Let the Summer Begin

Although school has been out for four weeks, I consider today the first day of my summer break.   I had been working full-time on writing curriculum guides for English Language Arts grades K-12.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to do all the work for the upper grades since another teacher did the bulk of that, but there was plenty to do to keep me busy for a month.  Yesterday I converted the files to pdf and uploaded them to our school's Google Drive.

Today was a good mix of productivity and relaxation.  I cleaned out the vacuum, helped Elizabeth straighten up her room, sewed up a hole in a sheet, did laundry, washed the dishes, and even did some planning for next year’s curriculum.  For fun I played Lumosity, read the kids two chapters of my summer reading book, War Horse, by Michael Morpurgo, and played a round of the children’s version of Settlers of Catan.  (I lost to Matthew by just one turn.) 

The kids are enjoying the new trampoline we bought and George assembled yesterday.  They are challenging each other to more and more jumps and it must be good exercise as today they complained of being sore.  I should give it a try!  After so much sitting at a computer, I need the workout!

Tomorrow we plan to venture out to a large outdoor culture and architectural museum.  The temperature has dipped this week down to the 70s so it’s perfect for spending the day outside.  After a few weeks of 90-degree weather, we’re enjoying the change.

In two weeks, the kids and I will be flying over the Atlantic to Silver Spring, Maryland to celebrate Mom’s marriage to Roger Dorris.  This August will mark 13 years since Dad’s death.  I am so glad Mom has found someone with whom to enjoy the future years.  We’ll be in Maryland for 3 weeks.  I thought we would have lots of time on our hands for sightseeing and just hanging out.  Looking at the calendar, it’s going to be much busier than I expected.  We are really looking forward to seeing family, friends, and a bit of D.C.  Elizabeth has kept a count-down calendar for months already. It’s exciting for me to see Matthew asking me to take him to Ford’s Theatre and the Lincoln Memorial.  He read a biography of Abraham Lincoln last year and is very curious to see places and learn more.  We already read practically every sentence on the Ford’s Theater website!  If all goes well, we’ll visit Ford’s Theater, the Air and Space Museum, Spy Museum, National Zoo, major monuments, and Mount Vernon.  Most of all, however, I’m looking forward to getting to know Roger and seeing Mom, my sister, brother-in-law, and their 9 kids!

I think it’s going to be a good summer, and I’m ready!