Summer is here. The school year ended happily, but with a tiny bit of sadness because of the wonderful teachers and school staff that made the kids' year the best yet. I will miss my co-workers and the families and kids I work with also, but after a crazy work year, a break is a welcome treat for me as well. It feels like we have been on break for a month rather than 1/2 of a week. We are sleeping in (as long as the furry one year old friend sleeps in), hanging out in the back yard, tennis and baseball have started and quiet time, my favorite time of the day, has been instituted in the afternoons.

T-ball started last night, Charlie's first year. Imagine how cute 3-4 year old kids look trying to figure out how to hit a ball, which way to run, etc. It is even cuter than that! Charlie is THRILLED that he can play. He told me he wanted to hit 16 home runs. He came close to it, all the kids make home runs in 4 year old t-ball!

We stopped at our first garage sale of the year. The kids LOVE finding treasures. I had to laugh when I realized what each of my kids walked away with; it says a lot about their unique personalities:
NICHOLAS: a bottle of hand sanitizer that can be hooked to a belt loop (he said that he will only use it when he is camping, "There was NO good way to wash my hands on the last boy scout camping trip."
EMMA: about 10 books ($.25 each), one about optical illusions, Hamlet, and a brain teaser book for MENSA members, that is Emma, my little genius
LUKE: a book and materials to do magic tricks
CHARLIE: a matchbox car "still in the package!"
I bought about 15 books for me/the kids as well as a few pair of shorts for N and L. Emma said that she WOULD NOT wear something that someone might have peed in...

This afternoon, Emma went with her best friend, Emi, up to Emi's grandparents cabin near Duluth. She has been looking forward to this trip for weeks. It is her DREAM to have four UNINTERUPTED days with her buddy. Is it wrong of me to take a deep breath and sigh that the drama of Emma would be directed toward her friend instead of me for a few days?

OVERALL, the summer has been great so far. I am looking forward to a long, uneventful break with the kids and Tom, and hopefully, a bit of quiet time for myself!