What's a Boy to Do at 102?
What's a boy to do when the mercury rises so high that even the grass can't stay alive? How's a mom not to lose her mind when she can't send her boys outside to play? What's a summer without make-believe pirate games in the backyard, sweet, refreshing rainfall, camping under the stars? What's the point of taking a dip in the pool when an expected cool, invigorating swim feels more like time spent in the sauna?
I'm generally a summer lover, but this nonstop heat and drought is a bit excessive. We first hit the century mark in early June this year, and temperatures have hovered around or above 100 degrees ever since. I had wonderful plans to entertain the boys this summer--exciting and cheap ideas for outings that would keep them busy and out of trouble. But unfortunately most of our plans fell through right along with the scorching heat, and we have had to re-think our summer strategy.
Luckily our move to a new neighborhood earlier this year brought with it many opportunities for fun. We are incredibly blessed to live right next door to my cousin, her husband, and their two little boys. And most of the time, the boys play quite well with their neighbor-cousins, though because both parents work they aren't around as often as I might hope. We also have our choice of four different neighborhood pools this summer, and have taken advantage of this amenity nearly every day! However, there have been several days this summer (like yesterday that reached 111 degrees,) where even the pool is almost a miserable experience, where little toes sizzle on the sidewalk, and where every inch of tender skin must stay submerged underwater to avoid the blistering heat. And though David and Joseph have discovered the joys of fishing our nearby lakes, the boys are hard pressed to catch live fish that haven't already been boiled to death.
Then there is summer camp. Aaahhh, yes, for months I awaited the single week this summer when the three big boys would venture off to the YMCA's Camp Hyde from 8 am until 5 pm to allow me a much-needed break (and supposedly keep them busy and entertained so they would return home exhausted and ready for bed.) This was not a cheap idea, but still probably worth the change of pace. Oh, and were my little campers excited, for they anticipated all kinds of fun that mommy just couldn't provide: archery, water slides, canoeing, BB guns, laser tag, frog hunting, rope climbing, and much, much more... And camp was exciting, but miserably hot, and because of the heat, many of those fun activities had to be scratched.
So here we are, a very short two weeks before my babies head back to school, and I fear they will look back on their summer with a bit of disappointment. But since we are optimists, I will pull up this post and remind them of the fun that we did manage to have. So what if we didn't make it to the mountains or to Disney World this summer? So what if the grass in the backyard was so dry and crunchy it hurt to go barefoot? So what if we never pitched a tent or took our boat out on the lake? (Oh, that's right... we don't have a boat...) We used our imagination, we spent time together, and we created memories. Memories of five brothers and two very lucky parents one very, very hot summer...
Don't you remember that fancy church where we got all dressed up and helped marry off Aunt Nancy?
Don't you remember playing with all those cousins you've never before met?
Don't you remember when Sammy let his guard down at the wedding dance?
Don't you remember that BIG aquarium at Cabela's...
...and all those GUNS???
Don't you remember that we spent so much time at the pool we turned into a handful of blond brownies???
Don't you remember that snake we caught down by the river and all the sand we brought home in our pants?
Don't you remember that colossal slide we told Daddy was his birthday present, but played on until it blew a seam?
Don't you remember our sheer imagination?
Don't you remember that we got so tired, we would sleep ANYWHERE?
Don't you remember how we taught Hershey to swim?
Don't you remember that Zachy had NO FEAR?
Don't you remember when we would sneak Mom's camera and make our OWN videos?
Don't you remember our little trek down by the Keeper of the Plains?
Don't you remember how badly Zachy wanted to be like his big brothers?
Don't you remember how we hiked up the water bill that summer?
Here's to all those kids who have made the most out of a very hot summer, and are looking forward to the cooler days of fall...
I'm generally a summer lover, but this nonstop heat and drought is a bit excessive. We first hit the century mark in early June this year, and temperatures have hovered around or above 100 degrees ever since. I had wonderful plans to entertain the boys this summer--exciting and cheap ideas for outings that would keep them busy and out of trouble. But unfortunately most of our plans fell through right along with the scorching heat, and we have had to re-think our summer strategy.
Luckily our move to a new neighborhood earlier this year brought with it many opportunities for fun. We are incredibly blessed to live right next door to my cousin, her husband, and their two little boys. And most of the time, the boys play quite well with their neighbor-cousins, though because both parents work they aren't around as often as I might hope. We also have our choice of four different neighborhood pools this summer, and have taken advantage of this amenity nearly every day! However, there have been several days this summer (like yesterday that reached 111 degrees,) where even the pool is almost a miserable experience, where little toes sizzle on the sidewalk, and where every inch of tender skin must stay submerged underwater to avoid the blistering heat. And though David and Joseph have discovered the joys of fishing our nearby lakes, the boys are hard pressed to catch live fish that haven't already been boiled to death.
Then there is summer camp. Aaahhh, yes, for months I awaited the single week this summer when the three big boys would venture off to the YMCA's Camp Hyde from 8 am until 5 pm to allow me a much-needed break (and supposedly keep them busy and entertained so they would return home exhausted and ready for bed.) This was not a cheap idea, but still probably worth the change of pace. Oh, and were my little campers excited, for they anticipated all kinds of fun that mommy just couldn't provide: archery, water slides, canoeing, BB guns, laser tag, frog hunting, rope climbing, and much, much more... And camp was exciting, but miserably hot, and because of the heat, many of those fun activities had to be scratched.
So here we are, a very short two weeks before my babies head back to school, and I fear they will look back on their summer with a bit of disappointment. But since we are optimists, I will pull up this post and remind them of the fun that we did manage to have. So what if we didn't make it to the mountains or to Disney World this summer? So what if the grass in the backyard was so dry and crunchy it hurt to go barefoot? So what if we never pitched a tent or took our boat out on the lake? (Oh, that's right... we don't have a boat...) We used our imagination, we spent time together, and we created memories. Memories of five brothers and two very lucky parents one very, very hot summer...
Don't you remember that fancy church where we got all dressed up and helped marry off Aunt Nancy?
Don't you remember playing with all those cousins you've never before met?
Don't you remember when Sammy let his guard down at the wedding dance?
Don't you remember that BIG aquarium at Cabela's...
...and all those GUNS???
Don't you remember that we spent so much time at the pool we turned into a handful of blond brownies???
Don't you remember that snake we caught down by the river and all the sand we brought home in our pants?
Don't you remember how we taught Hershey to swim?
Don't you remember that Zachy had NO FEAR?
Don't you remember when we would sneak Mom's camera and make our OWN videos?
Don't you remember our little trek down by the Keeper of the Plains?
Don't you remember how badly Zachy wanted to be like his big brothers?
Don't you remember how we hiked up the water bill that summer?
Here's to all those kids who have made the most out of a very hot summer, and are looking forward to the cooler days of fall...
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