Doing Things the Hard Way. Alternate Title: What I Did During My Summer Vacation

So I have to write this stupid essay about what I did this summer. By Friday.

(Who would give such a totally lame back to school assignment?)

And it needs to be really good because I'll be sharing it with a group of seventh graders before I make them write their own What I Did This Summer essays.

(I guess I would.)

And then I'll have to read and grade them so they had better be interesting, which means that I'll have to make mine super interesting, you know, to model the interesting writing and all. And funny, too. I'd like to laugh out loud while I'm reading these essays and not because I'm laughing to keep from crying about the spelling/punctuation/grammar.

I probably should be working on that right now instead of putting it off until Thursday night, but instead here I am because apparently I like to do things the hard way.

I figured that out about myself this summer. This was our first summer in real kid mode. We've been in baby or toddler mode for awhile now, but this year was different. We found ourselves starting new traditions, venturing to unknown places, and living a two-kid-family lifestyle. And we also found ourselves doing some things the hard way.

For example, instead of driving to the library one morning, I got adventurous and took the kids on the city bus. It was a true LTD experience (I'll just leave it at that) but the kids loved it. I think we need to take more advantage of the public transportation system to get around town.

We also rode our bikes a ton this summer with the boys cozied up in the bike trailer. (Someday I will upgrade from my 1970's Schwinn Collegiate to a bike with more than three speeds, but I guess that day is not today. On the plus side, pulling that trailer behind my old bike is one hell of a workout!)

I don't think we turned on our dryer a single time this summer. Sawyer does not appreciate having his Very Special Blanky (which he has affectionately named "Mine") washed and hung out to dry.

We started the summer with such high hopes for our garden. Brent put in two more raised beds and planted a ton of goodies. And then this wacky weather came along and threw a wrench into the plans and so we really didn't end up with the bumper crops we had hoped for. But at least Brent's job at the farm means that he brings home boxes of fresh produce twice a week and so our freezer is full of veggies for the winter and we've all gotten our zucchini fix for the summer.


Jack's sunflowers did well. I'm still holding out some hope for the tomatoes...

And of course I've been making my lists, and spending hours in the kitchen with my thoughts as I trim/blanch/freeze until I see veggies when I close my eyes.

Before I had kids I always wondered what kind of mom I would be. And then we had babies and I wondered what kind of family we would have. And now we have kids and I think we're figuring out what kind of family we are. A family that chooses to do things a certain way, even if it takes more time or effort, because we've decided that it's important to live our lives in a way that reflects our tastes and values.

Um, so, yeah. I guess that's what I did this summer.

Or should I just write about letting Jack poop on the side of the road?

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