On the trails we go.... as I'm sure you've figured out by now I sing most of my thoughts. So as I was sitting down to write, this well know tune popped in my head while I was looking at pictures of us on our most recent hikes. We have been finding new trails to explore (which is easy to do here with over 20 miles to hike and bike on). I am wondering why we haven't been doing more of this in the winter months where we could go with out being so hot and sweaty. I don't complain about boy world, but the new smells are a bit much. Sometimes I feel like they need more that one bath in a day. Which is way more energy than I want to put forth.
I mean, don't we spend most of our childhood years with the idea that summer time is the time we get a break? No school, later bedtimes if any, you get to spend multiple days and nights just being with friends. Then BAM!, you are now the grown up who makes all this summer magic appear. Let me tell you that is one daunting task. I want my children to have wonderful childhood memories so the summer is not a time to take a break. Not on my watch. They will have a great summer if it the last thing I do! Ok well I'm mostly joking but that's why we take summer trips and have friends and family over for game nights and cookouts right?
Yes this is something that the family unit known as The Wise Guys does year round. Yet in the summer it seems to be more work. Think about it all the juicy melons that we slice open and bite into. Who does all the cutting, who cleans all the sticky finger before..duho...after they have just touched your furniture! Who keeps the house clean for said company? Well in my house that is a group effort. If the boys don't put things away when they are done with them, I become the owner of it and they have just lost what suddenly becomes their favorite toy. Nevermind the fact that they haven't touched it in FOREVER. Anyway, I digress. Just the other night we were loading up a backpack for one of our new adventures. As my loving husband crammed the last croc into the already very full bag, he looked and me and said, "We're just going to be gone a few hours right?" You see, when were embark on these wonderful adventures we make sure we are ready. Camelback, check, extra sunscreen and bug spray, check, GPS, check, cameras, check check, check (the boys want their cameras too you know) first aid, check. Ok now add crocs for three little boys just in case we find water that would be fun to splash in and one towel to dry wet feet you have a lot of stuff. But if we didn't have all this stuff the trip has the potential to turn disatorous fast. So we do a little bit of hard work to get things ready and wahlah, the boys go to bed at night remembering all the wonderful animals and rocks they saw. Now they get to go to bed and get lots of rest for energy they will surely need for whatever fun the next day brings. But not for the person who is running around behind the scenes. Now is the time in the fairy tales where the woodland creatures would come out a clean the dishes and do the laundry. Here the woodland creatures just come in and become more mouths that I have to make sure are getting the nutrition they need to survive another day.
You would think that there would be a break in the laundry department, but that's just not the case. Now there are multiple wardrobe changes by each member in my family and at least one a day, if not more than that, prove to be very wet ones! Have I mentioned the dog? He seems to get smellier in the summer which makes again for potential mess. Even if we complete the task at hand without my house looking like a sprinkler just when off inside (from said dog running in and shaking vigorously everywhere), I still have more laundry and less energy because I've spent my day making sure my smelly wet family has, as Marshall puts it, "the best day ever!" Regardless of the odors, and the work we do, we are all having fun and I wouldn't trade or change a thing.
We have found lots of animals and far too many rocks while on what is looking to be nightly outings. There are deer everywhere and the does are ready to pop. We saw a baby deer down the street as we where pulling out of our neighborhood to go to story time at the library.
I can't believe as much as my children love the library that we hadn't been to story time before. I think its because my children fell in the younger age bracket that met early in the morning and I do not enjoy having to be out of the house before 9. Alas, now we can go a bit later in the day. So I think we will continue to go more often. Not to mention the fact that now they are asking when they can go to story time again, so......I guess I'm obligated to get us out the door even if its before 9am. Like I said there is a lot of work in making magical memories. When I sit and look at our countdown calendar ( to Marshall's 5th birthday), I feel like the summer is already over. There is so much crammed into what seems to be a short amount of time, I think if I blink I'll miss it. Which is why I haven't been sharing as much with you as I really like to. I hope you continue to wait for updates even if they aren't coming as fast as they are happening in the Life of The Wise Guys.
