This summer was measured by
FISH.
James and Caleb caught the "fishing bug" and as the summer progressed, the more fishing down in the river because the focus of each day.
I became a fishing mom this summer, learning how to free fish from stubborn hooks and how to sit patiently by the side of a muddy river, waiting, waiting, waiting for that sudden tug from the line. I've untangled fishing twine, attached sinkers and bobbers, and dealt with fish emergencies.
The competition between Team Caleb and Team James became fierce.
The boys soon learned that fishing also required some money to buy the latest poles, gadgets and bait. Thank goodness for lemonade stands. In this neighborhood, there is always some child selling something at the intersection at the top of the hill to the entrance to our neighborhood. The neighborhood kids know that if you can lay claim to that territory early in the day, you are guaranteed some hefty income as generous neighbors passionate about supporting young entrepreneurs, will happily give you a lump of change (while politely declining the drink) 😁
Evelyn, however, also measured her summer on jobs. Her "Bumble Bee Sitting" business really took off this summer. She especially enjoyed watching two children, age 7 and age 9, who she excitedly penned lesson plans for before every visit. (She quickly realized that supervising fishing is not an ideal activity to take on with two kids who tangle up their lines) She also watched an 18 month year old, who she admitted, was so boring and frustrating that she declared that babies are really not her thing.
She collected glowing reviews from satisfied neighbors, and her savings account expanded rapidly.
Mid August was spent in Illinois visiting family, which became a trip of passing around illness contracted from the airplane. 😝 Besides illness, multiple hornet attacks and sunburn, kids have a way of remembering the good, and I truly believe that this visit was marked by baseball in the backyard with Grandpa, collecting beach glass by Lake Michigan and nightly Wii sports competitions.
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Caleb got to spend the night by himself with Aunt Penny and Uncle Rick.
He really enjoyed the individual time. |
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| Evelyn LOVED being the big Cousin to Mara |
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| Ice Cream was included in a lot of the activities |
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| Aunt Penny included a shaving cream war at the family BBQ |
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| Cousin time is so special |
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| Climbing on the tanks at Cantera is an anticipated tradition |
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| Baseball with Grandpa in the backyard lasts sometimes all day |
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| Aunt Penny is always so much fun, especially when she drives the golf cart around Bethany Beach |
Despite all the sickness, John and I still took advantage of my parents watching the kids so we could slip away to New York City for a few days. John travels there a lot for work, and he's been telling me for years that he wanted to show me around. 1.5 hour flight from Chicago made it the perfect long weekend destination.
And perfect it was.
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| We took the ferry to Stanton Island and saw NYC from a distance! |
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| Times Square at midnight! A place truly to feel young and fun again. |
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| The lookout from John's office building in NYC across the street from Bryant Park. Not a bad view! |
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Grand Central Station.
I've seen this place in a few movies before... |
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| Rockefeller Center! It looks so much smaller in person! |
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| Late night drinks in Manhattan. Because we can! |
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| We couldn't go to New York and not see Peloton! |
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| We walked the boardwalk through Chelsea and saw some really interesting sites along the way! |
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| Greenwich district, the cutest life ever. |
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| A quick stop in Greenwich to try some fresh juices. |
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| Late night pizza after seeing SIX on Broadway |
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| The 9/11 memorial. Hard to believe it's been 22 years. |
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| Wall Street! |
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| 'Rice and Beans' tasted so good on Hell's Kitchen. |
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| The verdict is in: NYC has the best Bagels ever |
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| Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in horrid humidity.... |
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| but we had to! |
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| Glad we did! |
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| Exploring charming Brooklyn |
We had so much fun exploring this fantastic city. I felt like I was walking around on a movie set the entire time. It was such a wonderful reprieve.
Once our time came to an end, we flew home and got ready to run the Hood to Coast race the next day.
Hood to Coast is a 199 mile relay race in Oregon that takes a team of 12 from the top of Mount Hood to the sand of the Pacific Ocean in Seaside. This was our second year, and although our configuration and timing was different, we were better prepared and ready, and I couldn't believe how much more I enjoyed it! My brother in law Rob also joined us this year which made it extra great.
We also broke in our new van we bought in early August. Yes, much to Caleb's dispair, we traded in our white 2011 Sienna mini van for a hug 12 passenger Nissan tank. Although I'm not fond of big vehicles, this purchase was pondered for many months and I finally accepted the transportation transition.
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| Caleb was teary- eyed saying farewell to our mini |
Not only did this prove helpful during the race, but it also is the means by which 11 boys from our school get to soccer practice across town every Tuesday and Thursday. John is coaching the soccer team this year and we have curated a team of boys from our school and from our neighborhood! I am most excited about the sideline! I have so many great moms to talk to I don't know where to begin!
I felt like summer flew by...until the end when the days truly dragged on before school started. We tried to do one more end of the summer experience with the kids by using a gift card to a yurt that John got from a co-worker. I'm not a camper, but a yurt sounded reasonable. However, Lucy was the one who kept us up the entire night, pacing and moaning the perimeter and after not sleeping (and spending 30 minutes heating up a pot of water over a grill to mix a luke warm cup of coffee) I was ready to leave and forgo the second night. John agreed.
😛
And so, school began...and Levi was home the first two out of the three days due to a nasty virus that made his throat and brain feel like they were on fire (according to him).
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| 4th, 4th, 4th, 6th! |
No more growing up.
