Let's Get This Summer Started

It's summer!  Time for all of the things we don't have time for during the school year! We've put the girls off so many times with, "We'll add that to our summer list," that we really had to follow through and make that list.  We all sat down together and everyone contributed ideas and coloring...and some doodles.     I think it's a pretty fun list, but the summer is already seeming shorter as I think about trying to fit everything in.  Days can escape us very easily, especially when Mommy stays in her pajamas until noon.  So much for the first part of the day ;)  And, if we want Mary to experience any sense of normalcy, we let her have a nap at home in the morning every few days.  And then it's lunch and nap time for all five... yes, we could just stay in all day, every day, especially on days like today.  Everyone is playing nicely while Mary sleeps, and disrupting that peace would be akin to waking a sleeping baby...I'm not gonna do it!  Little Ponies are galloping down the hall upstairs and Little People are sleeping in their houses, and Barbies are trying on all of their clothes, and my little girls are happy.  I can sit down for a minute and blog.

I have managed to get dressed at a normal hour a few times this summer, which meant we could check some items off our list.  For the first time, we were able to enroll Megan in a sports camp at SI.  The kids have to be incoming first-graders, and while I don't like to admit that we have a first-grader, I was glad she could take advantage of soccer camp!  She loved it, and it was a good chance for her to brush up on her rusty skills.  She even earned Camper of the Day status one day!! Hopefully, she'll be more prepared when soccer starts in the fall.  Per usual, it was a scramble to get her there on time each day that week, especially when Mommy insists on taking pictures of every mundane thing we do:

We've also been swimming wherever we can.  The girls are quickly becoming fearless, and Megan is more and more independent in the water.  It's a relief to worry about one less child, just as Mary is beyond excited to be in there too, of course.  Pictures of our most recent outings are scarce, mostly because all hands are holding or helping kids stay alive ;)  But, the girls have really enjoyed Auntie Anne's pool...

and loved swimming with Joey, Clara and Molly at their cabana club where they're quickly becoming Olympic swimmers.  As for our girls, the club pool has a perfect shallow area that is just the right height for even the twins to tip-toe around in and still have their head above water.  And, I used a very un-waterproof baby carrier to bring Mary in with me, and that worked out well, too.  Notably, Megan jumped off the not-so-high-dive many, many times, and swam to the edge on her own.  I'm so impressed, and can't wait to see what she can accomplish with some more lessons under her belt starting next week.  Bridget stood on the board, but her knees were literally knocking against each other with fright, and as desperately as she wants to be just like Megan, she only jumped once.  We wanted to get a big cousin picture, but didn't.  I think another trip to the sunny east bay is in order very soon to capture all of the little blond swimmers in action!  The only picture from the day was me with a squirmy Mary.

We also hit up the new playground at Dolores Park yesterday, which was amazing!  I didn't bring along my camera then, either, but we'll be back there soon enough.  There are sweeping views of the city for the parents to enjoy, and the kids fell in love with the huge slides there.  It will now be known as the "big slide park" in this house.  We could probably go to a different park in the city every day, and never go to the same one twice.  For all that I don't like about San Francisco, this is one thing I love!

We have a huge list of things to do with the kids, but we should probably have one for Matt and me.  Summer is the time we can actually accomplish things around the house, and I could fill up two posters with projects we need to do.  Matt would be very excited if I did that ;)  Even without a list, though, we've managed to do a few things.  We re-organized in the little girls' room last weekend, and eliminated a bulky bookshelf that Matt and I actually built together, a long time ago.  Anyone need a bookshelf?  Can I interest you in some kids to go with that?

(no children were harmed here, and Mary had two firm hands around her waist!)

No?  That's fair.  Stay tuned for Matt to build a dollhouse from this wood!  Who needs a poster with a honey-do list when I have a blog that gets it in writing all the same?

I managed to make it through this entire post in one sitting!  That's a record for me!  Girls are still playing nicely, and Mary is just now waking up, so I'll leave with this gem:  Girls have been amazingly well-behaved this morning because of a little rating system that Matt started with them this weekend.  I'm sure they'll be forever scarred academically, but for now, they are earning grades for their behavior.  They will do just about anything for an A+, and I am seeing helpfulness I never knew existed in these girls.  It's an A+ or nothing in their minds, even if they have to claw their way back from the abyss of a C earned after a time-out.  We'll disappoint them in a few years with the mathematical impossibility of that kind of improvement.  For now, I'm enjoying my little over-achievers, even during the summer!