Summer: Day 60

Saturday July 30

The summer is almost over. I'm having a very hard time with that. I thought it just began. Where has the time gone?

I don't think I've eaten nearly enough snow cones or ice cream cones. Not nearly enough popsicles!

I haven't been swimming enough times.

I haven't taken enough pictures of the kids.

I haven't been to the parks around here enough. (Of course, with the 400 degree heat, it's no wonder.)

I haven't read enough books or magazines.

I haven't taken enough naps.

I haven't written my annual summer post about things that I love in life right now.

I haven't taken the time to back up all the pictures & documents on the computer lately.

I realized a few days ago that at the preschool where I teach in the summers, sessions are broken up into 4 week windows. There are 3 summer sessions. We completed week 1 of the 3rd session on Thursday. I won't be there for the final week because I have to go back to work then. Gasp. I only have 2 full weeks of summer left.

That's it. I am going to take a picture of me eating a snowcone while swimming with the kids this week. Then I'm going to go home & take a nap after I finish reading a book. At night, I will work on my "things I love" blog post while I back up the stuff on the computer.

Project finish out the summer with a bang is ON!



As for TODAY, it has been lengthy.
Savannah got home from youth camp this morning at 6:00 am. Last Sunday night, she loaded up on a chartered bus with about 40 other kids from our church & took off toward Buena Vista, Colorado to spend the week at Noah's Ark camp (www.noahsark.com). They spent the week river rafting, climbing rocks & rappelling, hiking and hanging out with friends. She had a lot of fun, even if most of those activities aren't really her "thing". (She's not the most outdoorsy, athletic kid.) She enjoyed her time away and enjoyed time with friends, though! They got on the bus yesterday morning about 11:30 & headed home. It took until early this morning to get back.

When I picked her up, we went to IHOP for breakfast. I ordered an omelet. When the waitress brought it out, I commented on the size. Folks, this thing was HUGE. Seriously, it was as big around as my forearm, and just as long. ENORMOUS doesn't even describe it. As I sat there eyeballing this monster sized thing, the waitress came back to the table to tell me that my pancakes would be out soon. I audibly gasped. WHAT? This thing comes with pancakes??? I told her to go tell the chef not to bother making them. There was no way I could eat the giant omelet AND pancakes. I ended up needing a to go box for 1/2 of the omelet! ha ha!

We came home & Savannah crawled into bed where she stayed until almost noon. Clearly, she was exhausted! I tried to nap myself, but only made it an hour or so before the phone started ringing & life went on. I think I'll sleep great tonight. (I went to bed late last night & then had to get up pretty early to make it to the church on time to pick her up.)

After she napped, we went shopping. Some sweet soul mailed us an anonymous gift card to Target this week! I was able to get Savannah some tennis shoes, a shirt & a necklace and still have money leftover. I had a lot of fun with my almost 15 yr old. It's so fun to watch her become more of a girl every day. She's getting excited about clothes & accessories & her hair and things like that. She's still not obsessed about it (which I am grateful for!!!) but she's beginning to think about her appearance more than she has in the past & it's fun to play dress up with her. When we left Target, we went down the street to Avenue for me. I found a couple of things to start off the school year. I need a handful of other items to have some decent work clothes, but that will come later. It was fun to shop with Savannah for me, too. She was pulling things off the racks, trying on rings & sunglasses & shoes while I tried on my selections. I never knew that I'd enjoy having a teenager so much. All the horror stories have not come true so far. I pray that they never will!

What a great day!