As a parent, the days are long…but the years are short.

Wow!  We made it to Labor Day, the official end of summer.  (Can I just say, WHERE has this year gone?!?!)  So what did you do this summer? Trip to Europe? Trip to the mall?  Our summer was pretty low key. No big vacations and, I successfully avoided the mall!   We had lots of time to just hang out and do things together.

Early in the summer, I came across a blog that featured a cute picture of a summer “Bucket List” the author created for her daughter.  She said she created the list so that they could do fun things all summer, rather than waiting until two weeks before school started.  She said last year, they lounged around all summer and then realized that they hadn’t done certain things they wanted to do during the summer.  So the last weeks of the family’s relaxation time were packed with activities.

I liked the idea of planning certain fun events and thought it was a good idea.  For us it’s (usually) not about lounging around, it’s about being too busy to pay attention to the certain things that are only available to do during the summer time.  I made two lists that I kept on my desktop. One list of things I wanted to do, and one list of fun summer things we did.  So here are a few things we did this summer:

• Spent lots of time at Hawaiian Falls, the local water park, and made great use of our season passes.
• Mom & Woody Date – Went to see “Judy Moody” because he read all of the Judy Moody and Stink books & loved the characters.
• Mom & Tigger Date – Made cookie “burgers”. We used ‘Nilla wafers for buns, Keebler Grasshoppers for the meat patty, white icing for mayo, colored icing for ketchup and mustard, and colored coconut flakes for the lettuce.  They were so cute, and pretty tasty, too.
• Vacation Bible School – We did 2 VBS’ in one week! One at our church and one at a local church where they have lots of friends.
• We had our annual “Ice Cream for Dinner” night, only we substituted ice cream for frozen yogurt from our local favorite shop.
• Made Ice Cream for a snack one day.
• We burned things with magnifying glasses.
• Saw the long awaited movie, “Cars 2″.
• We read many, many, many library books.
• We got to meet and hold a brand new baby, when my dear friend gave birth to a little miracle.
• Boys got to spend a week at Allaso Ranch (camp).
• We visited an art museum and saw the Picasso and Braque exhibit at the Kimball Art Museum.
• We visited the planetarium and got to see the stars without getting bitten by bugs.
• We made Popsicles.
• We went to Houston to visit with Beba & Big Daddy
• We clowned around at the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus.
• We visited Krispy Kreme and remembered the tales of the doughnut machine from one of our favorite books “Homer Price.”

The things that were on my list that we didn’t get to were:

• Find a drive in movie theater – I found one, but it’s been soooo hot that it hasn’t even been a viable option.  When it is 106 at 4PM, it is still nearly 100 at 8PM. Bleh. Not fun…
• Lay in the yard and watch the stars – Again, I blame the heat for not doing this.
• Go bowling – No excuse, just didn’t get to it.

So, that pretty much sums up our summer.  Lots of fun hanging out together.  We tried some new things and revisited old favorites.  All in all, it was a great summer.  Now to see what excitement our school year holds!

Friday night, Hubby and Woody headed out of town because they both had shooting matches about 2 – 3 hours away from home.  Hubby shot his match that night. They stayed in the hotel overnight and then Woody shot his Saturday morning.  They had a great time eating all kinds of junk that I’d never allow, forgetting any manners I may have tried to impart, and I’m sure spent a great amount of time burping, farting and scratching.  Generally, hanging out doing guy things.

(For those who need to know: Hubby placed 3rd.  Woody scored 240-something out of  300. (Which was excellent as a first-year archer at his first big match.) We won’t know his placement till later in the week.)

I didn’t want Tigger to feel left out. (He’s not old enough to do the 4H Archery.) So, I told him that we could have a “Date Night” while Daddy and Woody were out of town.  He was okay with it, but not really excited.  I asked him where he thought we should go, and he named his Daddy’s favorite restaurant.  When I suggested to him that we should pick something HE would like to do, his face lit up like the sun.   I suggested things like putt-putt golf, bowling, a movie, and the Lego store.  Well, the Lego store won.

So, Friday I dressed up for my date.  Handsome little Tigger put on a polo shirt and combed his hair so he would be ready.  We drove across town to the mall that has the Lego store and had a ball.  In typical guy fashion, he was not interested in walking around the mall looking at things.  We made a bee-line to the Lego store.  Spent 20-30 minutes looking at all of the many neat Lego kits.  He added at least 20 to his birthday/Christmas/just-because-I-want-it Wish List.  I let him pick out one of the smaller kits and purchased it.  He nearly came out of his skin with excitement.

After the Lego store we decided to look for a place to eat.  As we walked toward the escalator, I saw a candy shop.  I asked if he wanted to go in, and then he was gone.  The expression “kid in a candy store” fit just perfectly.  There were so many things, he was overwhelmed with choices.  Because he seemed bewildered, I suggested that we go have dinner and then return to make our selections.   ~ And the boy who LOVES food could not move fast enough.

Upon our arrival to the food court, I named his choices: Soup, Salad, Taco Bar, Chick-Fil-A, Sonic, Japanese Noodles, or Panda Express.  Surprise – he picked Panda.  1) He loves their Orange Chicken, and 2) He thinks that Kung Fu Panda would approve.

We sat down to eat, and chatted about nothing and everything, as only a 6 year-old with his mom can.  Then I decided to find out his thoughts on a couple of subjects. Boy, let me tell you THAT was an eye opener.

First, I said, “Since this is your first date. What do you think the most important part of a date should be?”

His answer, unsurprisingly “That you get to eat.”

I prodded, “Anything else?”

He said, “Bring money.”

Well, okay then.  I guess he’s made up his mind!

Next I decided to ask him about his future wife.

I said something like “You know someday you might grow up and get married.  What do you think your wife needs to know in order to be married to you?”

He kind of hemmed and hawed, like he wasn’t sure of how to answer.

So I started the sentence for him, “She needs to know ___.”

His response, “my name???”

“Well, yes, son.  It would be a benefit if your wife knew your name.  HA!”

 

I was really thinking that he would answer something like “She needs to know how to cook.” Because this boy is so completely and totally food motivated.  I’ve joked that he’s going to propose to the first girl who comes along and prepares him a meal.  Well, as long as it isn’t scrambled eggs or goulash – he hates those…

Anyway, after recovering from his first answer.  I have a few more bites of dinner, and I continued.

“What else does she need to know?  She needs to know _____.”

He plainly stated, “She needs to know God, and His son Jesus. And she needs to know the Bible.”

My mom smile can’t be controlled at this point. “That’s excellent, Tigger.  I think those are very important things for her to know.  Is there anything else that you think she needs to know?”

He thinks for a minute and then states quite matter-of-factly, “She needs to know how to take care of dogs and kids.”

“Well, okay then.  So, if I got this right, the three most important things your wife needs to know are your name, God, and how to take care of dogs and kids.  Is that it?”

“Yep,” he says polishing off the last of his Orange Chicken.

 

Ah, the simplicity of childhood.

We tidied up our table and started walking back to the candy store.  And then curiosity got the best of me, because I just had to find out about the food thing.

I ask, “So which one of you is going to cook when you get married?  You or her?”

“I don’t know.  We’ll figure it out later.”

Then I say, “Okay.  Well, who’s gonna clean the house?  You or her?”

And the 6 year-old looks up to me and says, “Oh, easy.  The kids will do that.”