Summer belonged to us

Last full week of summer vacation, so we tried to pack a lot of excitement into it.

On Monday, I worked and the kids bickered. Then it rained. Not such a good day. But the day ended well: we made a list of things we wanted to do the rest of the week, then constructed a calendar where we added the appropriate requests at appropriate times for the next four days. Some fell by the wayside, for example "Go to Great Wolf Lodge....please please please can we?" Most of the rest made it on, although I decided we would not go to McDonald's AND Burger King, but rather just one of them. That's right, I'm no soft touch.

On Tuesday, we went to the pool. We hadn't been in a couple of weeks, and it felt like even longer, but it was nice. Attendance was low ("Dad! Can we get a picnic table?" OK. "YEAH!!!"), so we could have lots of fun with lots of room to play. We swam and tossed the ball around at our leisure, and Kate jumped off the edge and did her little steamboat swim, and Jack went down the slide. I think Kate grew an inch since we last went because she could now basically stand on her toes on the bottom of the pool with her head easily out of the water. At 3 p.m., we lined up for ice cream. By 3:15, it was clear no ice cream man was coming. So we went to the vending machines and were able to get the exact ice cream bars they normally chose anyway. It was kind of funny.

We hit the grocery store on the way home; there was a racecar-like cart available and they excitedly clambered into it. That's an appropriate word for Jack, who is clearly too big for such a cart these days; his legs and arms were kind of accordioned into it. We cruised around the supermarket and I tried not to bang his elbows too much. Sometimes they sang and yelled, and I had to tell them to keep it down...although I cut them some slack every now and then. 

On Wednesday, we went to have lunch with Mommy at her office. Her coworkers oohed and aahed appropriately and the kids were dutifully polite if shy. Said how old they were, when they were going back to school, accepted praise of their hair and clothes and watches and whatnot. And gobbled down candy that seemed to be within ready access of most desks. And donuts! Ah, office life. Kids ate their barbecue lunches even though the hotdogs had specks of black on them, maybe their standards are easing somewhat.

After lunch, we went to Bruce Park. This is a favorite because it's new and different, and I watched as Jack made a new friend and Kate recklessly climbed things I figured she'd be afraid of...kids surprise you. I pushed her on a swing and helped them both on a couple of things where kids sit and cheer and adults get a workout pushing and pulling on various pulley contraptions. Didn't need to go to the gym today, score!

Rested at home for a bit, then rode their bikes to Lyons Park.The fun parts were pushing them on the big donut swing and when they stopped to climb a tree. The less fun parts were when Kate, who couldn't ride as fast as Jack, yelled and cried after him as she pedaled furiously to catch up. And when I had to run after her yelling for her to stop. For half a block through our neighborhood. That wasn't so much fun. Kate, stop! I yelled. "It's my bike!" she yelled back. Hoo boy. When I caught up to her, stopped her, told her she couldn't ride her bike anymore if she didn't listen, she nodded seriously, lips pursed like she was about to cry, and then cried. Still just a little girl.

Today, Thursday, we went to the beach. It was high tide and we splashed in the water, threw a ball around, snapped the new profile picture of three of us. The sun was warm, the water was cool, and we sat in the sand and ate chips. And when we left we said, Goodbye, beach.

We blinked, and just like that, the summer was over. I can't wait for the next one.

Camp Week

Jack had a morning baseball camp this week, Kate had an afternoon princess dance camp. Yes, that's actually what it was called. They dance and, uh, made paper crowns and wands and such.

Every day Kate and I dropped Jack off at baseball camp in the morning. We pick him up at lunch time, go home and have lunch, and then Jack and I dropped Kate off at her camp. And picked her up three hours later. It is kind of crazy.

I don't know what exactly they do at either of these things for three hours, to be honest. They're not the most reliable witnesses. Jack seems to hit a lot more home runs than it seems likely, for instance. But I know they practiced hitting and sliding and throwing and catching, and he always seemed happy at the end, like after a baseball practice. So that's good.

