The Amazing Voyage

Typically we plan our vacation dates around Chris's work schedule.  Didn't I feel important when we had to plan around MY schedule this year!?  That's what happens when you commit to directing the preschool program at your church's Vacation Bible School, an event which happens to be tucked tightly in between your two big family trips of the summer.  I needed to be back in town to help decorate, gather and organize final materials, and do all the prep required.

And there was a lot of prep required.  This was my second year on the job, so I thought that I'd have an easy go of it.  And truth be told, some things were easier than last year simply because I knew what to expect.  Other things, however, were much harder this year primarily because SO many people got sick.  It was as if we were on a cruise ship that got hit with one of those crazy contagious viruses and must return to port because everyone is so sick.

I kid you not: we had twice-daily texts and email strings to review which volunteers had dropped out for the day, which could move around to new jobs and which stations had holes that we needed to scramble to fill.  Alyssa proved to be a lifesaver on this front - not sure what we're going to do when she's not in charge of registration next year!  We even ended up dropping a station for our four-year-olds because our leaders were out (ok, so it was that plus the fact that their crew leaders were overwhelmed with the schedule and all the stairs, but you get the idea).

And we planned a water station for the 2's and 3's that required changing them all out of wet suits afterwards.  We knew that would be a challenge, it was just more so because of other things that popped up during the week.  And it was worth it, because they loved it.

All that aside, it was a good week.  We invited friends from our neighborhood this year so Sam had one of his best buddies in his crew.  He loved the science experiments and the songs and especially the games.  Our Children's Director does an amazing job of working on-theme activities into the daily bible lessons.  Sam learned about types of storms and how they push us off course, and even used nautical flags to decode secret bible messages!

Annabelle was in my program so I had a much closer eye on her all week.  She enjoyed her crafts and still likes to play with her "walking on water" flip flops.  I'm so thankful that she willingly and happily lets me pop in and out of her class all morning!  Some moms are not so lucky and must creep and crawl around to avoid being seen!

Our decorations crew really outdid themselves this year, don't you think?  I particularly loved the entrance to our preschool Fish Tales room.

This was my favorite snack of the week, from the "walking on water" day.

From the same day in preschool games.  They "walked on water" using bubble wrap!

Did I mention how much money the kids raised this year?  Over $1200 to go to a local mission organization, Blessings In A Backpack.  Which is awesome, because its also a group that our kids work with hands-on throughout the year.  On Thursday they had raised enough water that the got to see The Captain get splashed with water.  By Friday they'd raised enough to splash Ms. Patti (sorry, I don't have the video of that one!).

The kids loved their week, including the fact that mommy had to stay after every day which meant lunch at church and time on the indoor playground.  I was exhausted by the week - partially because I was also packing to go out of town.  So when one of the directors walked up to me on Wednesday and handed me dinner to "just pop in your oven" for the night, I literally almost cried.  God knew what I needed.

Right...did you catch that?  Packing again.  I literally did laundry and sorted through to see what needed to be re-packed.  Home for 11 days, during which time I worked twice and ran a preschool VBS.  Vacation #2 well-earned, right?

The River 2015

Bright and early on the morning of July 5, we loaded up the car again and drove back up North to the River.  More activity bags, anyone?

Two days, just the four of us in Dave and Debbie's river house.  A few (mostly) nice family meals, one float in the rain, lots of relaxation.  I can count on my fingers the number of days our nuclear family has vacation alone together since Sam was born.  Don't get me wrong, I love our trips with extended family.  But I treasure these days, just the four of us.

And then on Tuesday morning we began to welcome the masses.  Chris and Annabelle drove to Gainsville (and Publix) to collect Becky and Benton (and food).  Sam and I did a mommy-son run down the river that was actually really nice.  I am seeing these glimpses of him growing up, these moments of him as a "person" you can hang out with, and I like it.

We moved over to the big rental house and hung out at the dock for the afternoon.  Dave and Debbie arrived in time for dinner and we settled in for a week.

This trip was hot.  I don't every remember wanting to be so "in" the river before (rather than perched on top of the 70 spring water).  I had a few cool morning runs when we first got there, but those quickly turned into sweat baths.  Oh how I love dipping into the cold river after a long run, peaceful morning, just me and the wildlife.  Ahh.

