
Last year you heard me whine and complain that my kids were gonna be
home AALLLL summer. Don't know why, but this summer has been awesome.
Not that I didn't hit the wall, finally last Friday when they were all
fighting, all day, but this summer was different. I only had one camp
scheduled and it was a sleep-away one for CBear. It was a camp I
always wished I could go to as a kid, so I was super excited for her.
Although I did have flashbacks of Little Darlings,
our girls were off to a Christian Camp where the mantra was "Boys are
blue. Girls are red. There is to be no purple". Love it.
But here's the thing I love about summer. There is NO structure. No sports, or tutoring or dance or places to be with multiple pickups. We get to stay in our jammies and snuggle in bed if we want. Boredom foster's creativity. Nuf said. I mean how many adults do you know that can create a table out of two Razor scooters and a piece of cardboard - all with the intent of enjoying a delicious pancake breakfast?
And it had been many YEARS since I had more than 2 nights away with Doug without kiddos. My sis had all three and they did Camp Auntie, and Doug and I went here, where we got to take in the sunset every night, drink good wine, eat good food and, ya, a little of that, too, wink, wink. Good for the soul.
Maybe we all watched too many episodes of Chopped, but my kids all took up a huge interest in cooking this summer. Mac, 6, mastered the scrambled egg, Julia, 9 the pancake (see recipe) and Claire 12 has started perusing my food mags for dinner ideas. She made me the most amazing birthday dinner. More on that later. We're using words around our house like a confit of cheerios or garnishing your oreo with a sprig of mint. When my boy wants to garnish, he can put mint on anything he wants as far as I'm concerned!
We had sleepovers in the backyard, and more sleepovers....
we did the beach and the boardwalk
We made new friends...yes, on facebook...long story, but that's me...
Oh ya, and there was the big 4-0
Dawn flew into town and Jody, Brandt, Kel, Mark, Doug and I took a car up to Palo Alto for a fabulous Cuban dinner at La Bodeguita del Medio, complete with my beloved cubano, a mojito (recipe to come!) and heartfelt stories from old friends that my hub collected. Sooo fun. No huge party needed. Got a huge complement the other day..."You don't even look forty." "Really? Well how old do I look then?" "38!" "Yes!" lol.
Worst confession - I didn't work out for most of the summer. And I didn't feel guilty. Didn't feel energetic or fit, either. Drank too much wine, too. So next Monday, it's back to the grind! Recipes to come!