And we're off...

Yay for summer!  The school year just slogged on mercilessly.  It was a great year for both the boys and the reading work I did with my first graders was incredibly rewarding.  But... but... but... The end just couldn't come fast enough.

We officially finished the first week of summer, and it was a great one. I am happy to say that the boys hopped right back into the chore routine very easily. Even happier to report that they remembered how to clean a bathroom! We spent much of the first week relaxing, reading, playing, swimming.  Lots of hours at the pool, glorious wonderful cool hours at the pool.

We were fortunate enough to spend a morning with some very dear people at their farm in Leander.  My curling friends invited me to visit when I saw them at the bonspiel a couple of weeks ago.  I somehow or other managed to find the courage to follow up on the invitation.  Something that would be so easy for most is something very difficult for me.  Don't ask why, just know that it's part of my personality. Anyway, we met Spencer the crooked, special cow.  And I totally fell in love with him.  He's a bit lopsided, but totally adorable.  Ben and Alex took turns feeding him from a bottle.  We played with tiny little hyperactive wild kittens.  We fed apples to the horses and watched all the geese, ducks, and chickens wander around looking for feed.  We scooped algae out of a goldfish barrel. And we came home with 5 dozen farm fresh eggs!  It was a great day.

We ended the week with a concert by the ASO last night, featuring the music of John Williams.  The music was amazing, the orchestra sounded fabulous.  Because it was a Pops Concert, the hall was filled with tables, and we had a lovely picnic dinner before the show. Because it was John Williams' music there were some Star Wars characters floating around and we took advantage of the photo op with the boys. Late night, but totally worth it.

Today was piano recital day.  Happily, our teacher broke the recital into two groups. She has so many students, she didn't want people to have to sit through an interminably long recital!  Alex and Ben were the last to perform in their group. They did a great job.  A small hiccup at the end of Ben's second piece, but he persevered and worked his way through unfazed.  The thing is he has played that piece perfectly dozens of times, including 5 minutes before we left the house. Had it been me I'm fairly certain that at a misstep I would have crumpled into a blubbering mess.  But that's why I don't perform solo.  As his teacher said though, it happens to every single musician at some point and he handled as perfectly as anyone ever could.

So this week the boys are off to art camp and who knows what else we'll do.  It's summer, it's not school, we're happy.