9 Days and Counting 'Til Summer Break

Including today, we have nine more school days to get through before summer break. I'm worse than my kids because I'm about done with school already. It's hot here. It feels like summer. We've been letting the kids stay up later than normal because it's so nice out and nobody wants to come inside. 

The last couple weeks  of school are busy with fun stuff like field trips, field day, and award ceremonies. Can't we just cut the crap and be done with it? Maybe if I promise to take them on field trips, plan a mini field day in my backyard, and print out some awards to hand out? Please?

Oh fine. I guess I can be patient for a little while longer. And besides, these are also the last nine days of Bethany's elementary school career, and I'm not terribly anxious for that to end. It boggles my mind that I've been a parent long enough to have a middle schooler. I can't believe my first little baby is old enough for this either. Switching classes. Sixth grade camp. Band. Middle school drama.

But this summer is going to be awesome. I am not even considering anything less than spectacularly awesome as a possibility for this summer.

Rose bush I have no idea how to tame

We have been working like crazy to get our yard really cleaned up and nice for the summer. This will be our fourth summer here and the first time we have done a total yard clean-up. That sounds really bad, I know. But let me explain that there is a lot growing in our yard. An overwhelming amount of greenery. And neither Chris nor I have green thumbs. We don't know what to do with this stuff. Plus our neighbor's totally overgrown yard has been overgrowing into our yard (so much so that I didn't even realize that all this stuff was coming from his yard until a couple weeks ago when he and Chris started clearing it out). We have a lot to do, but I'm feeling really good about the progress that has been made. Last summer we got an obscene deal on a swing set, and our friends gave us their trampoline before they moved. We're talking about expanding our patio. We have this really great yard, and this is the year we start bringing it toward its full potential. Last summer, our neighbors behind us told us that there used to be in-ground pool in our yard, but that previous owners had it filled in. That hurt, because we would love nothing more than to have an in-ground pool in our yard. Maybe some day.

When we're not hanging out in our soon to be fabulous backyard, we have lots of other fun stuff planned. We will be spending a week in Lexington, Michigan (our Port Austin vacation fell through due to the owners selling the cottage at the last minute) with my mother-in-law. We've been to Lexington many times for day trips, but never stayed there for vacation. Actually, I used to stay there often when I was a kid and my grandparents had a place there. And Bethany spent this Memorial Day weekend there with a friend. But for all of us together, this will be a new thing.

And then we have our big road trip to Idaho and Washington to look forward to. I've been planning away, and I still have a lot to do. I've never taken the kids on a trip of such huge proportions before, and there is a whole lot to think about. I have started a notebook with my various lists. Things to do to get the van ready. Stops along the way. Things to pack for the kids. Things I need to buy. I have an entire notebook. I predict it's going to get pretty full.

Bethany's birthday is in August, and like usual, she has been talking about her party for a couple months already. She has big plans. And since we'll be gone a lot this summer, I think I'm going to have to cave and start planning it early with her.

There are other things I want to do too. Lots of other things. For example:

• Belle Isle
• Historic Fort Wayne
• Detroit Riverfront
• Storybook Gardens in London, Ontario

I'm going to stop there, because I don't want to get too ambitious quite just yet.

What do you have planned for this summer?