The Summer of Significantly Less than 500

On the last day of school as the summer loomed long ahead of us, I had big plans for things to do with my kids. Places to go. Things to do. People to see. It’s funny to be halfway through the summer and realize we haven’t really done much. It’s also funny to feel kinda sorta great about it.

It’s been sort of slow and easy. Our days are filled with quieter less photo op worthy moments but still fun time spent together. And I guess, after all my husband’s traveling for 7 months, there isn’t much more I want out of life than time together. 

Is there anything cuter in this life than your little kid walking hand in hand with his father?  

We got new bikes back in May and have been riding, riding and riding some more. We rode so much we dreamed up a big scheme we called “The Summer of 500” and started counting our miles hoping to get to 500 by the end of the summer. I’m here to tell you 500 miles is a really, really long way with 2 relatively small kids. We’ve managed to make it 40 miles. By mid July. I’m not even sure “The Year of 500” could happen.

Exhibit A that I bring up the rear a lot.

By the end of the 2nd mile, we typically have people wanting to know how much farther. We also have to field heat and thirst related complaints. The cure to almost any ailment while riding is hitting the Sonic. Amazing what a soft serve cone can do for your 7 year old’s disposition.

Sometimes we get crazy and order some tater tots and a slushee, too. I know. We get crazy up in here.

We mostly ride in the park by our house. We are fortunate enough to live near a lovely park with lovely trails and lovely ponds to look at and we feel lovely every time we take advantage of it being right here in the lovely neighborhood we spent years pining for while living in the hood in an old house with carpeted bathrooms.  I have nothing but warm fuzzy memories of my family’s time in that house in the hood with the carpeted bathrooms but believe me when I say we appreciate every lovely thing about where we live now.

Exhibit B.  Still in the rear. 

I typically bring up the rear on our bike rides in the hopes of wrangling the dawdlers. My husband typically takes the point position to head off certain insane 7 year old boys with a death wish that want to fling themselves out into traffic without looking.

Trying out riding to the grocery store.  My husband got to carry the backpack full of fruit home.  He drew the line at watermelon.

My husband also likes to try to set the pace for our ride. One time he started telling my daughter and I to hurry up. So I reminded him that the current activity was "riding together and having fun" not "finishing a certain distance and getting it over with." Dork.

We’ve also been trying out frisbees and boomerangs. I laughed hysterically when my husband took the kids in the front yard the first night to test the boomerangs and immediately lost one over a neighbor’s fence. The neighbors weren’t home and the fence was too high to scale. That’s called funny. 

Aiming with his free arm.  That's where the magic happens. 

We burn some daylight trying to throw them. Periodically we get one to come back into our general vicinity. Mostly we end up walking to retrieve it and laughing at each other.  And an extra reason to laugh at each other is always a good thing.

The ninja showing us how it's done.

We also located some frisbees to try out frisbee golf.  Two years after we moved here, we noticed our lovely aforementioned park has a course. My husband went to the ninja school of throwing and gets Tiger Woods like distances. The rest of us mere mortals require a several throws to get somewhere near the hole (which isn’t actually a hole but I’m too stupid to know what it’s called in Frisbee golf.).

The kids like that they each have their own frisbee and everyone is getting to throw instead of it being one at a time and boring. And I suck just as much as the kids do so even though their father crushes them, the rest of us are pretty even. It’s cheap entertainment and involves some walking. Thumbs up.

The frisbee golf course designers put a couple holes near the edge of the lovely pond in the lovely aforementioned park. I guess that would be cute and challenging if you're into frisbee golf and competitive.  But if you're the Clampetts out goofing off with your kids and one of them is a trainwreck and therefore likely to send his Frisbee to the bottom of the pond, holes near the water is annoying.

Exhibit C.  Yep.  Rear.  Still here. 

Because that pond is only lovely if I’m riding past it. That pond is not lovely if I have to wade into it or feel around on the bottom with my hand. Because when I think about having to do either of those things, it’s the nastiest pond I’ve ever seen in my life and I kinda sorta think I threw up in my mouth just thinking about the brown water.

I keep convincing my kids to practice on other holes instead. Odds are they'll eventually want to broaden their horizons though.  I’m not against broad horizons.  I just think we should find ways to do it that don’t set off my gag reflex.

Doesn’t make me a bad mother. Plenty of other things might. But that one doesn’t.