Labor Day Weekend (Airplanes and Water...)

 What a marvelous Labor Day weekend we had!  Hot as blazes here in the CLE (the weather did not get the message that this weekend is the "end of summer") but that just meant we had an excuse to be in the water all the time.
Seriously.  I believe our weekend went something like this:  Pool, lake and pool, pool and then another pool, pool and lake.
Oh, how I will miss summertime.  It is so good.  Water is so wonderful.  The pool is so relaxing and the lake is so beautiful and life is so grand when we're on leisure time AND we're outside. After a hard transition back to school, three solid days of "summer redux" was a gift indeed.

A hot, sweaty, amazing gift.

To recap:
First- a showcase of some of Nat's photography from the weekend. Featured here:  the endless-summer party that is the Edgewater dog beach, and lots of Blue Angels. Air show weekend is so festive.

 It was interesting to reflect on our privilege, that these fighter jets flying over our city sparked awe and excitement instead of terror...

 The kids and I watched the Monday Blue Angels show from the water at Edgewater and it was awe-inspiring indeed, planes roaring overhead as they banked and turned.  The actual 'performance space' for the show was miles away near downtown-- but the turning zone was directly above us, apparently.  You could float on your back and read the writing on the underside of the planes, and the whoosh of engines took your breath away.

What's a visit to the beach without some posing on the script-Cleveland sign?  It's one of my favorite places, and not just because it provides a picturesque backdrop for photos.  More, it is a gathering place for the collected diversity of our city, people from all nations and backgrounds waiting in line to pose, taking in the view, chatting with one another as they offer to take a photo of the group. There were so many languages being spoken, so many beautiful families.  I love this city. 

Some other highlights of the weekend: 
A Saturday night date to the E. 55th marina, where we went expecting a beer and a view and got live music and an amazing buffet too.  I am definitely a fan of this little hidden gem of a place.

A Sunday afternoon holiday cookout/feast with my cousin Steve and his family.

We enjoyed a terrific meal and a tour of their lovely new home in Avon, and the kids had a great time with their cousins, walking together to the community pool.  My kids always seem more grown up when they are with cousins.  I don't know what it is-- but their cousins somehow bring out Jack and Ivy's independence like no one else.

Closing down Cumberland for the season...

We managed to visit our little neighborhood happy place three out of 4 days this weekend, including the last day...

I'll miss the early mornings at practices and the afternoons of floating around in the deep end...We made good use of our pool membership this summer, I think!

Until next year, Cumberland!

Until next year, summer!

Love you!

Eleven

From this...

 ... to this....

in just 11 fast years.  Time does fly, doesn't it?

We celebrated our boy on his actual day, with a small family dinner and lots of gifts.  Finally recovering a bit from his cold, Jack was able to enjoy the festivities.  We are grateful for that, and we are grateful for him.

At eleven, our boy is equal parts amazing and infuriating.  I've waited a few weeks this year to write his birthday post so that I would be better able to focus on the amazing, because (as has been noted) this year has not been a smooth start back to school, and my sweet boy has not been at his best.

Reflecting today, on a three day weekend with coffee and the sense that life is evening back out, it is easy to see how blessed we are to have this boy as our son.

Tall, charming, funny, with shoulders that don't quit and twinkling eyes and that secret smile dimple of his, he is stunning.  Quick witted, gifted with words, and a lover of economics and science, he continues to excel in his academics.  Gentle with animals and deeply sensitive, he is kind at his core.  This year he has emerged into an athlete, and has a competitive streak that pushes him to excel.   Though he continues to say he does not like music, he has a great ear and shows potential to be a capable musician.

Looking at him through this lens, it is thrilling to think of what the future has in store for this child.  This is the bright side of parenting a gifted child, I am finding.  He is good at everything he tries (when he is willing to try it...) and so it seems the world will open up before him and give him all he desires.  Sometimes, he is so witty and mature he seems ready to take on that world, all on his own.  I see how easy it is to say to a child like this, "You can be anything, do anything!!"

