Other than the few weeks that we spent taking turns being sick around here, I’ve really loved the way we’ve spent our summer.  (And, even though I didn’t love being sick, I suppose the summer isn’t a particularly unpleasant time to be sick.)  Lately, I wake up in the mornings, at a leisurely hour of about 7:00, and I’m full of enthusiasm to start our day.

Mostly, our days start with a relatively slow morning of breakfast and playing.  I might build some paper airplanes, wash a little laundry, or help to track down a missing toy.  Then, we go out for a walk, and usually end up at the playground for an hour or so.  As the weeks have gone on, the playground has become more and more shaded.  We’ve had more frequent rainy days, and the temperature has started to drop.  The ground has become gradually covered with a layer of leaves.  Yesterday, we spotted a mouse running across the playground, and we discovered him primarily because we heard him scurry across the fallen leaves.

Most days, we don’t worry too much if the laundry all gets folded, if baths get done each day, or if we manage to get to bed at a “normal” hour every night.  We’ve let go of a lot of our schedule, relaxed a lot, and enjoyed the summer.  I’ve been having a great time.

Our summer started at the beginning of July with 2 weeks of vacation, and we followed that with about 2 weeks of being sick.  Then, it took me a few weeks to settle into this routine, so I feel like I’m just now getting the hang of this summer.  And it’s about to be over — school starts for Liam in 10 days, and for B in 11.  I can’t believe it went so fast.