Sam continued to master his river skills.  He practiced jumping off the dock into his tube (and has been practicing that move in the pool ever since - he's really good now).  He swam more on our runs, and even swam across the Sante Fe to go exploring in the woods on the other side.  Always literally looking for a treasure, that one.  And he did find a few!  A tennis ball and an old glass coke bottle this year.  More than once he negotiated/begged a ride back to the beach side from Uncle Benton.  I think those two have a secret competition to wear each other out anytime they find themselves in the same vicinity.

Thanks to some creative tube layering, Annabelle was able to ride in her own tube this year!  Y'all, there are times you look around and realize that, as parents, you are exiting the fog that is the baby years.  Having both kids on their own tubes was one of those moments.  She was pretty proud of herself, too.  She also enjoyed more play in the water this year, each chilly dip gleefully greeted with an, "it's fweeezing!" exclamation.  She could have jumped off of the big float to anyone that would catch her for hours.

Sam would have, too, but eventually wore all of the adults out.  So he taught himself to jump in and swim/walk back to where he needed to be.  I'm telling you, if we coach and push (er...parent?) him properly, that stubborn nature might actually work to his benefit one of these years!

There was more kayaking this year than I remember in years passed.  Benton got the ball rolling, but all the guys (including Sam!) gave it a whirl.  The consensus is: paddle upstream first!

Afternoons were mostly spent on the big raft.  I kid you not, almost every single tuber that passed our house commented on the big raft.  No, we did not float with it, mere anchored just off the dock.  Sat in it, jumped off of it, ran across it (after many warnings not to pop it!).

We took turns cooking, ate desert every night, set off fireworks and twirled our sparklers.  We roasted chicken and marshmallows over the fire.  We fought over who's turn it was on the swing and watched Swiss Family Robinson for the first time (BTW, I grew up on a version that had been taped, yes TAPED, from the Disney Sunday Night Movie on ABC.  It was edited.  There are some long and boring adult chats in that movie that I had never seen before!  Gommy...still got that VHS?).  We played board games and watched Captain Ron (been in the family 8 years now, still don't get that tradition).  I read most of a book!  You might call that lazy parenting, sitting on the dock and reading while others entertain my children, but I call it "modeling a love of reading" for them, which all the books tell me is really important.  We celebrated Papa's birthday.  Papa "fixed Annabelle's hair" and "did her make-up!"  We roasted chicken and marshmallows over the fire.

And so many golf cart rides.  To and from picking up tubes and what not, looking for deer, or just because.  And Sam began driving the Pilot.  On Papa's lap, and Papa did the pedals, but it was all Sam on the wheel.  Some day my kid will be an old man telling a story about how his Grandpa taught him to drive, a little bit at a time, every summer on these back-country dirt roads.  And maybe someone will put it to music and turn it into a country music song.

Y'all, we were gone for a total of 11 days. That is a really long time to be out of town!   I had to load my new, massive cooler full of a week's worth of food 3 times!  We had fun, relaxed, laughed, but were ready to come home.  Even the kids missed their own beds.    

Sarasota

So it turns out that we hadn't been to Sarasota in a while (well, at least Sam and I hadn't), so we decided to make a quick visit on our way to The River.  I bet you're going to tell me that Sarasota isn't on the way to The River and you are absolutely correct.  Chris will tell you, "Once you're in the car for 12 hours, what's another 4?"  My answer to that is, "Another 4 hours in the car with my children, plus an additional 4 hours back to the river."  But alas, it was easier/cheaper than buying plane tickets for a separate trip!

We were mostly there to visit people, and with our visit falling over 4th of July weekend, that turned out to be pretty easy!  One pizza party at Great Grandma's nursing home, one family party hosted by Dave and Debbie, and one family outing to see Fireworks.  (Yes, Annabelle is still afraid of fireworks.  But she had a plan that involved Grammy's lap and her hands over her ears.)

Sam pointed out to us, by way of asking if we could go to "big fireworks" again next year, that this was our kids' first time to see a proper fireworks display.  Very different than the ones we set off on our own.  Maybe we'll have to venture downtown for the big show next year.

And it looks like someone new has made a claim to what used to be Aunt Becky's room.  Turns out that Aunt Becky is perfectly happy to share with her fellow curly-headed HunniGal.

Go Gators!

Finally, a sport that Mommy is/was good at!  I know something about swimming, and not just because I forcefully dragged to countless weekend-long USS meets boasting conditions mildly resembling those used "coerce the enemy."  No, I actually know how to swim, have been taught and coached and succeeded in a past life. 

