Summer Recap

For the first time in six years Tony and I slept in to 7 o'clock before the sound of little pitter patter woke us this morning! And along with said pitter patter we woke to thunder storms and rain...ahh, fall. Of course that second part reminded me that I hadn't posted anything about our summer to the blog...so much for sleeping in.

This summer was a bit of a scheduling nightmare for me. We had Jayden playing T-ball, trips for vacations, playdates, and museum visits all scheduled into a very short 13 weeks. Admittedly, before school had let out I was a bit fearful of those 13 weeks...how was I going to manage to keep my sanity with two kids under foot for that length of time. As summer wound down, I couldn't believe 13 weeks flew by so quickly and I still felt like we had more to accomplish. Well, here are the highlights.

Jayden played T-ball on a Naperville Parks team. He loved every minute. We still can't catch and our throwing accuracy needs a little work but, we can sure hit a stationary ball. Now a days we don't keep score, nobody loses...therefore, nobody wins and at the end of the season every player gets there own trophy, certificate for good sportsmanship and a team photo. He liked it so much he wants to play coach pitch next year!

We now have our "Chicago House" summer traditions. We did our annual trip into the city for a weekend stay. The weekend we were in the city it was 95 degrees and mild humidity. Landon had a fever all weekend so he and I stayed at the hotel during the day while Tony and Jayden went out to Navy Pier and to take in Michigan Avenue. In the evening, Tony stayed with Landon while Jayden and I went to the movies. I think Jayden enjoyed this better because he got one on one time with both of us. And, we also took our annual trip up to Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin...95 degrees with high humidity, thank god for the water slides. We also did a little family round of miniature golf...I think Landon actually won! Says a lot for the rest of us, doesn't it.

I kept Landon in "school" through the summer which gave Jayden and I time to do some fun "Jayden" things. We went into the city once a month on the train to have lunch with Tony. We took in a museum each week (which usually included a ride into the city). We went to lunch at some of Jayden's favorite places. And, overall just had two days of Jayden/Mom time each week.

For trips: We finally made it back out to Seattle for a long weekend (85 and high humidity...noticing a theme this year?). Although we had a great time, it wasn't enough time because we didn't get to see all of our friends on this trip. I guess we'll just have to head back out next summer :) Tony took a trip out to Martha's Vineyard for a Radio Boys Weekend (as some of us have compared it; think Star Trek convention without Star Trek...just geeky). He also took a quick trip down to Miami for a friends birthday celebration. And next week, Jayden and I will be heading out for a Mommy/Jayden trip back to Portland to visit Jayden's best friend.

So now Jayden is finishing up his first month as a First Grader. School starting wasn't a big deal this year, he just fell right back into his routine. He loves his teacher, Mrs. Ose, and he has about half of his friends from his Kindergarten class in his class this year.

You know, as I was walking to school to pick Jayden up the other day, I was thinking we should purchase a new bigger bike for him and then I realized...we will only be walking to/from school for another four weeks before winter hits, snow starts falling and the temperature plummets...which means...Christmas is right around the corner...Wooohoooo!