smooth sailing. ;)
This all sounds like a complicated puzzle that you have to piece together- but it sounds like you'll make it work. I hope Taco likes his new daycare! The trip to you parents' with only one kid does sound nice- i hope the trip back there on Thursday goes as smoothly.
To answer your question- I always work on Labor Day, but it still feels like a holiday weekend since the kids are off school. I can sleep a little later on Monday and don't have to deal with the morning school rush. I'm also looking forward to watching college football! So I am excited about September started.
Good luck this week!
I have the absolute best memories of spending time at the lake with my Grandparents. That is so special that Paul is getting that time with your parents!!! I love that you are going to be able to have special family time over the weekend, that is so exciting!!! I'm thankful that my brother and SIL are regularly at the lake in the summer and we are all able to be together! Summer is my favorite for so many reasons and one of them is the extra together time! I'm a little sad that my brother and his family won't be at the lake labor day weekend but we are going to be down there and I am looking forward to it. I did block my calendar to make sure that I didn't schedule anything for the weekend! I fly to TX next week for a work conference so it will be good to have that time before my trip!
I thrive in routines too. which makes me appreciate now that girls are back to school and i'm back to office 4 times a week. Hope his first day at school went well. At that age, the first days are hard for them I think as they need to adjust to the new teacher, classmates and routines. As they grow older, the transition time shortens quite a lot.
I've never done a road trip with audiobook, what a great idea!
I'm glad you had a good weekend and hope all goes well with the transition between schools, day care and all that. I hate to travel on Labor Day weekend too. I was planning to leave the lake Tuesday night or Wednesday morning but now have a lunch that was rescheduled to be Tuesday at 11:30. I think I'll just try to get up extra early on Tuesday for it. Argh!
Those in-between times ARE tough! How do parents make it work?! Here in Florida, kids started school almost three weeks ago and they already have today and tomorrow off for the hurricane! What are parents even supposed to do?! Ack. I feel for my friends who have to work while having kiddos at home.
I'm not doing anything for Labor Day! I rarely do anything too exciting. It'll be a low-key weekend for me.
How wonderful you got to spend a day with Paul at the lake. Do you often split up and one parent stays with one kid? I am just asking out of curiosity because I think you mentioned it here and there.
I hope the transition period goes well for Taco.
We're not doing anything for Labor Day. It's actually supposed to be cool, fall-like this weekend which I am looking forward to.
Transitions stink for everyone. I'm eager to see how Taco did... but suspect he probably had some, um, resistance to the process. Here's hoping it all smooths out soon.
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