Summer

I know you have heard me prattle on and on lately about just how much I love summer. I just love everything about it and tonight we did one of my all time favorite things to do on a summer evening. No, we did not take off on a romantic date or anything remotely wild like that. We simply grabbed a couple of snow cones (for me, Kyle, and Hope) and did another stop off at McDonald's for ice cream for Mike and David and we took a drive.

Yep, a drive right in our town. We looked at new things being built and enjoyed our cold concoctions. For me, there is something so darn right about everyone piling in the car for a drive. Mike and I get to have a little adult conversation amongst the wind blowing through the car and the kids constant chatter in the backseat. For us, it is just a nice way to hang out together for a bit. Call us weird, but it works for us!


For me, summer is all about taking time to do things that the constraints of the school year do not allow such as lazy afternoons at the pool, playdates, sleepovers, family visits, and spontaneous fun!


This summer Kyle has gotten some "real life" training being a volunteer at a local Summer Enrichment Program for special needs/disadvantaged children in our area. He volunteered two days a week in a classroom of three and four year old children. I LOVED hearing about his day and I was so excited about this opportunity for him!



Here is his class with most of the kids and helpers. Each day he was assigned a buddy and it was his responsibility to take care of his buddy!:)
The little boy on his lap was his buddy several different times and I enjoyed hearing stories about him:)

I love that his buddy jumped in his lap for the picture:)

Each morning when I would drop him off, I had to pry myself away from there. It was AMAZING to watch these 8-12 year old volunteers greet children in the morning, help them off of the bus, and overall just play with them. We noticed a big leap in maturity and responsibility from Kyle's involvement in the program:)

One day he got in the car after a day at the water park and he told me that his buddy that day had "tested his patience" by not listening at the waterpark and being so demanding of his attention! HA!

I am determined to enjoy the next few weeks with my kiddos before the school bell rings again to start another year. Maybe we can work in another stop at the snow cone place before it is time to pack up those backpacks:)