Land Unlocked

We've tried and tried to counter this summer's heat with the usual methods...

Hitting the pool daily for swim team and lessons:

Installing four glorious ceiling fans, made only better with these three glorious words from Anthony: "You were right."

Lighting other things aflame, figuring we'd feel relatively cool versus, say, a Roman Candle:

Indoor activities, like bitching and moaning. Oh, and bowling, which is more fun for the boys:

But we were finally cooled properly - and unlocked from this most land-locked place - with a trip to the lake yesterday with our dear friends, the Wilsons.

 Daniel Wilson, Roman & Ben

It was the boys' first(!) lake trip, first boat ride and first fling on a tube...and easily their best, most exhausting day ever. (Roman the daredevil, hopeful this morning: "Are we going on the boat again today?")

  Ben, Anthony & Roman

As for me...well, it felt like the return of my 16-year-old, laughing, lake-living self...with only a few differences: I was plus sunscreen (turns out that stuff works!), minus crushes on all the boys (never did work), and plus next-day tube-induced pain. Maybe there's a workout for that...?!

The Dog Ate My Blog

...okay, not really, but this busy, lazy summer (yes, both) has kept me from the computer.

Please accept the following as updates and excuses (again...yes, both):

#1: We were wrapped up in pomp & circumstance.
Ben graduated from Kindergarten amid a million activities, along with a song that was obviously written by a sadist. Sample line: "...just remember I'm little..." Come on!

#2: I was sick.
Yowza, was I sick. Like, "no wine for me" sick. A first. For a week. But rather than send me out to pasture like I suggested, Roman kindly read me back to wellness.

 

#3: We were at the game.
Ben has become quite the little hitter in T-ball, and he's finally learned to run in the following order: first, second, third, home. (That's Roman's "YES" in the background.)

#4: We had family in town.
Aunt Viv paid a visit! From Seattle, she was enroute to Berlin with the option of stopping in Paris, France or Wichita, Kansas. And would you believe...!?

#5: I was under water.
We've been total water dogs with daily swim team, lessons and other poolside slackery. Here, Ben (center) preps for the backstroke at his first meet:

#6: I got caught up at the gym.
My coworkers and I had the pleasure of working out with Hannah Curlee from The Biggest Loser; she came to Wichita and joined us for Group Power. Much to my chagrin, she didn't offer me any temptation challenges.

#7: We were chasing Anthony.
Damn, he's fast! In the time it took us to get out of the house and park, Anthony was nearing the finish line. He came in 5th among the 30-somethings at RiverRun this year, hands down our favorite Wichita event. Where else can you get bouncy castles AND an ice cold Newcastle at 9 a.m.?!

And finally...
#8 We were in traffic.
We're incredibly lucky. My boys have so rarely been in traffic that, when it happened last week, they were devastated. And so curious. "Why are you stopping?" "Where did these cars come from?" And my favorite from Roman, "Why are all these idiots parked on the highway?" (Yes, I'll cool it on the name-calling.)

Phew! Now that we're caught up...who wants to join us at the pool?

Wishful Thinking

"I wish for a funny summer," Roman said today at the fountain. It's always money well spent at Bradley Fair...or at least the best return on investment.

That penny is already buying us some laughs on this first day of vacation (for Roman, that is; he finished year one of pre-school yesterday.).

And I'm not just talking about my Gap swimsuit try-on session where the laughing was, of course, to keep from crying. Aside from the usual bikini dismay, I was reminded (again) that it's time to be less self-deprecating in front of my kids. Roman said (again) "Mom, if that's too small you'll look like a sausage."

Also time for him to sit outside of the dressing room. Duh.

Yep, it's been a funny week, with Ben's first practice t-ball game, where his enthusiasm collided with his shaky grasp of the rules; I'd never seen a kid run the bases in the wrong direction...and with such gusto.

So I don't fear any shortage of funny around here this summer, just as soon as we get through Ben's kindergarten graduation next week, marking the official end to my Kindergarten CryFest 2011-2012.

Roman, good call on that wish. Summer LaughFest 2012, here we come.

Here's to Moms

My mom managed a lot in her life: work, school, travel, family, in-laws, health issues and (the biggest adventure) two teenaged girls and all the fun that must have come with being our single parent. It didn't dawn on me then, but she was balancing a lot on her little body. Why didn't I realize it?! Because she never complained.

And now, as my guardian angel for nearly 20 years, she's balanced my nonsensical twists and turns. She's kept me safe and landed me in a great life.

Well done, Mom. I miss you.

So if I can give my kids one great lesson - something I've been thinking a bit about on this Mother's Day - it'll be about balance.

Not this kind of balance, which Roman demonstrated at Ben's soccer game today:

(Jogger balls? Juggle balls? I still don't know if this is an actual move.)

I mean the kind of balance that makes us happy, humble people. You know...
We get, so we give.
We play, so we work.
We spend, so we save.
We eat well, so we exercise.
We make a mess, so we clean.
We have great days, and some not great.

And this one falls into the great category. I'm sharing Mother's Day with my beautiful mother-in-law Eileen and with Anthony, who turns 36 today.

(Behold: Eileen and me not saving as we arrived at the Kansas Star Casino last night.)

So, today, as I celebrate my mom and all the other lovely moms in my lucky life, I propose a toast to good life balance.

See? We drink cheap champagne, so we buy good o.j. Ah, balance.

Happy Mother's Day, friends.

Ride On, Part 2

Wouldn't you know it?! Roman, who looked too little to walk, too little to talk, then too little to have an opinion (all things he does now with particular gusto), today became the smallest looking person ever to ride a bike without training wheels.

Yup, here he is today, cruising the driveway after Anthony removed the shackles:

I'm especially impressed by his his multi-tasking abilities: riding sans training wheels while paying compliments to my footwear ("Mom, I like your shoes") and pointing out dings in our neighbor's truck. Nothing gets by that kid.

Sidelines

Before all of yesterday's action in the Kansas sky, we had some pretty impressive action on the ground.

First, Ben's soccer game was (incredibly) not cancelled, despite hair-tangling winds and looming storm clouds. And thank goodness, because I hate to think we'd have missed his two(!) goals and post-goal celebrations, in which he throws his arms in the air (below), then scans for Anthony on the sidelines and delivers a straight-armed thumbs up.

(Ben's in white, in the middle)

 

Also on the sidelines, Roman showed off his skills which Anthony assures me are, indeed, skills. Funny, but they remind me of my own "all sizzle, no steak" soccer method, which involved a lot of motion, but very little ball handling.

In other ground-based action (still waiting for the storm to hit), back at the house Roman was reading up a surprising storm, his fave: Green Eggs and Ham.

...all leading up to the actual storm, which hit late and fast on Saturday night. The boys were first frightened, then fascinated and then absolutely wiped out. Thankfully we stayed on the sidelines of the storm too, bypassed by tornadoes but doused with rain. Here, we hunker down as spectators to the tornado show, while the boys drift off.

Lowered Expectations

I'm not sure what has Roman feeling melancholy post-nap, but here are three guesses:

1. He accidentally succumbed to sleep during quiet reading time.
2. He picked a book with very few pictures and a lot of small type.
3. He just found out what he should have expected all these years.

(It's What to Expect the Toddler Years)

Case closed on what put him to sleep. But now I have my own mystery to solve: where has that book been all these years?!