Getting ready to shift gears

We have less than two weeks until school starts. That means this is the week where we start easing back into a bedtime routine. We stop watching hours of TV, playing on our Kindles all afternoon or staying in our pajamas until noon. And by “we” I mean my kids since you could never walk in my house and see me in my pajamas watching tv all afternoon… and if you did, call 911 because I must be very ill.

This is also the week where I try to squeeze in a few last gasps of summer. Oh, we’ll still have fun adventures on weekends but getting to go to the beach or the city on a random Wednesday feels more fun. So we’ll be doing a few fun things this week & next.

And in the spirit of shifting gears, here are some things that have made me smile on our unusually, lazy days of summer:

– Sitting on the deck in the early evening with some cheese & wine before making dinner

– Watching my middle-child stroll out of bed with her crazy bedhead at 10:30 in the morning three days in a row

– Having one of my favorite beers from out West now on tap in my basement

– Taking the kids on a picnic at the park

– Turning my frown upside-down after watching the smiles on my children’s faces when I not only took them to the county fair but bought them a wristband for unlimited rides all afternoon.

It’s been a whirlwind of a summer and yet at times a summer filled with slow paces. I’ll reflect on that later though, after all we still have 10 days of summer to soak up.