Ten things that made me smile this summer

Another summer has flown by and school begins next week. We have a busy few days ahead of us with sneaker shopping, haircuts, organizing supplies and cleaning out dressers, but I did want to stop and reflect on a few things that made me smile this summer.

#1 - "Mom, can you believe I'm the only Jewish kid in the entire CCD class?" I hope the second grade teacher is prepared for this little girl!

#2 - Watching Jason's face light up when I suggested he take his motorcycle out to do some errands for me.

#3 - Watching my kids enjoy the lake where I spent my childhood summers.

#4 - Boogie boarding the perfect wave with the help of Jason's cousin, Luke.

#5 - Spending four days with my two nieces, Gina and Maddie, and seeing so much of my brother and sister in them!

#6 - Spending a grown-up evening out with Jason and my family for a wedding in Boston.

#7 - Watching the sun rise at the beach with Jason and the kids and then going out for breakfast.

#8 - Running the first PTO Board Meeting of the year and actually knowing what I was doing this time.

#9 - Spending time with my friends and laughing until my cheeks hurt.

#10 - Blueberries

Our small family get-together

I can't believe weeks have gone by since our vacation on the Jersey Shore. Summer does not offer the same quiet moments to sit down and blog, or perhaps I'm just too exhausted from having the kids home all the time. Either way, the summer can't end without reflecting on our seven days "on the shore" as they say. This was only our second year, but Jason's mother's side of the family has been vacationing there for twenty or more years.

All five of us had a wonderful time playing in the sand, and actually swimming in the ocean - something you rarely get to do up in New England. In New Jersey the water is actually warm enough to stay in for hours, which is exactly what the kids did. Noah would come out to eat and drink and then go back in. His boogie board was permanently attached to his wrist the entire trip.

The main event went far beyond just the five of us though. On the day we arrived, Jason's grandmother celebrated her 90th birthday in grand style with all four of her children, all eight of her grandchildren, as well as her five great-grandchildren. Throw in various spouses and a fiancee and there were 25 of us. Here is the official portrait for the week. It isn't often that a family that spreads from Seattle down to Los Angeles over to Georgia and up to New Hampshire can have a picture like this!

Much to Grandma's delight, she gets to share her birthday with her first great-granddaughter who turned seven this year. Alanya had to get up at three in the morning and endure nearly 10 hours in horrible traffic, but how many of us can say they shared their 7th birthday with their 90 year old great grandma?!

This is one of my favorite pictures we took that week. I happened to glance up and there they were with no one else around, just taking it all in.

For those of you who think we drag Grandma all the way to the beach to sit in a cottage, think again. Every day she makes it down to the beach and most days, with the help of her sons or grandsons, she ventures into the waves for a swim. She draws quite a crowd of onlookers. I actually overheard someone say "Oh my gosh, the old lady from last year is back!" Grandma always finishes her swim with a bunch of us cheering her on as she comes out of the water. It truly is inspiring to see.

More than anything, it is such a gift to be able to spend such a large amount of time with cousins, aunts, and uncles. I think what our family does is a rare thing these days. It isn't easy though, don't get me wrong. One of Jason's cousins was only there about 24 hours before she had to return for work, a few cousins had to leave for a day to work, and a few had to leave early because of other family commitments. But we all wanted to be there and we all made an effort to be in one place for one week. A rare thing for extended families these days. Every year we hope every one of us will return the following August, and maybe one year we won't. Until then, we're going to hold on to every moment.

What I did the other night

When was the last time you did anything spontaneous? When you become a parent, your life turns into one big schedule. Nap time, bath time, bedtime… drop everything and go out at the last minute? Can’t, baby goes to bed at 7:30. As the kids get older, there is a little more flexibility, but now you have homework, practice, babysitters. Spontaneity is hard to come by. Those moments that actually bring you silly joy.

The other night I organized a girl’s night out to the movies with three friends of mine. It was quite a production to get it coordinated and have husbands home in time from work so that we could make the 7:20 showing of The Time Traveller’s Wife (a wonderful book by Audrey Neffenegger that I absolutely love, but two out of three people who read it don’t get it… but that’s another post). We were laughing before we even got in the car, and we knew it would be a fun night. Four moms of school age children going out the third week of August without the kids? We could have just driven in circles in the car and it would have been good. Just being with friends was wonderful.

As we were walking out of the movie, we joked that we didn’t want the night to end and one of us happened to look up and see that Julie and Julia was starting in 15 minutes. We looked at each other, squealed and reached for our cell phones to call our respective husbands at home to tell them we were going to another movie. All the kids were home safe, no baby sitters that needed to be relieved, and the worst that could happen would be we had to drag ourselves out of bed the next morning after a late night. It was completely spontaneous and frivolous and silly, and we had a ball.

The boys and their tools

Around the same time the new motorcycle appeared in our garage, Noah got a new bike and all of a sudden our garage has become an accident waiting to happen. My gut reaction was a shed, but trying to find a solution that didn’t cost quite so much, we decided a bike rack was in order. Did you know bike’s these days often don’t have kickstands? So take a bike with no kickstand, a lazy kid who just wants to leave their bike anywhere and a messy garage in need of cleaning… you can imagine the chaos.

Weighing the options, Jason looked online and found a few bike racks we could buy, but then found plans to make a simple rack out of 2x4’s and 2x2’s. Last Christmas Noah got a tool set and he has been dying for some kind of project other than tightening drawer knobs, so we decided $25 spent on wood and hardware was a small price to pay to give Noah and Jason a fun project.

First step was to review the plans and determine what they needed followed by a trip to Home Depot. They then shut themselves in the hot garage for two nights. There were various lessons learned such as “righty, tighty, lefty, loosy” and “measure twice, cut once.” But the end result was well worth it... a new bike rack that was exactly what we needed, as well as some quality guy time with wood and tools. What is it with boys and their tools? I’ll never understand it.

Alanya Flower

When you buy a new home, there is a year or so of discovery as you learn things about the new place you live. The furnace might make a weird clicking noise. The ceiling fans may wobble on high. The refrigerator may sweat when it’s over a certain temperature. New discoveries are made every day, and the same goes for your yard. What color will those leaves turn? That area of the driveway gets covered in ice because of bad drainage. Is that a weed or a flower? Should we pull it or hope for the best?

Seven years ago was our first year in this house and I was also pregnant. It was a learning process as we discovered what each flower bed had to offer from the previous owners. Out near the mailbox we had a number of things coming up, and one plant was taking a longer time than normal to show itself. It was nearly August and still no flowers, although it was bursting with buds. What would it be?

In the wee hours of August first we left for the hospital. That morning we called my mom and the boys at home to tell them about the new little girl in our family. Much to our delight, my mom told us that the mystery flower had burst open over night, and it turned out to be spectacular pink and white stargazer lilies. A celebration of pink and perfume for our little girl we had waited so long for.

We call them “Alanya Flowers” and every summer she continually checks to see how they are growing. Finally, within days of her birthday they burst open just for her. I’ll never in my life be able to look at one of those pink blooms without thinking of my little girl.