Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Summer Highlights

Even though I haven't been teaching for over two years now, I can't help but be mentally and emotionally invested in the start of a new school year.  I don't miss the long and sweaty days involved in setting up my classroom but I do miss the anticipation of it all.  There is something uniquely special about having an entire school year before me, brimming with the hope of new relationships and the promise of learning.   Whether you find yourself gearing up for a new school year or simply anticipating a change in seasons, I invite you to join me in reflecting on the summer days that just whizzed by in order to identify some of your favorite moments or experiences. 

When I first thought about trying to write this post, I wasn't sure I'd have very much to highlight. I've already told you about all of the big stuff we did like visit Waco and fly to Wisconsin.  Plus, after welcoming Jonah into our family in early April, I intentionally cleared our schedule and spent far more time than normal at home.  I needed to be home to grow into my role as a mom of two kids, Nicole needed a safe place to adjust to life with a baby brother around and Jonah needed the chance to sleep often, eat around the clock and grow his independence.  As I reflected on our summer, I realized that even though we were hunkered down for majority of the last four months, we still found some time to create a few special memories.    

2018 Summer Highlights 


Hat Creek Burger 
Navigating public places with a baby and a toddler has been one of the biggest challenges I have faced since bringing Jonah home.  So when the kids and I were invited to have lunch with some friends at Hat Creek Burger earlier this summer, I wasn't feeling brave enough to venture there on my own.  I asked Shawn if he we could have lunch there as a family a few days before our playdate so that I could see if it was a venue I could successfully navigate with both kids or not.   We packed everyone up and made our way there only to discover that the restaurant is a fantastic place for us to eat and play at this stage of our lives.  The shaded picnic tables face an outdoor play set that is small enough for me to keep my eye on Nicole no matter where she might be playing.  We don't make a habit of eating out regularly as a family, but when given the opportunity to go out, Hat Creek Burger was at the top of our list.   

Swimming 
For the past two summers, we have purchased season passes to our local pool, which is essentially a mini-water park.  I was fairly certain that Jonah would be too young to enjoy going, especially since sun screen isn't recommended for babies under the age of 6 months.   After finding out that he has extremely sensitive skin, we made the decision to not chance the sunscreen or the chlorine and Shawn bought passes for just himself and Nicole.  Those passes created a fun avenue for some refreshing and memorable daddy-daughter time.   

Nicole's First Haircut 
Hair is kind of a new thing for us since Nicole was bald for well over the first two years of her life.  Shawn and I were totally caught off guard when one day Nicole suddenly had enough hair to actually require a haircut.  At first we took turns trimming her bangs but after noticing how interested Nicole was in the scissors, we made the decision to outsource all haircuts.  She was absolutely thrilled to be taken to a salon to get her haircut and was wonderfully cooperative through the whole thing.

Family Visits 
We have had the wonderful privilege of hosting Shawn's Aunt Karen and Uncle Terry for two separate day visits while they were in town for work.  We are delighted when their work takes them our way and we relish the opportunity to connect face to face.  New memories are always made when we have the chance to sit down together for a few hours and I never get tired of watching them interact with our kids.

Wylie 
Anytime Shawn's work takes him somewhere he thinks I'd enjoy, he calls me on his way back to the office to tell me about the newest location we need to visit together.  The quaint and historic downtown of a little town called Wylie, Texas was one of those places.  We had the chance to head there as a family on a Saturday morning earlier this summer and we all enjoyed the break from our routine and the change of scenery.

Gymnastics Open House 
Nicole took Gymnastics lessons at the the beginning of the year and her thrill-seeking heart loved every minute of it.  Even though Nicole is not actively taking lessons at the gym right now, we still get invited to the open houses the gym hosts periodically.  As soon as I saw an email come through about an open house a few months ago, I called Shawn and asked if he was free to bring Nicole.  I signed them up and we were thrilled to tell Nicole about the event once the big day finally arrived.  Nicole ran, jumped, climbed, hung and balanced to her hearts content, while Shawn happily kept up with all of her adventuring.   

The end of Potty Training 
After reading countless books on potty training and doing what seemed like endless loads of laundry in the process of that training, our work is finally done.  There wasn't any one strategy that worked better than another, in the end it just took lots of practice, even more patience and the energy to be consistent.  As we neared the end, we used both rewards and consequences to solidify the bathroom habits we were aiming for.   The benefits of having a potty trained toddler far outweigh the struggle of getting there in the first place.  My life will forever be better because of this.  

What were your 2018 summer highlights?
Love,
Erica 


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