summer joys...

I don't know how we got to the end of June so quickly. The end of May found me worn out and ready for a break, and the end of this month finds me feeling rested and like I've gotten one. I'm thankful.

We're full into the swing of summertime, and how sweet it is... Weekly swim lessons, summer day camp, mornings at the pool, last minute picnics and park playdates, lots of uninterrupted time to be lazy and read books and play with Legos, summer evening women's Bible study with friends (which is why I'm up typing this. I had coffee.)

This is Coach Marie, otherwise known as the "Swim Nazi." Evan has spent some time crying and hanging onto the side of the pool, and Mommy has been banished from the pool area because of it, but he's learning that she means business when she says he has to learn to float on his back. She's tough, but she's teaching me that my kids can do more than I think that they're capable of sometimes. Having another teacher's perspective on them is a good thing from time to time, and I'm glad we have a variety of opportunities to get that through extracurriculars...

Both big boys spent a week at tae kwon do camp! A local church has this as a ministry, and they LOVED it. We'll be going back next year. Each day they were eager to share their Bible memory verse AND show me the cool blocking moves that they'd learned. On the last day of camp, they both got to break a board. (I think the boards were made of balsa wood with grooves in them for easier breakage, but that didn't make it any less cool in their eyes.) I have video footage for posterity.

Ben and I spent their week of camp running errands together mostly. I'd come home, and he'd run around and bring me cars to look at, and I'd make their lunches before we went to pick them up. Just normal stuff. And I confess that I didn't wash their uniforms all week. It was air conditioned! They didn't smell. (Those pants were so white. I was afraid I'd somehow make them look dingier than the other kids' if I washed them.)

At the end of this week, I'm heading to my parent's house for a few days of R&R, visiting with friends, and taking the boys fishing and for a boat ride with Papa. (David has some work he needs to catch up on, and we're going to get out of his hair.)

So far I'm realizing how much I need this season of sun and rest and a different routine. It's a happy, happy thing...