The Lazy, Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

Lena and her friend Olivia draw still life with tomatoes and poblano peppers

Keeping three grandchildren occupied (with something other than iPads) during the summer is a challenge for working parents and grandparents. Noah is the easiest - he has continued in his preschool class at The Primrose School, which he loves. Every other week, they have splash day, where they get to come to school in the bathing suits and frolic in the small water park in the school yard. He's already working on writing the alphabet and does all kinds of art projects. Lena and Booker attended a drama camp for a month and participated in six performances of The Wizard of Oz. Booker went to the police camp sponsored by the local police department with several of his friends. Lena attended the school district's day camp for two weeks, one centered on the American Girl doll and the other on cooking. They went to a local pizza place and learned how to make a pie, which they consumed, of course. With camp experiences over, they spend some days with us and some with Alison on her days off from work. They swim in our pool, play board games and watch movies, since it's been way too hot to spend much time outside. Lena and I baked blueberry muffins this morning, with her doing most of the measuring and mixing.

School begins in just a few weeks. Noah moves up to a Pre-K class, where they wear uniforms and dispense with naps.
Lena will begin third grade at the Kimberlin Academy for Excellence (a school for gifted students), which means she'll ride the school bus for the first time. Booker will finish elementary school in fifth grade at Keeley Elementary. But first, we'll spend a few days together at Horseshoe Bay, near Austin, where Hannah has rented a cottage on the lake. It will still be in the upper nineties, but I'm sure we'll have a cool breeze to look forward to, as well as swimming, boating, fishing and just hanging out. When school begins, we'll settle into a more familiar routine, with us getting Lena and Noah off to school each morning. Andy and I have enrolled in the Rowlett Citizens Police Academy, a ten-week course that begins at the end of this month, where we'll learn all about law enforcement, ride with an officer,  drive a patrol car on an obstacle course and go to the shooting range. More about that later!

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