Summer was really a lot of fun, thus the above paragraph. I do desire to be home and have fun a lot of the time, and that desire gets stronger when I realize that NEXT FALL my baby, my wild child, my little person extraordinaire, will be in kindergarten. EEEEEK! We lived it up this summer, and next summer, we'll do so even more. Here is our summer in review:
I finally got Lucy's 4 year pictures taken (only 6 months late-mother of the year right here). Brittany Arnold (Southern Roots Photography), you rock! Lu looks so grown up! Our house is plastered with your pictures now. IF we ever were to have a second child (PLEASE GOD NO!), I fear we'd be taking it to therapy. I'm running out of wall space. That kid wouldn't have a picture anywhere.
My mom retired this summer. She SOOOOOOOOO deserved it. That woman worked harder than any other human I know. She went back to school when I was a kid, working full time at the same time, and still managed to be an amazing mom and role model to me. Towards the end of her career as a working woman, she was working 60-70 hours per week (and weekends). She hadn't had a vacation in years-she would come with us and keep her laptop on and work the whole time. She was F R I E D.
Retirement has been busy. She's helped my dad move my grandma to Knoxville, spruced up and cleaned up my grandma's house, tried to sell said house, and is now in the process of completing 825 projects at her own house. She and dad are finding their "retirement groove" and I'm so happy for them. It has been awesome to have both of them around all summer to play with!
Lucy took swimming lessons this summer. What a huge waste of money! This kid who is so outgoing and personable and crazy does NOT like the water. She'll get in, but get her face wet? NO WAY. And get the ears wet too? UM, NO THANK YOU. We bought goggles. We bought ear plugs. We tried bribery. We tried, "YOU WILL NEVER GO TO POOL PARTIES WITH YOUR FRIENDS!" Nothing worked. Maybe next year.
We went to the beach. It is something like our 28th year going to Destin, FL. It kind of makes me sad how many people have discovered our secret from so many years ago. But we keep going back. It's our sandy home. Every year Lucy has more fun than the year before. She always cries when we leave. I feel ya little girl. I get it. (See why we need to be independently wealthy?!? WHY make this little girl so sad every summer when we have to leave after such a short time?!?) We got to see a shark this year too. We've NEVER seen one in all our years going. Thank the LORD Lucy was sleeping when "Fred" decided to swim up to shore and stay for a few hours. She'll never know!
We also discovered that Lucy has awfully sweet blood. Just ask the mosquitoes. We let her stay up late one night to catch fireflies in a jar. It was great fun. She was totally intrigued by their "glowing butts." However in that FIVE minutes she was outside, she got eaten alive by the bugs. She says it was worth it.
We finished our summer with Bryan's parents visiting. We took Lu to the "Circle G Ranch." Let's just say it wasn't my favorite place to go, but you do certain things for your children. IF you aren't from around here, let me explain this place. It is a family run ranch with over 800 animals. There is a 3 mile loop you drive around with your windows down. During this time, many of the 800 animals come RUNNING at your car and STICK THEIR HEAD IN wanting food. You take some hard, animal type food and toss it to said animals. Or if you are me, you scream and roll your window up before the animals get to you. Lucy loved it. There were also camels. The pediatrician once told me to keep Lucy away from camels. They apparently have crazy amounts of bacteria in their mouths. However, I somehow was talked into letting her RIDE on a camel at the ranch. It all just happened so fast! But I realized that as she was riding around ON the camel, it couldn't actually get to her with its mouth. Phew!
That is our summer in a nutshell. I hope yours was full of sand, sun, and happiness too!
