Recovering from Vacation

I've decided that vacations are overrated. It takes a week to get all the laundry washed and packed, the food organized, and make sure that you actually make it to your destination with a toothbrush for everyone and your own contact case. You have a wonderful time, but when you get home, it takes another week to recover, because every person has a week's worth of dirty clothes, the tent needs to be cleaned, the lawn is half dead and all the kids are crabby from traveling. What's even more crazy is that in three weeks, we're going to do it all again!!!

On a more positive note, my kids start swimming lessons on Monday. This is the highlight of every summer for them. Usually they do two sessions (totalling four weeks), but this year we're only doing one because of schedule conflicts. Still, I'm thrilled because as much as it's a pain to spend two hours a day in the baking sun at the city pool, it's still two hours a day that the kids are out of the house (i.e. not fighting), doing something active that isn't supervised specifically by me! Hooray! And, they're all pretty good in the water thanks to three summers of this. Actually, when we talk about moving, this is one of the things I'll miss most about this town-- the pool and summer lessons. Dylan is only eight, and he's already passed level five. Level six is life-guard training, so he's repeating level five this summer. Ethan (age 6) is in level four, which is all in the deep end of the pool. And Mazie should be swimming on her own by the end of the summer, and she still has a full year before she can go to kindergarten. Can you tell I love the lifeguards here? I do. I love them all!

Well, all the Rowdies are creeping out of the woodwork tonight because-- yee haw-- the rodeo is in town. I think we're the only people in the county who don't attend. There's a parade tomorrow, and we'll go to that instead. Then I'll check it off as having fulfilled my "good mommy" duty for the day. The worst thing about the parade is how much candy they kids get. No joke, it's like Halloween all over again, and I already hate Halloween. I do not want to be the candy patrol and have to listen to everyone whine and beg until the bowl is empty. Plus, I'm still trying to lose the weight from baby #4, so I definitely don't need a bowl of candy lying around.