Week 1 of summer is down, so it’s time to check in on some of those lofty goals I set.  Let’s recap:

Goal #1.  Relish my children, and dedicate special time to them every day.
Success!  I took the kids bowling, biking, hiking, and swimming.  One day Sam was off playing with an old preschool pal, so I surprised Maggie with a visit to that ripoff ceramic painting place she has been begging to visit.  We played with legos, built circuits, and colored whacky pictures.  We let Maggie’s butterflies free.  On Wednesday they had two friends spend the night, and we all stayed up until nearly midnight watching Nanny McPhee.  On Thursday they had one friend stay over, and on a rainy Friday morning we all watched Cheaper by the Dozen.  (For the record:  both are complete tearjerkers!)  The rest of the nights it was just us, so the kids and I closed in on the end of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.  Only 40 pages to go!

I’m not proud to admit it, but we also spent an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese.  The kids loved every minute, but that place feels like a children’s casino of sin.  When we left I felt an overwhelming urge to cleanse them of the experience, so we stopped by the library and signed up for the summer reading program.  I’m hoping the damage was minimal.

A few random snapshots from our week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goal #2:  Exercise every day
Success!  (Actually, I missed Thursday but did two things today so it’s a wash, right?)  Must admit, this one nearly killed me.  On our first walk Maggie and I ran into this cute little guy:

Now that kind of wildlife I can handle.  But on Wednesday, while the kids were safely at piano lessons, I walked along our mountain road solo.  It was an invigorating and uneventful few miles, but less than an hour later I drove down the hill and encountered this guy:

Okay, an admittedly anti-climactic photo.  But if you look carefully you will see a black bear that had just strolled in front of my car and hopped over the guard rail… at nearly the very spot I had been walking less than an hour before!  (You can just see his back behind the rail and above my mirror.)  That was the last of my outdoor walks for this week.  I profusely apologized for nicknaming our treadmill “The Dreadmill” and hopped back on that beast instead.  And liked it!

Ironically, the day before I had taken the kids to Sportsman’s Warehouse to buy bear bells for their bikes.  Sam lost a tooth while we were there!

Continuing with the exercise and wildlife theme, today we took a little family bike ride and encountered a bull moose on the trail.  As all good mothers would, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tried to snap a photo.  I missed the moose, but you can mentally Photoshop him behind Maggie here:

Goal #3.  Clean something every day.
I have determined that this goal is in direct conflict with Goal #1, but I did my best.

Goal #4.  Prepare healthy meals for my family.
Let’s just say the lettuce isn’t rotting around here lately (thumbs up!) and I tried a new crock pot recipe (thumbs down!).  Its leftovers are still in the fridge, where they will probably remain until trash day on Tuesday.

I must also admit that one night we didn’t call the kids in for dinner until 10 PM.  You have to realize that the long daylight hours mess with us this time of year, and it’s no secret we can all use a little extra Vitamin D.  But the real reason is the amazing neighborhood kids.  They are all running and romping in a pack these days, and it is an absolute joy to watch.  The freedom to run off to someone else’s house is new for our children, and they relish it.  They are too busy riding bikes, kicking balls, swinging, wrestling, and learning new games to bother with food.  The neighbors have taught them all about “cops and robbers” and “toilet tag” (apparently when you are tagged you have to squat with your hand out, until another player comes along and flushes you free).  When we called them in at 10 it was still light out, and their complaints had nothing to do with hunger.  But they did happily gobble down their reheated meals once they were inside…

Goal #5.  Drink more water and less beer..
Water intake, along with decaf iced tea, definitely increased.  I take the fifth on all other points.

All in all, not bad for Week # 1!  For next week, I’m adding a new goal.  Write more.  From here on out, I vow to quit waiting for something profound to happen.  And I vow to quit spending too much time trying to write profoundly.  Live it, blog it, got it.  Ordinary is okay.  Brevity is good.  It’s time to hit my stride.