Just Keep Swimming

After several frustrating summers of trying to get Braden over the fear of water, he is finally swimming!

I was going to put him in lessons this summer because we are going to Schilitterbahn and I wanted him to be swimming before then, but Braden kept telling me he knew how and wanted to just do it.  A few weeks into summer and I guess he was right.  He's jumping off the side into water over his head, going down the slides, and today he swam the length of the pool without stopping! 

Seth has been the epitome of a good big brother in the pool this summer. He was right there encouraging Braden, helping him when he got a little scared, and cheering him on.  I am so thankful to Seth for helping Braden conquer his fears and be able to really enjoy the pool. Seth has even talked him into jumping off the diving board tomorrow!

Summertime and the Living's Easy

It's summertime!

School's out! Braden ended up with all commended on his TAKS tests. He only missed 1 on the reading and 2 on the math. He also made A Honor Roll for 3rd Grade! So proud!

May was so incredibly crazy that I barely came up for air! By the time school ended, I was exhausted and ready to go into hiding. But I still had to meet with the principal to plan the next year's PTA activities. The end of school was just so busy with parties, talent show, fundraising, and meetings that we couldn't fit it in.  Thankfully, I have now wrapped up my PTA business for the year, have the calendar set for next year, and have put it all out of my mind so that I can just enjoy the summer! (Except for the house I spent yesterday trying to sort my notebook and move things to the permanent file.) I have about a month until we gear up for next year. I cannot believe my little boy is going to be in the 4th grade next year and it is our last year at Arden Road! It seems like yesterday we were just starting Kindergarten!  It all flies by so fast. I think time actually passes faster once your kid enters school. I tear up just thinking about the fact that my baby is going to walk the halls at the end of 4th grade and be done with elementary school.  But I am not going to think about all that until I have to!

Summer is in full swing around here. We've been swimming every other day or so, staying up way to late, and sleeping even later. Our first adventure of the summer was last week. We went to OKC for some fun. Caught a Red Hawks game, which is going to be a frequent event now as they are the Astro's AAA farm team, and went to the OKC Zoo.  Making it through the entire zoo in one enjoyable day as a family felt like an achievement. 

We attempted the summer we first moved to Amarillo, but it was a horribly unsuccessful day. I think the boys were 6, 4, and 17 months. Yes, it was that bad that we didn't try again for almost 8 years! We have a couple pictures from that first adventure to the OKC Zoo. A shot or two of a one or two of the boys smiling with some animal, but the one that sticks out in my mind a shot where Braden is silently crying, sitting in the stroller, looking like he's melting, with Dustin standing next to him smiling, and Derik has Seth, who is balling his eyes out, off to the side having one of those talks. I think we'd been there two hours and he was starving, despite the IHOP breakfast we'd eaten directly before coming in. It was a very long, hot, tearful three hours in the zoo that day. 

Thankfully, 8 years later, we managed to walk the entire zoo and enjoy ourselves. It wasn't too hot, our hotel breakfast (Free breakfast is always a great bonus!) kept us going until lunch time, and it wasn't crowded at all! Woohoo!

Our normal summer camping fun has been put on hold as there is a fire ban everywhere and I just cannot imagine taking the boys camping without a campfire.  I explained to them cooking over a camp stove isn't near as much fun and after the sun goes down, we'll just have to crawl in the tents to turn in. Not much fun to sit around the non-existent campfire to eat unroasted marshmallows and just sit in the dark.  Besides, we are going "camping" with my parents for a weekend in Albuquerque in July. 

Derik did take Seth and Dustin on a 9 mile hike in the canyon last week. Apparently, Seth was done around mile 7 and then they ran out of water.  Not exactly the fun hike Derik was hoping for, but they survived. (And went to bed by 2 AM that night!) I am sure we will do some more hiking in the canyon this summer, but I'll make sure we aren't that ambitious. 

Last night was our annual summer trip to Wonderland. (Using our school night tickets purchased from none other than Arden Road PTA, of course!) It was practically deserted, which was great. The kids got to ride until their hearts content. This was the first year that Derik and I didn't buy at least one handstamp between us. Dustin and Seth playing the good big brothers and rode whatever Braden wanted to ride with him as many times as he wanted to ride it. Derik and I got to walk around and watch them have a good time without either of us feeling sick from some ride. It was great!

The boys are growing up so fast! Our summers are already getting shorter due to football starting in August for Dustin. I am really enjoying this summer. They are all getting along and enjoying each other. It's a little weird having a full blown teenager in the house. Staying up until 4 AM and texting his girlfriend 24/7. He's not one of those distant, parent-avoiding teenagers yet, which would really bug me. Derik and I are both just learning how to be parents to a teen. I am just so glad that Dustin is comfortable talking to us and still wants to hang out with us.  Seth and Braden are getting along great, other than little skirmishes over the Xbox, which is expected.  I think they are finally at ages where they can appreciate each other and enjoy each other's company without annoying the heck out of each other.  At least for this summer!

We have our big Carleton Family vacation to Schlitterbauhn to wrap up our time with the boys mid-July. Derik's mom, brother, sister-in-law and their four kids are meeting us there for three days and then I think we plan on spending a day exploring Fredricksburg. The boys are super stoked. They have seen this waterpark on the Travel Channel shows a few times and can't wait to get there. It will be a fun week and a good way to wind up our summer with the boys, as they have to go home at then end of that week.

So that's what summer looks like for us so far. I plan to try to blog more over the summer, but by looking at my blog history you can tell that is a long shot. Although I do much better trying to keep up with this during the summer than during the school year. I might even get some pictures posted! We'll see!