Summer kickoff 2019

As with the past couple of years, the school year ended with a sprint toward the finish in what had felt like a marathon since about February. The last few weeks of school saw all the normal craziness of May plus chaperoning the 8th-grade trip to Chicago, grading exams, and planning the final day of professional development.

Anyway, it's taken two full weeks for me to settle in and get used to the slower pace of summer break. We're into our new "routine," if you can call it that. Kevin and I get up early to run, then maybe get in a cup of coffee and devotions before kids start waking up. At that point, I pretty much enter a cycle of getting drinks/meals/snacks - cleaning the kitchen - breaking up squabbles - shooing everyone outside - thinking up activities everyone will enjoy - managing screen time - repeat - repeat - repeat.

And like muscle memory, we're doing all our favorite summer things again--playing at playgrounds, taking walks and riding bikes, visiting the library, planning birthday parties. As one of our favorite books says, "We like the things the summer brings!"

They made this for me. Mary watched this and said, "That's me and my sister!"

Summer library program kick-off+

This video pretty much captures my summer life. Hello, summer!