Summer Snapshot

For this post, I thought I'd recap the week that was.  With temperatures in the mid-90's, I needed to find lots of indoor activities to keep mischief boredom from setting in.

Monday
We visited Legoland, a two story building that combines hands-on brick activities, Lego history, large models built from standard pieces and a few indoor rides.  Henry did not want to see the 3D movie or ride the tunnel coaster.  He did enjoy building with giant foam Legos and racing cars down the various ramps.  Liam doesn't enjoy Legos quite as much as his brother but he had fun on the flying velocipede ride.

Tuesday
Drove into the City (shown above in Lego scale) to visit grandma.  The four of us went to see the movie Monsters University which I picked because it was rated G.  Henry does not like theaters but I try to bring him once a year in order to desensitize him a bit.  He stayed through eighty percent of the movie which is a huge improvement.  In hindsight, this film wasn't a good choice for our one movie of the year--I picked it for the rating, not the subject matter.  Afterwards I was afraid the boys would have nightmares as some of the secondary characters were really spooky.  It really bugs me that Despicable Me 2 and Turbo are rated PG.  I can't bring myself to letting the boys see them at ages four and six; however, they would probably enjoy the story lines a bit more.

My relationship,  or lack thereof, with my mother is one of the Big Three losses* that have contributed to an undercurrent of melancholy this summer.  This feeling is 'under the surface' and, thankfully, does not seem to be pulling me too far down.  But it is there.  I drove home feeling bereft.  There is probably some major grieving to be done but just like with laundry, carpet shampooing and bunk bed building, when am I going to find the time?

Wednesday
A stay-at-home day.  The boys love these.  The boys need these.  I let them watch too much tv and they spent too many hours on pbskids.org.  I try to keep screen use to a bare minimum but everyone falls off the wagon sometimes.  Actually, a few things did get accomplished.  The boys both earned quarters in the morning so I told them I'd take them to get salt water taffy before their 5 pm swim lessons.  Henry lost his quarter when it landed atop the cornice in the living room (don't ask).  I replaced the quarter rather than having him figure out how to retrieve the original coin.  Twice I told him to put the second quarter in his pocket.  Twice he ignored me.  When it was time to leave, I spied the quarter on the kitchen counter.  I decided to let Henry experience the natural consequences of being irresponsible.  My heart was breaking the entire time we drove to the store.  He did not realize that he didn't have his money until we were in the parking lot.  He kept telling me how sorry he was.  It was so hard to let him feel this and not swoop in and purchase candy for him.  Henry watched as Liam picked out and paid for his candy.  There were a few tears, more "I'm sorry's" but he and I managed to leave without a full meltdown. We are both better for having gone through this disappointment but I wish it hadn't happened.

In addition to this life lesson and swimming class, we also tried a new lunch recipe.  If there's anything the boys dislike, it's stopping what they're playing and eating a meal at the table.  I managed to get them to sit still for these pizza kabobs:

Thursday

The heat is getting to me.  I was very short-tempered this morning.  I am so tired of  cleaning icky, sticky messes, picking up thousands of toys that have been played with for a nanosecond and being a waitress. Today I snapped and start yelling.  Then,  I spent hours feeling guilty for the things I said.  In hindsight,  I'm actually grateful that the boys seemed to be ignoring my volcanic rant.  Just this once,  I hope what they heard was similar to the adults' dialogue on Charlie Brown tv specials.   "Wah wah, wahwah, wah, wahwahwah."   

Friday

Aside from an early morning tantrum (mine) in response to a naughty dog, this day was much better.  We drove 90 miles to our favorite museum and spent the day looking at really old things.  The boys ate all their lunch and dinner--something that almost never happens.  We stopped at grandpa's house to clean-up and change into pajamas as I was hoping they would fall asleep on the long drive home.  They didn't.  In fact once home, they stayed up talking for two hours after I tucked them into bed.  Wish I had their energy.  Or a live-in nanny.

 So, except for this mammoth whose carcass was frozen for 40,000 years, all's well that ends well.  Have a great weekend!

* my next post for certain