Summer 1/3rd Over!

I always feel a little anxious at the approach of summer ... just as I feel a little anxious at the start of the school year. Something about the sudden change from whatever routine and familiar we've established. (Do I write this same post every single summer and every single fall???)

With school I worry about a host of things. (I will wait until August to fret over those). With summer I worry about ... using our time well, keeping kids productive and learning, and the increased chaos of everyone home all day.

But ... as it seems to increasingly turn out ... the summer blusters by before I have a chance to even realize we are in it! Or to put into practice any of the things I was certain would be necessary!

I don't think it was always that way. When I just had a few kids and they were all small, our summers seemed full of thoughtfully planned activities. I would create special charts where they could earn prizes for reading or piano practice. There would be printed off math sheets or time on khan academy.

But ... now? I don't quite know! Time just seems to be less subtle than he used to be. He blunders loudly into June--all high spirits and oblivion--shoving anything in his way aside as he lumbers happily on into July and August. Such a brash fellow!

Such has certainly been the case this year. School got out. I had a week of last pulling together and shopping for camp, as well as readying everything for the boys for High Adventure. Then I was gone for a week. Then a few days of getting our sea legs again before Penny and Jesse were off to FSY for a week. Somehow we fit two short vacations to Bear Lake into that time as well. And then, just as I thought, "OK, now we can figure out summer, ..." I realized it was a third of the way over!

What about the projects I was going to have everyone work on each day after scriptures? What about having one older sibling do "school time" with Starling every week day? What about ... ??? Well. I don't even know. But! Here are a few photos of some of the summer events that have happened without me having time to even properly prepare for them or realize they were!

Bear Lake of course.

And a few from Penny and Jesse at FSY. I was pleased they ended up in the same group.

Anyway ... we shall see if we settle into a more routine state of being this summer (the lazy days of summer and all that) or not!