(Yes, I know it’s Wednesday.)
(Yes, I had to check a calendar because the last five days have flown.)
(Would I know where my brain was if it wasn’t screwed to my shoulders? Probably not.)
So Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were spent narrowly avoiding this experience all over again. Exhibit A: Isaiah’s face, before and after.
Sunday was church (and hours long naps for everyone afterwards). Still don’t think everyone was quite feeling up to snuff.
Monday, we trekked up to Natural Tunnel State Park with family friends of ours (they have five, soon to be six, plus our six- every seat in the van was filled for the first time ever.) It was customer appreciation day, so everything in the park was free: we rode the chair lifts, peered into the tunnel, put pennies on the train tracks (shh, don’t tell), picnicked, and then headed to the pool while a slight mist fell. (It eventually got sunny.) I give you Exhibit B.
It was probably the first planned outing our family has been on in nearly two years. It felt strange to have it all together, to have a fully-stocked diaper bag, for one or more children to not be sick or in need of care (or mama or daddy), for us to go and have fun without a lot of extra work and baggage to carry with us. (At some point we found it so difficult to get out with the kids that we would not go without assistance- like grandparents, etc.) Not only did we survive it, we had waaay too much fun! We came home sleepy as possums and red as lobsters.
Yesterday, of course, was our first day back to school, again, after missing three days last week to the germ train. This is the first time I’ve got two with a significant amount of work (my fourth and third grader), and I’m already shifting things around and smoothing out the rhythm between work and play so they don’t get overloaded. We start co-op next week, too, which we haven’t participated in for four years. I’m sure that will shift things about too. I think, all in all, it’s going to be a good fit this year.
I can feel it in my bones. This is going to be a fantastic Autumn.