Karen and Crew: Does Time Slow Down in the Summer?

We are living the summer life right now. School is all but forgotten as the kids did a total of 2 lessons each this past week. I am hoping it is just an exaggerated reaction to more freedom and they will be willing/wanting to do a little more than that after a few weeks off. They have been reveling in social activity. The kids each have some friends who have traditional school schedules even though our neighborhood is zoned for year round. ALL Clark County schools are going traditional next year, but the year round schools have to finish out the 09-10 year first.

One morning Isaac went on an early morning bike ride with a friend and then they came back and hung out here all day until it was time to go to swim team together. Two days later, Isaac was over at his house almost all day. He is feeling the pull of more independence and I think I am dealing with it fairly well. At least one kid in the group always has a cell phone and I know all the kids and parents well, but I still have to take a deep breath before saying, "yes, you can go on a 10 mile bike ride," without me or other adult supervision. That boy is becoming an exercise fiend. He is going on longer bike rides, has swim team 5 days a week and goes running with Matt a few times a week too. They are out on a 5.5 mile loop right now. He and one friend have been asking to ride to the Y to swim and ride back, but it would mean riding on a much busier road and neither mom has said yes yet.

Makenna is happily swimming each day too. We had a nice hot start to the first week of swim team, but then a cold front blew in and I sent hot chocolate for them to drink after practice yesterday. The pool is not heated and mid-eighties air feels frigid. She didn't mind much though. She wanted to rush home and shower before a bunch of friends showed up for an impromptu party. We had 9 girls making pizza, playing games and watching the new Alice and Wonderland last night. All the girls were so sweet and playful. We really should do that more often. The one bummer is there are too many great girls. We didn't quite get all the girls in her Primary class. I stopped calling because the kitchen table was completely packed. That's not to mention the girls that are a year older, but still good friends. Friends are a wonderful thing. Maybe when we finish our backyard, we can accomodate bigger groups.

Jess has been getting swim time too with her swim lessons and play dates. She is turning into a little fish. While the "big kids" have swim team, she often gets to hang out with her friend, Ellie. It's too hot to take the little girls and make them watch without swimming, so whoever is not driving, keeps the little girls. It takes a village. . . . Jess is still writing lots of notes. A couple days ago I made dinner for Matt and the kids and then left to go on some Relief Society visits. When I came home I found a can of soup on a placemat for me, with a note on top. "I love you mom. From Jessica6". Sweet.

Matt put a bunch of pictures from Germany on the server to act as screen savers on the touch screens we have on the wall in the hall and in the kitchen. The kids like to look at how little they were. It is making Matt and I a little sad to see how much they have grown-up in such a short time. We love looking at the pictures taken doing "normal" things. This blog is a great motivation to keep me clicking. I don't want to go through another drought of picture taking. We can't get these days back. So here are a few from a morning at a nearby park.