The End of Summer

Dave and I came back from vacation sick. I woke up last Sunday morning without a voice and a horrible sore throat. Dave had an awful cough. I got the cough on Tuesday. We sound so pathetic. The kids haven't gotten the cough/cold thing that we have, thank goodness! We finally both feel better today.

We took it easy this weekend. We finally managed to take the kids outside to play last night. Going outside is a big decision for me and Dave. We have to constantly chase the kids, especially Gus. There is never a dull moment, we have to be on our toes or Gus is in the street or trying to go down the big 10' slide by himself. The heat is stifling and the bugs are out of control. We have to weigh how much we want to get eaten versus how much time we have to get showered if we use the bug spray. It feels like we use the entire bottle of Off every time we go out. If I spray one part of my arm and miss a spot, those pesky mosquitoes find the uncovered spot, tell their friends, and feast on me! Living in the woods (relatively speaking) has its pros and cons. And the kids need baths immediately after they play inside, because they are covered in nasty! Anyway, we decided to brave the elements and the kids were ecstatic!

Gus has his own little agenda when we go outside. He reminds me of the old men neighbors we had growing up. They would wander around their houses, tending to their yards, chatting, going back to yard work, get in their car to run an errand, and come back to do more yard work. He's the same way. He gets his mower out and makes a few rounds. Then he goes up on the fort and goes down the slide. Then he picks up pine needles out of the grass and throws them on the other side of the creek bed. Then he takes a spin in his little car and starts all over by mowing again. He's a riot.

Lucy's getting so excited about going to school and being in the three year old class. Yesterday I asked her if she could put all the numbers in order, and she did, backward and forward. Then we went downstairs and played with her letters. She arranged them all in alphabetical order and she asked if she could spell. I readily agreed. I asked her to spell "cat" with her letters and she did quickly, all on her own. I asked her to spell "mat, bat, sat, rat, hat" and SHE asked if she could just switch out the first letter to spell the different words. It was amazing. She was able to spell "fox, box, tad, lad, mad, sad, Lucy, and Gus." Everything clicked for her. She doesn't have the dexterity to write out the letters, so she prefers using the magnetic letters. I asked her to spell the words verbally last night while I was making dinner and she did really well. I'd say "Spell cat," she'd think and say "C-A-T. Is that white (right) Mommy?" It doesn't take her more than 30 seconds to figure out each word. We haven't been pushing the reading or spelling thing at all, we've been waiting for her to be really interested. I guess she is. She still has two full years until she goes to kindergarten! Yikes!

We have Lucy's pre-school parent orientation on Tuesday night and on Wednesday she gets to meet her teacher. It's a pretty uneventful week for us. It's the last official week of our summer vacation.