Summer Haze

I’m not quite sure how it’s suddenly the middle of July, but it is. After road tripping most of June, we’ve spent most of July by the pool. 

I’ve come up with an equation- for every hour of swimming, bed time moves a half hour earlier. It’s kind of amazing. We swam for FOUR hours yesterday, and the boy fell asleep, on the living room floor, at 6pm.

When we’ve been out of the water, we’ve been at the library, reading books and earning points through the Gear Up for Good Summer Reading Program. Turns out, I’m a little obsessive when it comes to earning the “good” prizes, which I categorize as “free pass” or “BOGO pass” to attractions around town. The kids, on the other hand, are obsessive about their “good prizes”, which so far includes Laser Fingers and Blob Goo.

Enter my big discovery of 2012: Non-Fiction Books are Worth FIFTEEN POINTS. That means every non-fiction easy reader is worth three times the points of a book classified as a picture book. WIth this discovery, we’ll be rolling in all the “good” prizes in no time. Which is good, because there’s only two weeks left to earn points.

For real. Where has the summer gone??

Also..if you are itching to take a dip, check out Fort Harrison’s YMCA BRAND NEW Outdoor Pool. There’s a grand opening this Saturday, July 14th, and admission is free and open to the public. Read all about it!

A Summer Reading List of My Own

Something’s been happening very slowly over the last year or so. Well, some days it feels fast, and other days it seems to have been a long time coming. Regardless, I started noticing it this spring at the playground.

My kids don’t need me.

Oh sure, they need me to drive them there. And the rule has been they always have to be able to see me. But they don’t need me.

MaM hasn’t needed a spotter on the playground since the summer she turned three, but she’s needed an occasional boost up onto the monkey bars. Not any more.

The fox used to be timid about a lot of things, but he’s coming into his own. Mostly he needs to be pushed on the swing, but guess who’s happy to do that most of the time? His sister.

So that leaves me parked on a park bench. Which isn’t a bad place to be. But I’m thinking I’m going to have to stash some books in the car so that while they are playing the day away, I have something to do.

Which leads me to this- what are you reading? What new books/authors do you recommend?

I’ll really read just about anything- so please, offer up some suggestions!

Also, stay tuned- a giveaway for a family pack of tickets to the Indianapolis Indians will post here soon. Til then, go check out Heather’s giveaway at Family Fun in the City for a chance to win and a list of other giveaways happening right now!