Lets not pretend that my skill, knowledge or experience was enough to convince my 6-year-old that Mommy had anything helpful to offer him.  No no, it was at least half way through the season before he started listening to my tips and instructions.  And wouldn't you know it, at the meet held a few days after he and I spent time in our own pool working on his racing start, the head scorekeeper (not knowing he was my son) commented "Wow?  Nice Dive!"  I can't catch a football or make a 3-point shot to save my life, but I can swim.

But I guess Sam's first season on swim team really isn't about me, sigh.  Although I did enjoy myself.  Yes the meets were long and the practices were every day, but they were only a half hour and it insured that I would get to chat with a friend every single day.  And Annabelle would get a mini-playdate every day (yay for sports siblings!).  And it got us to the playground, conveniently located just outside the pool gates, every single day.  While this did make for a busy end to the school year, especially on the few night that we went straight from swimming to baseball, it proved to be invaluable once school let out.  The scheduled practice and built-in park time gave us structure to our mornings.  The physical activity first thing in the morning took the edge off of everyone's pent-up summer energy.  The social interaction kept us from getting sick of each other.  It was a very good thing.

Chris did not love swim team this year.  He was only responsible for one practice (I was out of town) and five meets, but the meets proved to be too much for him.  Apparently he "wasn't properly warned" about what swim team would entail.  How on Earth does a boy who grew up in Florida not understand how swim team works?  Alas, he did not.  And he did not enjoy entertaining a bored 3 year old for a few hours while we waited around to watch Sam swim for a total of 1:40 while I fulfilled our family's volunteer responsibility.  I think next year we might let him do the volunteer jobs so that he feels he has a bit more purpose with his time at the pool.

Now Sam.  He both enjoyed and succeeded at swim team.  Turns out, this was his first sport that was scored.  And the beauty of swim team is that you get a ribbon for every. single. time. you get in the water at a meet, even if you finish dead last.  That sat very well with Sam.  Should we talk about how adorable it was that so many 6 and unders were more concerned with “collecting all the colors” or getting “a pink one!” than they were with getting a blue one?!

The 6 and under age group only swims Freestyle and Backstroke.  This worked out really well for Sam, who has not yet been taught the other strokes.  Mind you, by the end of the season he had convinced himself he could do Butterfly and consistently chose it on his “free choice” lap at the end of practice.  I assure you, his Butterfly would only be legal during a Freestyle race at this point in the game.

So Sam swam freestyle, backstroke and landed himself a spot of a free relay in every meet.  We got to watch him swim 3 times and were done before the half-time break.  It appears that our time and money invested in swim lessons paid off, because he was consistently in the first heat of both strokes and finished well at every meet.  At the third meet he dropped his freestyle time by several seconds – down in the 27 second range!  Consistency is not his strong suit yet, and his times vary by a second or two depending on his mood, the weather, or how the game of Trouble went in the ready bench tent right before he swam.  Oh, and how motivated he was to go spend his dollar at the concession stand.

We were fortunate to have all four dual meets at our neighborhood pool, even the one where we were the “away” team.  This all changed when Sam qualified for Meet of Champs at the end of the season, to be held in a high school natatorium (I think I have PTSD) halfway across Katy.  Team tents were set up in the parking lot.  Due to limited seating, you were only allowed into the natatorium one event prior to the one your child was swimming (Ok so it was a bit of a pain, but that did mean that everyone inside got a FULL SEAT, it wasn’t 8000 degrees, and you could see the pool).  It took a few events for the league ready bench volunteers to get their jobs figured out, which made for some awkward moments for us team ready bench volunteers.  In one particularly chaotic, disorganized moment when I was being told to just “leave the kids here” my mama heart nearly panicked.  Until a woman wearing the same t-shirt as me, who must have been the mom of an older swimmer as we’d never met, looked me in the eye and said “I’ve got them.”

Sam earned a medal for his backstroke at Meet of Champs.  (Maybe next year he’ll let me teach him to count his strokes from the flags and we can cut a few more seconds off his time.)  And it was exactly the right time to end things.  We were ready to be done and move on to our other big summer plans…

Oh, Sam and I competed in the parent-child relay at the end of the season party.  It took some convincing (by his beloved Senior Swimmers) to get him to participate, but he was glad that he did.  An hour laster, as I was about to tell him to dry off, time to go, I look over and see him playing, laughing, loving a group of senior swimmers.  I just didn't have the heart to pull him away.  What's another ten minutes, right?