So, various changes from the plan this weekend…
On Saturday we were all supposed to go to the air show in Reading. My husband and 13-year-old really wanted to go up in one of those WWII era planes. Nobody else was particularly excited about the air show. So the two of them got up early to try to get there for the 10 a.m. flights, but those were sold out, and so they got tickets for 5:30 p.m…. and spent the whole day there. I guess an unexpected Daddy Day! They toured various military planes and weaponry, and ate milkshakes and talked to a 101-year-old veteran.
The rest of us just stayed put. I went for a run, and I took the 11-year-old out for lunch at Panera. I supervised the 8-year-old in the pool. And I had the new-to-me parenting experience of sitting in the passenger seat as my 16-year-old drove the car around our driveway! We have not ventured out on the road yet but he’s not been a kid who’s been into golf carts or go-karting or anything, so he is really starting from scratch. He did very well and drove cautiously. I feel like we will be spending a reasonable amount of time on this project this summer.
I cooked my husband his birthday dinner — grilled steak, steamed lobster tails, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob. We ate after he and the 13-year-old got back from Reading, and had ice cream cake too. (Not me, but everyone else.)
The 8-year-old and 3-year-old spent a lot of time playing together this weekend — climbing trees, some pool time, running around the yard, playing in this log pile (they chip away at the wood, and pretend they have a restaurant kitchen), and driving the toy mini-cars around (the 8-year-old will not be starting from zero when he takes the wheel!) One upside of summertime and a big yard is that electronic entertainment has some pretty strong competition.
Speaking of competition for electronic entertainment…the 13-year-old had quite the weekend. I mean, flying in a World War 2-era plane is certainly an adventure. Then on Sunday, he went with the church youth group to Hershey park. As soon as he got back from that I took him over to his Boy Scout troop’s Court of Honor, where he was recognized for qualifying for Tenderfoot (I’m not sure the exact terminology here…my husband was an Eagle Scout but we decided I’d go to the ceremony). On the way home he noted that he’d had fun on the weekend but hadn’t really had much time to play his new Legend of Zelda game. Which is true but…come on! Airplanes? Roller coasters? Zelda will still be there!
Sunday, while I sang in church, my husband took the 3-year-old to get formal photos taken. We won the sitting and a few pictures in the preschool auction. I can’t wait to see these as the pictures my husband took of the little guy posing were just adorable. I ran after church while my husband took the little boys to swim lessons, which apparently did not go well (the 3-year-old got out of the pool and ran off…the 8-year-old’s swim suit elastic was so loose it fell off so my husband cut a new hole for the tie with the YMCA’s scissors…) Thus, after that experience, and it being his birthday, I had the boys all afternoon and…it was long and intense. Fortunately, at least dinner was easy with leftover steak fajitas.
(There was also a playdate for the 11-year-old in here. And more driving in the driveway for the 16-year-old.)
Anyway, I was reminded that a few years ago on this blog I did something called a Daily Vacation Challenge. Right now in the middle of all the end-of-school year stuff and what’s going to be a busy June I’m getting a bit….stressed. So I’m trying to craft a little “Daily Vacation” and note the experience. What little moment of tranquility/bliss is happening during the day? There should be some! On Sunday, the Court of Honor was outside and the summer day had turned chilly by 7:30 p.m. and so I sat by the fire and it was quite nice.