Kate made a new friend every day, who she announced as I picked her up that she wanted to have a playdate with. First day it was "Summer," next day it was some other girl. I really can't keep them straight in my mind. But she was also always happy at pickup.

Camps remind me that kids need more than parents alone during those summer months. Me trying to work and entertain is not effective, they get bored playing on their own or with their toys and books. So, it's good to remind them what school is like -- running around in the company of other kids their age -- before they go back to school.

Still, today I picked up Jack from camp and took him to a baseball game. The Mets lost, shocker, but we had fun anyway. Ate a hotdog, inhaled ice cream as it melted ("I like it more when it's melted," Jack announced, face dripping ice cream), cheered the occasional exciting moments (the Mets didn't score, so this time it was Mr. Met shooting T-shirts into the stands, one of which I nearly caught, that was about as exciting as it got).

But it was a nice day, and it was baseball, and it was a reminder that even if summer is coming to an end, it needs to be enjoyed while you have it. And it can also be looked forward to, like Kate's playdate with Summer, since it should happen at some point in the future, too.

McArdles visit

Robin and the cousins were here this week. As always, they're all beautiful and charming and the kids love them. Jack and Mikey have reached closeness enough in age that they are basically into the same things and pretty much from Sunday evening's dinner through this morning they maintained a steady and largely exclusive conversation about superheroes, Wii games, baseball, and other sports and popular culture things that are the realm of boys aged 7-10. I think at dinner I basically just spent 10 minutes watching them babble away to each other as if they were the only ones in the room. Clearly they're both just ecstatic to have a boy relative to see. I would like to say Jack talked with other people the last few days but I am not certain he did.

Kate is drawn to Abbey because she is youngest (and evidently Abbey is thrilled not to be THE youngest); but really, it seemed Kate loved all of them to pieces and was ecstatic to spend time with any of them for as long as they were willing. She read books with them let them carry her, walked around clutching great pictures Niamh had drawn of her favorite stuffed toys, played dolls with each at various points...and today, went around desperate to get hugs goodbye from each of them, including Mikey, who stood obligingly as she hugged his waist.

Among the other highlights:

- Coffee in the mornings and beer in the evenings on the deck with my sister

- Laura and Niamh loving Times Square, taking great pictures (including an hilarious Laura-Naked Cowboy shot that just struck me as a classic). Both spoke glowingly about the time they had, which made me happy.

- Abbey making bracelets for everyone. Jack and Kate beaming at theirs

- Kate singing all the way into the City on the train. And according to Emily sleeping most of the way out.

- Seeing the big Lego lions at the library with Jack. "I would buy one of those!" he proclaimed.

- The old school King kong posters at the Empire State building and the original movie playing on a screen as we waited in line. It's the little things.

- Being hustled through the line BUT stopped long enough for a picture of the whole group. Bribing Kate to smile with the promise of future candy. Despite just one take and barely stopping moving, picture turned out great with all 9 of us smiling. Impressive.

- Going en masse to the Pool on Monday, and seeing Jack jump off the diving board into 12 feet of water without hesitation. Swimming to me and saying excitedly, "I did it, I did it! That was one of my goals for the summer, and I did it!" Pretty cool.

- Niamh jumping in like a cork. Laura looking like she wanted to dive, then changing her mind and jumping. Me following with the ugliest looking dive ever. But not getting hurt.

- Kate swimming like a fish, without water wings, without fear. Jack jumping off so many times he wore himself out.

- Laura and Niamh delighting Kate (and all of us) with a duet of My Favorite Things, complete with hand gestures, falsettos and wild eyes. Hilarious.

- Pitching to Mikey and Jack in the backyard. Nice to have a fielder sometimes.

- Both kids tonight being so tired they were almost slurring their words. And going to bed really happy.

Not just them.