Summer Balancing Act

B @ the OK Science Museum Wednesday

I sort of feel like B's expression in this photo this week.  Summer is this huge ball of crazy this year.  On the one hand, I'm getting lots more time with my kids and spending SO much less time driving in circles.  On the other, my house is a mess every day is finely balanced just this side of chaos.  

E exploring @ OK Science Museum

 The thing is, nearly every week our schedule is different.  Most weeks for the last month or so some portion of our family has been traveling.  Almost every other week all summer we have a different camp or no camp schedule. I try to make sure we have at least one and probably two or more little summer adventures each week so it is fun and different and interesting, not just sitting around the house, although we certainly do a lot of that too. 

B & M complete with lots of face paint -- some drawn by them, some by me @ OK Science museum.

I work part time and want to use the time I'm not working to do fun things with them and take them away from their beloved screens.  We're doing fairly well with that lately and they do well with it generally.  Each day, we're doing a watercolor pencil painting, chores, a little screen time, and usually some library reading program/Ms. Sheetz summer program related project.  Often there are also science experiments and other crafts.  All good. 

Cupcakes @ Sara Sara Cupcakes Wednesday using coupon from Summer Reading Program (after afternoon at museum and dinner at Big Truck Tacos...)

But most of us are here most of the time and so the house is always just this side of more mess than I can handle.  If one day or maybe two of doing laundry is skipped there are somehow five loads the following day.  

Braid fun - Thursday- not quite as planned, but cute?

Today, we had a few things planned.  Swimming lessons for B & M and B attending P's birthday party.  Then, it became clear that B needed to see a Doctor about his asthma.  So in the 2.5 hours between my work ending and swimming lessons we changed everyone into swimming suits, and they packed bags with clothes for after swimming.  Everyone needed snacks and a drink.  We packaged P's present and searched futily for a gift receipt, and finally got everyone fed, watered, packed, and loaded. We weren't even late. (Victory).  Then B needed a nebulizer treatment and will be taking something like 26 puffs on his inhalers per day for the next two days (that is puffs, not breaths, for breaths, take that number x 6).  We "barely" made it to swimming a minute or two late.  Swimming was fine, Brent and I reconfirmed evening logistics.  I took M to change-- she had three pairs of pants, no shirts... back into swimming suit.  The boys went to P's party, I took the littles home and sometime after dinner M's listening ears fell off in the middle of a chaotic house and a whiny baby brother.  Le Sigh. She did go to sleep easily though!

Wednesday morning impromptu bubble bath x 3

There are also impromptu bubble baths that last an hour and are full of hillarity and adorable naked bums.  There is also my painfully sore heal and some gimping around with a baby on my hip and the million smiles from E and others as he learns to walk, falls, gets up, walks some more, he perseveres and so do we. 

There are back-to- school shopping trips that end up fun with most people happy.  There are a zillion fun projects a few boo boos, scrapes, and falls.  There are puddles being splashed in and books being read.  We are making art, talking, thinking, and learning.  We are constantly looking for a new babysitter and constantly having new schedule changes.  We are visiting friends and filling our weekends with birthday parties.  We are holding it together, barely, but I think we'll make it and just dream they and we remember the good in it and forget some of the crazy.  Every day I'm trying, often losing patience, but rolling back around to wanting to have these moments of fun, random adventures with our kids so we keep going and working together. Can you believe that one week from Saturday they'll be back in class? It seems so soon (and sometimes a long time... particularly with my child care chaos emerging again).  What a wacky, wonderful life.