The Myth of Summer Vacation

Remember how it was back in May? The kids were all longing for school to be out - for them to have the whole summer to play.

Didn't quite work out that way, did it? And I'm sure we're not the only ones. Instead of lounging around all summer long, with weeks and weeks of playing and sleeping in, visiting friends, hanging out at the pool:

• We have not been to the pool as a family once.
• When the kids went, Sarah got a 2nd degree sunburn which lasted for months.
• Will got a head injury which sent him to the hospital and gave him a headache for a week.
• Ellen didn't go on her Girl Scout trip.
• We haven't taken a vacation at all as a family.
• Ellen was sick for quite a bit.
• It rained for the first month. Remember that?

And now we've got less than a month left! So here's my list of everything I have to get done before school starts:

• Get Will to the dentist about his lost filling (done)
• Get Will and Sarah to the eye doctor for new glasses (done for Will, not Sarah)
• Get Will his tetanus booster
• Get Ellen's birth certificate so she can -
  
• Get Ellen's driving permit (done)
• Get Ellen and Will in to the dermatologist
• Get Ellen and Sarah to the doctor for a prescription check
  
• Register all kids and pay all fees - 3 kids this year!
  
• Back to school shopping
• Replace kitchen floor
• Get my van tuned up

OK, to be fair, the van and the floor really don't have anything to do with it being summer. I would have had to do it anyway. And the school shopping and registration happen every year. But that's part of my point. Every May, we think we're going to have fun, fun, fun, and it doesn't quite work out that way. Yes, we do have fun, and the kids have certainly been goofing off, sleeping in every day and playing countless games on the Wii. But it doesn't ever last as long as it looks like it will.

Maybe I would be less dissatisfied if I looked at what we did get to do:

• Will went to Aaronic Priesthood Encampment
• Father-Son campout
• Girl's Camp - Sarah is there now! Ellen and I will go up on Friday.
• Ward campout
• Harry Potter movie event!
• Summer reading program
• Driving the 6 wheeler around
• Picnic with Grandma
• Ellen in Stadium of Fire
• Various sleepovers and birthday parties
• Girl trip for Sarah and me - that was so much fun!
• Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house
• Visit to Grant's beehives
• Visit from Vicky
• Will's campout with Mandy and Xander
• Book club
• Ellen's 17th birthday
  

So it's true we didn't have a big family vacation and we didn't spend our time hanging out at the pool, but we managed to have a lot of fun anyway. I think we did enjoy summer, in our own way. We just relaxed, goofed off, did family stuff, ate apricots, visited with the grandparents, watched movies. There are some things I still want to do - eat some corn on the cob and some watermelon, pick more tomatoes, finally get us all to the pool - but I'm pretty happy with where we are.