(A disclaimer for all the photos on the blog these days....they're all from my phone...it's just been too hard to carry a camera around all the time, so yes, I know, the quality isn't that great, but...sorry!)Well, we are busy being bums! I honestly can't remember the last time I actually took a summer off. I have always packed my summers full of teaching workshops, camps, classes or taking my own classes, etc. I always end up starting the school year just as exhausted as I ended it, but somehow by the time the following summer rolls around, I've forgotten and I say yes to all the same folks who come calling. :)
Matthew is just growing up so fast and this year as we started making plans for kindergarten, I vowed to spend as much time with him over the summer as possible playing and doing fun things! I wanted our summer to be full of good, relaxed times and for both of us to start the new school year happy and healthy. So, we have been busy visiting Granny and Cindy, Memaw and Papa, Buddy and Reesy, Grandmama and Papaw, playing at Splash Beach, seeing movies, lunching with friends, seeing the TN aquarium, playing at the park, building a tent out of blankets in the living room, baking pies, and violin and swim lesson. Although summer is quickly winding down (school starts here in a month - yikes!) we still have plans to visit DeSoto Caverns and Lake Winnie.
I took MVP shopping with me for some school clothes...I thought it might make it easier if we didn't buy them all at once - I might forget how much they cost if they were spread out - haha! He had the salesgirls rolling...he had to pick them all out and make sure they matched. I picked out an outfit that was on the mannequin - he vetoed it - "Mom, stripes don't go with boxes" (Plaid isn't in his vocab yet) There were also shirts 2 for $18, so I picked out 2, well they are the same shirt just in different colors. He says, "Mom, I can't wear the exact same shirt in a different color - that's just ridiculous." (It is his word of the week.)
We spent the fourth of July at the American Village in Montevallo, which is patterned after Colonial Williamsburg and has grown a lot since it began when I was in school at UM. They had a great celebration for the 4th and we really enjoyed ourselves, although the weather wasn't too cooperative with spotty thunderstorms. One of the pictures above is Matthew participating in bucket brigade race, which perked him right up after he got hit in the face with a wooden bat. :) Later, we were looking through the encampment of the Colonial Army and when I told Matthew those little triangular white shapes were where they slept, he said "That's ridiculous."
Although I did drastically cut back my "work" in the summer, I do have a couple of workshops to attend in the next couple of weeks and a fun trip to NYC to see shows and friends...woohoo! So, packing and preparation for the busy week ahead is in order. We love you all and hope you are well and happy! Keep in touch and let us know what you are doing this summer. :)
~C, A, M
