We arrived home from Michigan with just 4 days to spare before the (extremely early!) start of school. Those 4 days included a weekend and because we are who we are, that meant doing ALL the things for fun, in addition to getting ready for the school year.
First order of business: Orientation for 7th grade for this kid.
We were excited to see the newly renovated Rox Middle building and we were not disappointed. Apparently construction crews had only just cleared out about two hours before we all arrived. Nothing like working under pressure for those poor teachers and administrators! But all seemed in good order, and our boy, after opening his new locker on the first try (really the most important thing) felt relaxed and confident about his start. A real change of pace from last year's anxiety, that's for sure!
Next up: Tigersharks movie night at the pool. It would be one of our last visits of the season so we soaked up conversations with neighbors while the kids splashed in the twilight. Years ago, when our littles were actually little, I would hear other Cleveland Heights parents and neighborhood friends (many of whom grew up here!) wax poetical about Cumberland Pool. At that time, I was a little confused by the effusive love. It seemed like a rather rectangular, rather ordinary, rather old pool to me. But now, a decade down this road of parenting and of living in the Heights, I'm beginning to see what they were talking about.
The magic of Cumberland has far less to do with the actual pool, or even the pretty cool historic structures, than the people you see on every visit, the way you watch the kids grow up together in the blue of the water, the way the trees are a backdrop for conversations and emerging friendships, the traditions that grow on repetition and annual events. Turns out there really is some magic in this place.
There's some magic at Euclid Beach, too. Had to spend some time there, of course.
And had to fit in a visit with the tiny kittens our neighbor is fostering. This girl may end up getting a kitten someday if it makes her smile like this.
You know what else makes her smile? Time with her bestie. We took a few extra kiddos along for our final trip to Waldameer, and these two girls had the best time together. They'll be at different schools this year so we are working on ways to help them preserve the friendship they've developed. This is totally the age to start those life-long friendships and I will do everything I can to help my girl have that.
Incidentally, Water World at Waldameer was pretty fun. Those are Nat's legs you see shooting out at high velocity from the orange slide. It was entertaining to watch each person come out, stand up, and laugh a little in astonished joy.
We also really enjoyed the coasters on this visit, with all of us riding the Ravine Flyer II at least twice.
Here we are on the Ferris wheel, completely roasted. For a few hours in the afternoon we doubted the wisdom of our decision to visit Waldameer on a weekend. Temps were high and lines were long and we were fried! But everyone rallied after some lemonade and a visit to McDonalds for air conditioning and burgers, and we ended up just about closing the place down, as per our norm.
Thanks for a great summer, Waldameer!
The rest of the weekend went to soccer, school-clothes shopping, and getting ready for the big first day.
This season the East Side Kickers have been moved from U12 to U14, thanks to winning the division in the spring. Playing against 14 year olds will really take care of that winning thing for you, it turns out. The season thus far has been a series of bruising defeats, but our boy has had a chance to practice resiliency-- again and again. Listening to his calm, rational breakdown of a recent game-- "there was a lot we could learn from how they played, they were on their passing game, we'll just need to improve, I got a couple of good plays in, at least..." -- I was just so proud of this young man and how far he has come in his ability to deal with adversity.
And then- blink! First day of school! The kids started before me this year but I was at my opening meeting and could not see them off. Luckily Nat was there as always to get them to school, and snap a few pics... Here's Jack, heading to day 1 of 7th grade at Roxboro Middle, still with summer lurking just over his shoulder there, in the form of a rainbow beach towel...
And Ivy ready to head in to day 1 of 4th grade at Boulevard, in Mrs. Dawson's room...
We rang out summer with what seems to be a tradition-- our final trip to Cumberland, where these crazies played off the energy of the first day of school and we all took a deep breath before the year started in earnest...
Summer 2019, you were good to us! We will miss you...
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