Summer!

OK, so I know summer isn't officially here. Actually, we're only a few days into spring, but that's just a technicality right??? One of my absolute favorite things about summer has begun, and it just brings a smile to my face!

Last night after school we didn't really have any plans. I was going to take Katherine and Caleb to the park to play for a while, but Andrew was still napping, so I sent them out to the backyard while I went upstairs to check on Andrew. In the two minutes it took me to check on him, Grant (one of our neighbor boys who is also in Kindergarten) joined the kids on the swing set. A few minutes later, Emma and Olivia were over, and then the Hodapp boys joined in. It was great! The kids were running around the backyard, laughing, and wearing off some of that energy that had been building up all winter long. After about an hour, all the kids ended up in my living room, and Katherine was teaching the boys tricks on the beam. If only I had my video camera. It was such a hoot!!

That's what I LOVE about this neighborhood... all the kids, all the parents who have become our dearest friends, and the sense of community our children are learning. It's so wonderful. And... I have to admit, I love that Katherine wants to invite her friends over to our house!! I love to see her in action -- how she plays with her friends, what games they make up, and what goes on in their developing minds!

I'm so ready for summer... so ready for the lazy, carefree days, so ready to abandon the rigid schedule of the school year, so ready to have kids running in and out of the house, so ready for the smell of sunscreen, so ready to have the constant noise and chaos fill the house. So ready. So very ready.