Summer is HERE!

It’s official- school is out for both kids now.

Today was Asher’s last day of 7th grade. Here are his obligatory comparison shots, 1st day on the left, last day on the right!

They had a fun “Field Day” event with outdoor games and activities for most of the afternoon. I have volunteered at this in years past, but decided not to this year. We can’t do it all, folks. I already was off for the 8th grade event last week and wrapped up work early for graduation, etc. Anyway, I am sure Asher was just as happy to not have ‘ol mom hanging around.

Ethan and several friends volunteered at the event, though. (The 8th graders were done already, if you recall, so they didn’t have to be there.) But they asked any 8th graders who were willing to help out to come spend a few hours, so he did. His high school requires over 100 hours of volunteer/ community service work in order to graduate, and they said he could start checking off hours this summer already if any opportunities arose. So, I printed the sign off sheet and sent it with him! Might as well knock a few out in the first week of summer break.

I picked Asher up after school and per his request, we made a quick Culver’s run. He wanted a chicken tenders kids meal (I guess as a 3 p.m. afternoon…snack?). Okay, fair enough. He ended up with a 4.0 GPA all 4 quarters so, I’d say he deserves some chicken tenders if he wants them. To celebrate the fact that I survived another school year, I treated myself to a scoop of the flavor of the day, which was Brownie Batter Overload, or something like that. lol.

And, for some reason, I didn’t take any photos!!! We always usually do a little special something on the last day of school, so I’m bummed I forgot to capture that. Oh well….

Also, it was weird because for the first time ever, Ethan wasn’t with us. He and friends had biked to the school event, and they had left by the time I got there to pick up Asher. I texted him and they were at a friend’s house already. On the way home, I drove past him and a friend near our house as they were apparently also headed to Culver’s on their scooters… but with his own debit card, and without his mom. I guess that’s the cooler way to do things. Sniff sniff. Times, they are a changing. I guess it’s all good. They are allegedly supposed to “grow up” and become more independent, right?? 😥

Now, it’s time to pivot to the actual summer schedule. Which is going to vary a bit, depending on the day and the week.

Ethan’s Strength and Conditioning class is Monday- Thursday from 7:30- 9 a.m. every day at his high school, though, so that’s a staple. Sounds like he really likes it so far! Also, he said, “I actually like just getting up and getting my workout in right away. It’s nice to have it out of the way.” He is not a kid who really “sleeps in” much anyway, so the early start is fine. They leave by ~6:55 a.m to get there. They spend 45 minutes in the weight room and then 45 minutes doing speed/ agility/ conditioning work on the football field.

Asher has a pretty open first week here, after soccer tryouts end tonight. But next Thursday (6/15) he leaves for Fort Myers, Florida for a week! He’s heading to a swim camp at Florida Gulf Coast University with a group of ~27 other kids from his swim team. The training trip was only open to kids 13+, but most of the kids going are older, like 15-17 years old. He is definitely the youngest (13 1/2), followed by his best buddy who is 14 1/12. But, it’s a great group of kids, so I know he’ll be fine. They are friends with a bunch of the older boys, too, who are all really nice kids.

Apparently the dorms are like “apartment style”, with a living room + bedrooms, etc. Sounds pretty cool!! And way bigger than my college dorm.

We have to send full sized sheets, a pillow, a blanket, sunscreen, towels, etc… on an airplane?? Fortunately, the coach is going to send some boxes of the big stuff down in advance. I need to drop it all off when he goes to practice tonight, but I do not have any vacuum seal bags.

This is the smallest I could pack, and this is just: a fitted sheet, a flat sheet, a small blanket, 1 can of sunscreen and a pillow.

UGH, still seems humongous. Guess I’m making a Target run after I drop him off to get some vacuum seal bags. Another swim mom texted me that they have a 5 pack of these in the suitcase aisle…

I hope everyone has a great summer!! I feel ready for the change of pace, the warm weather, and for the boys to have more flexible schedules. I am also ready for soccer season to be done for a while, along with Ethan’s 3x per week 5 p.m. practices that are at least 15 minutes away and that Ivan is never home in time to drive him to….

So far, both boys seem pretty naturally interested in doing a lot of things that do NOT involve screens this summer, so I’m hopeful that we can achieve a decent balance without having to go all crazy hard core with limits, etc. Fingers crossed.

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for another healthy, happy school year!! Never will take school for granted again after the pandemic.