Our summer is trucking right along. I really don't know what we do all day. If you asked Mitch he'd tell you all we do is chores. But then if you looked in our house you'd know that wasn't true. We have managed to play a lot with friends and cousins and neighbors. We are doing our month-long swim lessons right now taught by Hub. Noelle has mastered the cannonball. She is so proud of herself. She also is riding her bike without training wheels. The boys play soccer and dodge ball in the basement (which is why we will never ever put pictures on the walls down there) and 4-square and other games together. But they also like to fight a lot. I keep on telling myself (and them) that they will be best friends one day. None of us can imagine that yet.
Our kids have reading charts where they pick their prizes and I assign how many reading hours it will take to 'earn' it. This was done when I was growing up and I know many people have similar programs. Ethan had to read 8 hours to earn a hike to the Y. We ended up going on the 4th of July to celebrate our freedoms like being able to hike on steep trails in the heat of the day.
Photo evidence that we made it.
I have ruined all my street cred as an awesome hiker because I had to stop for a good rest not long before the top due to some fear of passing out. Don't know if it was the heat or my old lady-ness or what, but I had to let the whining youth pass me up before I continued on. I will have to re-establish my mountain goat status on another hike to Timp soon.
Anyway, Ethan has given up on the sweaty time-consuming rewards and is back to the much simpler ones like that Godzilla flavored snow cone he wants!
