Lucky Number 8: Summer Kickoff

Before summer could start, we had two graduations to get through.

Lincoln graduated kindergarten and Eli graduated elementary school!

Within the first hour of their first day of summer the boys were all running around the house doing every activity they could ever dream of all at once. They ripped out the entire arts and crafts cabinet all before 10:00 AM. By 11:00, Carson was already asking when Dad would be home because we did a full day's activities in two hours, it already felt like the end of the day.

We spent our second summer day cooling off at the community pool.

We missed this place!

Then we made a summer bucket list so the boys could have a visual of all the fun things we would do this summer (and hopefully stretch it over the summer and not try to cram it all into one day like they tried doing day one).

I had a Groupon for Egg Works that was about to expire, so that was our first check on the bucket list.

And then it was Eli's birthday!

He got a scooter, flipside, Geckobot, an RC car, and approximately one million books.

The favorite by far was the RC car.

We got a family pass to the children's museum from our library just in time to make that our activity for Eli's birthday.

Then we hit the park in the afternoon so Eli could race his RC car on some open terrain.

Back home for confetti and Oreo Cream Pie.

Happy Birthday to Eli! He has matured a million points in the last year. He has a hilarious sense of humor, he has learned how to poke fun at himself and not take things so seriously. He is so helpful. Whenever he sees someone in need, he jumps up to lend a helping hand. He's become super cooperative and is always seeking to be a peacemaker in our home. He loves reading and will stay up way past my bedtime every night with his nose in a book. He loves robots, coding, electronics, and anything that encourages him to solve a problem. This year he became super self-motivated in school and worked on getting his grades better and better with each semester. Eli is a joy and it's been fun to see him grow into a respectable and responsible little gentleman.

Here's another blooming respectable and responsible gentleman. Anything waste management-related, and this dude is on the job. He was happy to be our garbage man when it was our turn to help clean the church on weekend.

And then I did a thing that pre-covid Sarah maybe wouldn't have done, but after distance-learning my kids for a year and a half, I felt I deserved some kind of a reward. One of my friends told me they put their son in a week-long summer camp put on by the local rec center. She said it was like 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM, Monday through Friday, for $100 per child.

I was like...Yeah. That sounds good. I haven't been apart from any of my children for longer than two hours for over a year. It was time to have a little time...to myself. Also I had girls' camp and family reunions coming up to prepare for, and a house that has been VERY lived in that could use a good scrub down and fresh coat of paint, so I signed the kids up. All of them.

After signing up the kids, I went to double-check the time of the camp and discovered that the camp was actually open from 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM every day. Eleven. Hours. Of. My. Kids. Being. Under. Someone. Else's. Care.

Long story short, using Eli's words, "SUMMER CAMP IS JUST CHEAP BABYSITTING!" After experiencing "summer camp," it quickly became clear that this was an inexpensive daycare option for working parents more so than an actual summer camp. The kids were not superfans, but they did endure so mama could get a few moments of peace and quiet, particularly this moment of peace and quiet when I went on a hike by myself...just because I could.

I ended up taking the kids in around 9-10 each day and picking them up around 2-3, so basically they were there a regular school day amount. Which, to remind you, my kids have not had a regular school day amount away from me since Early March 2019, so just a little breathing room was nice and a good recharge heading into summer.