And, just like that, a year is over. School is out, summer is here. I should feel more elation than I do. Instead I am feeling overwhelmed by how fast this summer vacation promises to be, and melancholy about the way my children's childhoods seem to be racing by (tell me again how it is that we have no more preschoolers in this house?) Tomorrow we begin our nonstop rush through vacations and travel and right now, on the heels of a long school year and a trip to DC, I am tired just thinking about it.
But if you know me, you know I've never let a bit of tired, melancholic ennui keep me down for too long. Since today was both the first day of vacation, and the last full day at home for a while , we decided to try to fit in all. the. things.
We came pretty close, I think.
But first, a bit of a retrospective on the week. Started off on a 6 hour bus ride with forty 8th graders. I read a whole book and started a second. It was great. We also visited Gettyburg, which is always one of my favorite parts of the trip. Monuments and memorials are lovely but there is something about being IN the place where history happened. Plus, it's really pretty here.
The honeysuckle and clover were blooming and it smelled incredible as we explored at Devil's Den. By the time we got back on the bus I was a mess of itchy, watery eyes. But it was worth the allergy attack, for sure, that sweet smell and the warm sun.
It was a good thing we enjoyed the weather as these skies greeted us upon our arrival in DC, followed quickly by a downpour, followed by 2 days of 60 degree rain. .. can't win em all!
On the upside, we had an awesome hotel room with this lovely writing nook off in an alcove.
Day 2: Arlington then hiking around to all the monuments. In the rain. With hordes of 8th graders. With all that going for it, it could've been worse.
While the students were at the Newseum (which is a nice museum but I didn't need two hours in it) I went out for coffee and book time. A delicious stolen hour. And a REALLY good book. I recommend).
Day 3: Smithsonian and heading home. I branched out on my own again, visiting the Hirschorn Museum and having lunch at the Sculpture garden Cafe. Lovely morning. Who cares about a little drizzle. Three hours of feeling like I was really traveling, exploring, following my feet where they wanted to go...
And home again! Closed up my classroom Thursday morning and then, off to Jack's classroom for the world's cutest awards ceremony and class picnic.
Jack's award (each child in the class was given their own award) was for academic excellence in all subject areas. :) We seem to be raising a brainiac. A really cute, silly one.
Jack and his excellent teacher, Mrs. Preston.
Off to a cloudy lake for ice cream and sand play and a general celebration of a year well done.
Today: A haircut for Jack, dropping Ivy off for her LAST day of St. Paul's camp, cleaning time for the house, then off to an end-of-year celebration at Cumberland Park with some local families. Lots of Boulevard kids, mostly older, parents I've seen but not talked to often. A different "generation" of kids, an experience that has always seemed so impossibly remote from our own. Yet, here is our big boy playing with the big boys, like its nothing.. How did we get here???
From there, time for treehouses at the Botanical Gardens! We found and explored and enjoyed all five, then treated ourselves to a cookie. It's been a while since I've been to my Gardens. It was good to be back.
On the way out, two tired kids who'd been asking to go home suddenly revived when they discovered the Wade Oval sprinkler system. It doesn't take much for kids, sometimes. Who needs fancy splash parks, eh?
Rest time, dinner time, then a lovely walk through our peaceful neighborhood to go watch Shakespeare being performed outdoors at Peace Park.
Yep, sometimes life really is that idyllic.
And sometimes your children get REALLY bored with Shakespeare after 10 minutes (Jack: "mom, when are they going to stop talking and talking??) and you go play on the playground instead.
And sometimes that's just the way it should be.
A gin and tonic to cap off the evening and summer's in the books. We fit in everything but a trip to the pool. I think we'll manage that one some other time in the next two months...
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