Hi all,
This month, as I was down in Lynchburg celebrating the upcoming arrival of our niece, I found out that with the happy comes the sad. I got the call that we lost my father. He had Alzheimer’s and had been sick for a while so I think in the back of my mind I knew it would come eventually but it is never easy to hear that someone you care about is gone. Since then I have been trying to remember the good times that we had on our sailboat when we were little and going to Fin&Feather when we were older so I don’t forget them. And most especially I will try to remember when he came to meet our oldest, Rinat, when he was a toddler. He was really good with him and I am happy that I got to see that. Losing someone is always sad but we are all looking forward to seeing everyone at the service down in Texas in September. It’s been way too long since I’ve been down there and it will be good to see my roots and show my kids where their grandpa grew up and be able to say goodbye.
But of course life must go on and kids must be entertained so our month was still full. August is a slow month at the pool. Not only is it vacation month for a lot of people anyway, but it’s also when congress and everyone who works with them is on vacay so the pool was completely empty. One day it was literally just me and the boys and a couple of senior citizens doing laps and Bek was having a blast jumping off the side and swimming to me and the life guard asked “Does he want to jump off the diving board?” I said “I dunno. You want to Bek?” Um, YESwas the reaction so we trotted on over with the life guard who must have been bored out of his mind and I showed Bek how to walk out and put his toes at the very end and then jump in. He followed behind and it took just the smallest bit of prodding from me in the water below him and that kid jumped. Zero fear. He went so far under that I could see his little arms doing breast stroke under water to get back to the top and when he came up and caught his breath, out of his mouth came “My do it ‘gain?!” So he did it again. And swam to the side mostly on his own this time. “Again?” Yup. By then, Rin had spied what we were doing and was amazed that is little brother could jump off. “You can too,” I told him. “Really?” “Yes, really.” So he did. It took a little more prodding (my sweet careful big boy who sometimes worries too much) but he did it. The power of sibling competition is an amazing motivator. And they jumped off that board until they were so tired that their little legs were shaking. The rest of the summer, they asked if they could jump off the board but sadly, our friendly lifeguard had gone off to college and none of the high school guards would let them (they hadn’t passed the swim test yet). Next year, kids, next year. You guys will be jumping fools.
And there was lots of playing at the park and outside too to eke out the last bit of summer vacation and although I don’t love DC in August, the heat and humidity doesn’t bother them one single bit. Give them a hose to play with or a Popsicle to eat and they are happy to be out there all day long. And I just love when they spend the morning out there. I inhale the scent of my boys after they come in from the backyard. I never really understood the obsession with baby smell- they just smell like diapers and throw up to me- but the smell of summer? I can't get enough of it. They could bottle it and I’d use it for perfume. And they love the outdoors. They play back there for hours, them and the neighbors- digging holes, playing soccer, who knows what else? The perfect little boy life.
And the last two weeks of summer, Rin went to outdoor adventure day camp and he is absolutely loving it. I mean, he comes home from being at camp for 8 hours and is still raring to go. Rock climbing, kayaking, fishing, river exploring, making salsa, canoeing, orienteering, horseback riding. The first day I was a little bit sad to send my boy off to camp. It's rare that he is nervous but then there's every once in a while when he turns shy and my heart just breaks a little bit. He usually seems so mature but every once in a while I catch a glimpse of little boy in him. I always know that it's going to be OK but it's like I have to feel the nervousness right along with him- like I can take a little bit of it on myself and take a little bit off him although I try to hide is as much as I can. I do feel fortunate that my kids are generally outgoing and happy to be around new people. They have something that I never had and I’m so glad. Bek tells me he wants to go next year too but I'm not sure I can let him- because of me, not him. He's getting big though so I guess I have to let go at some point.
There are some times when I wish I could just push pause so I could make the moment last just a tiny bit longer. As Rin's camp bus pulled up to the drop-off spot for today (the last day of camp for the whole summer) the windows were open, the kids mud-covered and happy and they were singing the camp song at the top of their voices. The driver didn't open the doors until the last verse had been sung, the last little voice petered out. It was like a movie and I wish that it actually was one so I could go back and replay it again and again. It filled me with happiness that my boy gets to do those things. That he gets to have the kind of experiences that have him jumping off the bus and talking about his day until he goes to bed. Literally hours go by and he will still say "Oh yeah, and then we got to..." Hearing his happiness just makes me so happy. I can't wait until he can go to sleepaway camp because I think he will absolutely love it but at the same time I am so sad to think about it because it means that I don't get to hear about every single little detail of his day and what they did and who said what and where they went. I’ll have to find some way to pry it out of him. Maybe if I gave him a journal…
This month, while Rin was camp-ing it up, Bek and I headed over the Harper’s Ferry to meet up with the cousins for a picnic and some hiking. I love that although we don’t get to see them as much as we’d like, we do get to see them and it’s always right back to where we were when we were last together. I guess that’s what family’s about.
And then it was back to school time.
Rin was super excited about the first day and is really excited to have some of his friends that he knew from last year. He had just a tiny bit of nervousness but mostly just excitement.
Bek was excited too about school and he barely even looked back to wave goodbye as I was leaving him the first day- even though he moved up to the big kid class. He potty trained himself in Costa Rica and thank goodness because he had to be trained to start school this year. And that’s not all that they learned in CR. Ever since CR Rin has been into trying new foods- casaba melon, radishes, nashi. The power of a good vacations lasts long after you get back. But I am happy that my little one is not completely independent. I still get to hear “My miss you mama” when I went to pick him up from his first day of school. And he tucked his little head into the nook of my neck. “My lub you. You nice.”
After we picked up Rin from his first day of school we went to the park for a couple of hours and I just love that it was completely packed with kids. I love that about living where we do and being walking distance to school- we just hop right on over to the park and meet up with all our buds. Rin loves it and I do too.
And what did I do with my first day of school? Laundry mostly. And dishes. And email. But the thing is- I got to do it without having to stop every two seconds to help someone go potty or break up an argument or get someone a glass of water or answer a million questions about everything under the sun. I thought about my boys all day long but it sure was nice to have a few hours of quiet. This Mama looooves school.
Love to all, -m
