Time flew the fastest this summer and I'm both kinda sad it's over and glad for it. Prior to this year we'd travel a little bit and always have had some plans but it never felt overwhelming. This year it was in many ways our first super busy summer season as a family and it was at times too much for me. It was a lot of fun too though.
For Minnesotans summer is the time to stay here, it's a beautiful and everyone wants to maximize time outside. But we have family all over and now with a kid in real school the opportunities to go see loved ones or do other adventures are much more limited. (Enjoy the availability of time to do such things before starting school!) As such we always do some traveling and this year we had three trips, a bit more than usual. In June we roadtripped down to see my brother's family in Arkansas, outside Fayetteville. Visiting them was great but the journey itself was hard on us, including the dog. We did our typical week in Alaska in July and I did a whole other post on the emotions on that one. Now, finally, this last weekend over Labor Day we were up near Bemidji at Grand View Lodge. We wanted the lake experience at least once since we're not lucky enough to have our own place. That life is a lovely whole other world. Though still in Minnesota it was basically traveling, and we got to spend our time with my wife's parents for the family part of it. None of these were beyond handling by themselves, but they were pieces of the puzzle.
Prior to this year our activities were largely our own. Back in Maryland I had a golf league and played church softball. We'd make a day of visiting a Civil War battlefield (Gettysburg, Antietam) or make an hour drive to get BBQ and listen to bluegrass. Our trips were to go see baseball stadiums (Toronto, Queens) or to visit the beach (Rehoboth, OCMD) or check out the awesome breweries around (like in Richmond). Summers were easier then. Since moving back to Minnesota we've slowed our roll, largely as we've upped it to three kids, though we've still stayed busy, or so I thought. Life here has involved more time around our town, and especially our house or those of our friends.
This summer is when the kids activities really began for us. All three kids finally got started on swimming lessons, once a week, which I wouldn't do again on Saturday mornings. Baseball for our eldest, now 'coach pitch' where I led the team again, was two nights a week through May and June. He had several week-long sports camps, one with his gym teacher at school, others focused on basketball and flag football through local groups. He and I did Vacation Bible School through our church. He and my wife did joint golf lessons at a nearby course. As summer winds down he's doing an advanced baseball clinic and starting a flag football league too. It's been a lot for him. Our middle boy did a once weekly tae-kwon-do, 'Lil Ninjas,' and was in a simple baseball class himself that just wrapped up. Our youngest only had the swim lessons and thus far we've only talked about what we should be getting her into next. Gymnastics? We're starting to see what the future holds if we continue ramping up.
My wife and I still have our own pursuits and suddenly our social life has increased as well. She was playing sand volleyball twice a week at a cool local park, with other parents mostly from our eldest's school. I've been able to get out golfing at least a couple times a month, always on the weekends now. A huge change for us has been the creation of a small group, five families with young children at our church, that meets weekly, frequently at our house. It was a bit of a challenge to get off the ground but we're into the swing of it, and it's certainly fantastic to have fellowship with people with whom we have so much in common. Between school and church and our other friends we're balancing more groups than ever before.
The end result of all this was something on the calendar almost every day, mostly at dinnertime. I was often making dinner ridiculously early, or packing picnics for the park or whatever other location we were going. It was always hectic. Having dinner together is a priority for us and that's already been a challenge with only one kid fully loaded. How is this going to look in another year or two?
Then there's the simple fact I was home with all three kids all the time. A lot more is expected of me during the summers, in terms of entertaining children for sure, and it gets to be hard without breaks. This is probably what was most trying altogether. The best days were when we attended library events, whether it was story time or Legos or the big days where they bring out all the county vehicles. Running errands with all three went from being an escape from the noise and fighting at home to always being a frustrating experience. Seriously boys, you can leave the Gatorade. Seriously daughter, stop standing in and trying to climb out of the shopping cart. There was a lot less time to myself, which usually comes late at night, because everyone was up later and I was constantly exhausted. Writing was tough. I don't think stress or whatever caused that little health lapse, but I guess it can't be fully ruled out. Overall we made some good memories! But I was more than a little ragged.
There was some tremendous progress made in some aspects of life. It's hard to overstate how much we got over a fear of water thanks to swimming lessons. All three kids wanted to spend time in the neighborhood pool and we got in there way more than we had prior. Our eldest is taken an interest, at last, in riding his bike (with training wheels). We overhauled his room, adding some Billy bookshelves, and it looks pretty nice if I do say so myself. He's reading so well too. Maybe this fall we can upgrade everyone's bikes and get to work on the other two kids rooms too.
So, I'm happy school has resumed, though there's always that bittersweet tinge with how another year has passed by and everyone is growing up so fast. Some more peace and quiet during the days, earlier bedtimes and (hopefully) more sleep, that's what's got me jazzed at the moment. I know the busyness will continue (we still have nightly engagements at least twice a week for now), but getting into the school routine is at this point a necessity. Even getting up on time hasn't been a problem. I'm ready for it.
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