And how easy it would be to paralyze him with indecision and anxiety.  Because the flip side of parenting a gifted child has also been very clear this year.  Here we are with this brilliant and talented child and we struggle every day to get him to DO anything.  He fixates on his interests as always but this year his interests have firmly coalesced around screens.  Shifting back and forth from Fortnite to youtube videos to Idle Heroes to FIFA and back... but for the past year our beautiful son has been attached, every moment we let him, to a screen and headphones, like a large green growth on his head...  It is hard to balance wanting our child to follow his interests and be happy, with my values system that tells me danger lies in too much screen time.   And here we are with this brilliant and talented boy and he continues to be reluctant to put effort into anything new, anxious about change, quick to say no to activities, as fun as they may be.   At eleven, Jack still needs  our full support to manage his time and help him be open to the world.  Because at eleven he is tall and smart and grown up-- and still so very very young.

Interests, highlights and stats: Jack at 11

Loves:  Video games, youtube, his dog, sour cream and cheddar potato chips with ridges, gatorade, fantasy adventure novels, swimming, boating, soccer

Friends:  Max, Finn, Greg, Ben, Butch

Highlights of this past year:  Moving from Boulevard to the middle school! Gathered many awards for his award board to finish his elementary career-- Presidential Achievement, Honor Roll, Art and reading awards...A stellar first season on swim team, little fish. Got up the gumption to try something new and do East Side Kickers.  Moved in and out of love with the game Fortnite. Developed a nice wry sense of humor.  Is beginning to try the occasional new food.

Stats:  around 5'2" (nearly topping me!) and 95 pounds, wearing a men's 8.5 shoe.

Birthdays and parties and holding on to summer as long as we can...

Longest title ever for a blog post but that is pretty much the description for the end of August.  After barely surviving our first week of school we jumped headlong into a weekend of celebration and summer fun.  Jack was still sick, ALL of us were exhausted... but we're not going to let any of that stop us from engaging in scheduled festive activities!

First up:  Kite fest!   One day only this year so we squeezed it in on Saturday.  Thus, not the idyllic day of leisure that we usually have on Kite Fest Day.  But still lovely and always high on my list of perfect festivals, with its simplicity and calm and small crowds. 

This photo, of Nat pretending to be caught in a kite string, is somewhat ironic as shortly after this photo was taken, our box kite got caught- and shredded-- on another kite's string.  Sigh.  We purchased a couple of the awesome small kites they sell at Kite fest and soldiered on, because that it the theme of late August...

The essence of Kite Fest.

Later that same day...

Our sweet overwhelmed boy simply could not handle the combined pressures of starting middle school AND having a birthday at the same time this year. So, the birthday got thrown under the bus.  He got stressed even talking about his party, so we decided to keep it VERY simple.  No theme, no over the top goody bags, no pre-planned games or special tags for the food.  Sigh. :(  Easier for sure, but lacking something.  I think Jack realized his lack of buy-in just that day as he looked around and said, "what are we going to DO for the party??"  He's gotten used to the spectacle and the organized games even if he thought he didn't want them any more...

Still, at the end of the day, it was a successful little party.  A group of super nice boys, who played together swimmingly even when Jack had to take a 45 minute rest from the party because he was STILL not well.  They Nerfed in the yard extensively and then took it in stride when the pizza was late (turns out Guy's pizza lost power so couldn't even call us to let us know they couldn't make our pizza.... Dewey's to the rescue!).  We did a "reverse party" with presents and cake before dinner and it was kind of fun.

Eleven year old boys are funny, and adorable.  I am happy to find that I really like all of Jack's friends.  Good kids, one and all.

Sunday-- a trip to the Greek Fest because every weekend has to have ALL THE THINGS...

... and then a little cookout with friends, rescheduled from last week.  Laid back and fun with a terrific potluck spread and a sweet group of kiddos running around our unkempt yard.

It was a super hot evening so we created an "oasis" on the pergola with a fan and the baby pool for feet and there is a lot to be said for sitting around talking with lovely people and drinking IPA while you have your feet in a cold-water bath.

This rocking horse has lived out in the yard for 8 years.  It is still a favorite. Even with 10 year olds.

Summer's not over yet!