Friday, July 18, 2014

First month of summer

Weekend 1 - We meet my sister's family for a two-day rail-to-trail bicycle ride with a night camping in between. A rides all sixty miles on his new bike. D rides thirty miles, alternating between his bike and a tag-along, with the remaining thirty miles in Yiayia's car. Proud of both boys. Amazed that they still have energy for soccer, swimming and the playground after finishing their rides.

Weekend 2 - We drive to Maryland and hang out with my brother's family. Swimming. Bike riding. We love being out in the country. And the amusement park. And World Cup soccer on the big screen.

Weekend 3 - T takes the boys to visit his sister's family in Massachusetts for July 4th. They ride bikes, eat ice cream, hike in New Hampshire, explore in Vermont. I stay home with the dog. Oh, bliss.  Oh, long walks and yard work, oh, my clean house.

Weekend 4 - A turns nine. Legally, he turns eight, but after our trip to his village, we know he's nine. We had celebrated his eighth birthday in the winter, knowing he was at least six months older than his legal age, but it will be a summer birthday from now on, and we will consider his birth certificate wrong by one year.

In between we visit parks around Philadelphia, hang out with our wonderful neighbors, set up a basketball hoop, play at the park. I start teaching two new classes. The boys go to camp starting the second week of summer. They play outdoor games, swim every day, go on field trips. They love it, but eight hours is a long time for D to follow the "hands and feet to yourself" rule. I start a daily ritual of wrestling with him every afternoon, both to give him that full body contact and to keep A from getting kicked in the head so much.

Good summer so far.

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