Summer of Flaherty, Update Three

Activity 4, Part 2: Museum of Life and Science. Another Wednesday, another afternoon at the Museum of Life and Science, this time with Kevin! After all I could handle at the bug and butterfly houses, I whisked away with Girl for a peaceful time on the playground and on the upper level of the inside museum while Kevin and Boy just kept keeping on with the bugs. It was hot, and I was bit by something that later necessitated a trip to the urgent care, but you just can't beat the museum for an afternoon of good, clean, free family fun.

Activity 3, Part 3: Summer Camp. Girl and Boy have both finished their summer camps at this point. The final day for Boy was a "Wet Day" which necessitated swim gear and involved a giant, inflatable water slide. For Girl, there was a production in a "real theater with a real stage and the chairs have red velvet on them!" Girl was dressed in flip flops and a makeshift kimono with a paper flower and chopsticks in her bun and looked too pretty, although hiding a little while singing "Welcome to the Island of Japan. With beautiful decorated hand fans," (for reals) to the tune of "Kung Fu Fighting." There was also an art exhibit in the hallway. Next year, Girl will have to choose either the performing arts or visual arts track.

Activity 7: Really Really Free Market. I already talked about this. Read the other blog, I'm tired.

Goal 2: Kindergarten Book. So one of the goals we had for the summer was to weed through Girl's pile of sent home papers and art projects from her first year of school and take it down to what we could cram into the folder in her School Days portfolio (which you use for all their school years. It's cute.) Not only did we accomlish that, but we also yanked out the massive pile of random paintings, skeetches, and whatnots from in the office FROM ALL THE YEARS PRIOR TO SCHOOL and weed through that as well. There is now just a not-full brown paper sack of the pre-school years as well as a little purple binder where I had been saving her Homeschool Art Projects. Phew!

Goal 3, Part 1: De-Clutter House. Which is sort of like the bigger version of the above goal. In light of our house being up for sale (even though a sale is looking very not imminent), we are going to have a yard sale this year, with hopefully about 1/4 of everything we own in it. We simply can not fit into an apartment (read: no storage or attic or shed) with what we have, plus we are sick of having a bunch of stuff we don't need around, anyhow. We started awhile ago with the kitchen--since it needed some real help before the house was ever shown--and I stuffed several boxes in the attic. Last week we started the summer de-clutter with our own bedroom, where we almost filled four of the very big garbage bags with clothes, purses and bags, shoes, accessories, magazines, etc. Props to Kevin. I could not have cut nearly as much as I did without him saying, over and over, "If you have to ask me, just cut it." The last two days I have been working on Girl's room with her, where we have not even filled one bag yet, but have a giant pile of Dora stuff that has taken over the hallway. She is doing a super job letting me severely thin out all her hidey-holes. Now to figure out when we can actually have the sale...

Activity 8, Part 1: Make Perfume. Promised Girl that we would do this during the summer. Unfortunately, the concoction that we have brewing on the counter is a little sad, since I waited so long that all the lovely flowers have died back in the summer heat. I think we are going to end up with rose instead of honeysuckle perfume. Poo.

Activity 9: Fourth of July. We really punked out on this holiday this year, not even leaving the house. No fireworks. Not even a sparkler. In the end, Dan and Lindsay decided to bring Baby up and join us for our burger-dog cook out and we spent the afternoon full in the gut and watching Boy and Girl play in the pool while scrunching ourselves up against the wall of the house where there was but little coveted shade to be had.

Activity 10: Picnic at Duke Gardens First day, really, of non-camp summer break. The calender said it was time to do a picnic at Duke Gardens, so before the kids had to go in for their annual check-ups, that is what we did. In between times when steam was coming out my ears as Boy ran in the wrong direction after a bug, it was lovely. A little hot, but full of strolling into all our favorite parts of the garden, and even some lazing around on a blanket, eating plums with lemonade, overlooking the deserted, sunny green where Boy crawled back and forth after butterflies. It was a little strange, though, since a summer storm last night threw the whole garden into mild disarray, some flooding, and plenty of washed, sand paths, fallen limbs, broken flowers, and a completely muddied koi pond.