summertime

Our first week of summer vacation has been lovely and relaxing - we visited the library and checked out 100 books (the limit...we had to put back some of the ones we intended to check out), and there's been a lot of this:

I love seeing my two readers fall into books with such focus and enthusiasm and joy. There's also been some napping - Liesl announced on Monday afternoon that she was tired, and promptly fell asleep on the couch. This never gets old for me - the idea that my child understands that her body is tired and wants to nap... I love it.

And there have been multiple playdates, thanks to our community of wonderful local friends. I am still officially at work all week, with various meetings and tasks to accomplish before we leave on vacation. So Sebastian spent a day with Nathan and a day with Ethan, playing basketball and downball and wandering the neighborhood; Liesl spent an afternoon with Eleanor and then today with Campbell. And Cuong came over with Camille on Wednesday to take care of both kids - such a help. This Jackson Pollock-inspired drip painting was the work of our daughters.

 

Liesl and I walked down to Starbucks this morning to grab a coffee and cake pop together.

In the afternoon, her friend Campbell came over, and while I pored over Excel spreadsheets detailing my students' spring quarter grades (ugh), the two of them played and played and played. They played family; they drew pictures, they played with Legos, they cut out shapes with playdough, they dressed up and pretended to be vets, and they painted. They started off painting at and on the table, and then they turned to painting themselves. It was pretty amazing to see the results and they were delighted.

Of course, after the paint dried they got itchy and uncomfortable and hungry and wanted to play inside, so I plunked them both in the shower to wash it all off.

So fun. Books and friends and outdoor play and long lazy afternoons - such a classic summer week. We have played baseball and tennis together in the evenings, on our street, and yesterday wandered down to Mill Pond park together. I'm happy for us, and filled with gratitude, that we are so lucky.